Transferring a vehicle title in New Jersey

1. Sign the buyer's section on the reverse side of the New Jersey Certificate of Ownership and write in your New Jersey driver license number, or your Entity Identification Number (EIN, formerly Corpcode) if the vehicle is going into a business name.
2. Book an appointment at an MVC Vehicle Center before you go. Vehicle transactions are appointment-only — the registration page says "Schedule an appointment - no walk-ins!" — and a transfer of ownership cannot be done by post.

• Sign the buyer's section on the reverse side of the New Jersey Certificate of Ownership and write in your New Jersey driver license number, or your Entity Identification Number (EIN, formerly Corpcode) if the vehicle is going into a business name.Official page
• Book an appointment at an MVC Vehicle Center before you go. Vehicle transactions are appointment-only — the registration page says "Schedule an appointment - no walk-ins!" — and a transfer of ownership cannot be done by post.Official page
• Take the properly assigned title to the appointment. "Properly assigned" means it carries the seller's and buyer's names and addresses and signatures, the date of sale, the purchase price and the buyer's driver license number. You do not need a Universal Title Application for a New Jersey title — the Universal Title Application states that "In-state title transfers only require the submission of the previous NJ title."OS/SS-UTAOfficial page
• Bring your driver license or other photo ID, proof of New Jersey insurance (an insurance card, or the company name and policy number), and a completed Application for Vehicle Registration (BA-49) so the plates can be issued at the same visit.BA-49Official page
• Pay the $60 title fee — $85 if you are financing with one lien and $110 with two liens — plus 6.625% New Jersey sales tax on the purchase price and the registration fee for the vehicle. American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, cheque, money order and cash are all accepted at an agency.Official page
• Do it within 10 working days of the date of sale. The MVC states: "To avoid a $25 penalty, New Jersey or dealer reassigned titles must be transferred within 10 working days from the date of sale."Official page
• Collect your license plates at the agency — the seller's plates are not yours. If the vehicle is five model years old or older it also needs a New Jersey inspection on its two-year cycle; if it is under five model years old and has never been inspected here, present the SS-19 green card issued with your registration at a state inspection station to get the decal.Official page
• Keep the bill of sale. The Division of Taxation's Casual Sales Unit checks private-party transfers against MVC records and writes to buyers where the declared price looks wrong; you must respond in writing, and it may ask for a completed Purchaser's Affidavit and questionnaire.Official page

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• Sign the seller's section on the reverse side of the New Jersey Certificate of Ownership, enter the date of sale and write the sale price on the purchase price line, then hand the title to the buyer. Sign in blue or black ink and do not alter what you have written — an altered price line invites the MVC to ask for more documentation.Official page
• Give the buyer a bill of sale showing the buyer's name and address, the date of sale, the odometer reading and the sale price. The MVC lists this as the seller's obligation alongside signing the title.Official page
• Take your license plates off the vehicle before the buyer drives away. New Jersey plates stay with you, not the vehicle: "Remove the plates and surrender them to a motor vehicle agency, unless the plates are being transferred to another vehicle."Official page
• If you are buying a replacement vehicle, transfer the registration and plates onto it for $4.50 plus any prorated increase in the registration fee for a change of weight class. If you are not, turn the plates in for cancellation at a motor vehicle agency or by post.Official page
• If a loan is still open on the vehicle you cannot hand the buyer the title, because in New Jersey "the lending institution holds the title until the vehicle is paid in full." Pay the loan off and get a signed, dated lien satisfaction letter on the lender's letterhead before you agree a sale date.Applies when: A lender is still recorded on the title.Official page

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• Enter the odometer reading together at the moment of sale, and tick (N) not actual mileage or (M) mileage has exceeded mechanical limitations if either applies. Federal law requires the mileage to be stated on transfer of ownership, and false information can bring fines or imprisonment.Official page
• If the disclosure has to go on a separate sheet, both sign and date an Odometer Disclosure Statement (OS/SS-2). It is a supplement only and "must accompany an original title or MCO document when submitted to MVC."Applies when: The mileage cannot be recorded on the title itself.OS/SS-2Official page

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• New Jersey Certificate of Ownership, properly assignedMust carry the seller's and buyer's names and addresses and signatures, the date of sale, the purchase price and the buyer's driver license number. No notary is involved.
• Bill of sale from the sellerMust show the buyer's name and address, the date of sale, the odometer reading and the sale price. The MVC does not publish a bill of sale form; the seller writes it.
• Driver's license or other photo identificationA copy is acceptable where a Power of Attorney is used; photocopies, faxes and scans are acceptable for photo identification.
• Proof of New Jersey insuranceA New Jersey insurance card, or the insurance company name and policy number.
• BA-49Application for Vehicle RegistrationCompleted if the vehicle is being registered, which is the normal case. The vehicle must be covered by liability insurance in the minimum amount required by law.

• Deadline10 business days from the date of sale — Buyer: Transfer the title within 10 working days of the date of saleA $25 penalty is added to the filing fee for the new certificate of ownership.

New Jersey Sales and Use Tax of 6.625% is due on the purchase price of a new or used motor vehicle, and the MVC collects it when the title is transferred.

Inspection

Sometimes required

• Inspection is not part of the title transfer — it is a separate errand at a Centralized or Private Inspection Facility.
• A gasoline or bi-fuelled passenger vehicle of model year 1996 or newer at 8,500 lb or less GVWR is inspected every two years once it is five model years old.
• A vehicle under five model years old that has never been inspected in New Jersey must be presented at a state inspection station on the SS-19 green card issued at registration to receive its decal.
• Gasoline passenger vehicles of model year 1995 and older at 8,500 lb or less GVWR, 100% electric vehicles and motorcycles are exempt.

New Jersey inspects most passenger vehicles once every two years at a Centralized or Private Inspection Facility; inspection is not a step in the title transfer itself, but a newly registered vehicle under five model years old must be presented at a state inspection station on the SS-19 green card to receive its decal.

Emissions

Sometimes required

• New Jersey's periodic passenger-vehicle test is an On-Board Diagnostics (OBD2) emissions reading; there is no separate safety inspection for an ordinary passenger car.
• Applies to gasoline and bi-fuelled passenger vehicles model year 1996 and newer at 8,500 lb or less GVWR once they are five model years old, and to diesel passenger vehicles model year 1997 and newer at that weight.
• 100% electric vehicles, motorcycles and gasoline passenger vehicles model year 1995 and older are exempt.

New Jersey's periodic passenger-vehicle inspection is an emissions test — an On-Board Diagnostics (OBD2) reading — not a safety check; tailpipe emission testing of certain older vehicles ceased on 1 May 2016.

Notarization

Sometimes required

• Someone is signing on another party's behalf under a Power of Attorney, which must be original and notarised.
• A business entity is buying or selling, in which case its letter of signature authority on company letterhead must be notarised and original.
• A lien satisfaction letter comes from an individual lienholder who is not a financial institution.
• A mileage correction is being made with a wet signature on the Odometer Disclosure Statement (OS/SS-2).

New Jersey does not require the ordinary seller's or buyer's signature on the Certificate of Ownership to be notarised; notarisation attaches to specific side documents — a Power of Attorney, an entity's letter of signature authority, the surviving-spouse Affidavit (BA-62), the Transfer on Death Beneficiary Designation, a lien satisfaction letter from a private individual, and an odometer mileage correction.

Odometer disclosure

RequiredFederal law requires the mileage to be stated on transfer of ownership, and the New Jersey title, the Universal Title Application and the Odometer Disclosure Statement (OS/SS-2) all carry the reading; the seller must also give the buyer a bill of sale showing the odometer reading.

New Jersey plates belong to the person, not the vehicle: the seller removes them at the sale and either transfers them to another vehicle they own or surrenders them to a motor vehicle agency for cancellation.

• The seller keeps the plates
• The seller surrenders the plates
• The seller may move the plates to a replacement vehicle
• The buyer gets new plates

The MVC instructs the seller to "Remove the plates and surrender them to a motor vehicle agency, unless the plates are being transferred to another vehicle." If the vehicle is sold, junked or destroyed and no replacement is being bought, the plates must be turned in for cancellation, in person or by post. Transferring an existing registration to another vehicle costs $4.50 plus any prorated increase for a change in weight class.

• In person at a state title office

New Jersey handles the title and the registration in the same counter appointment: the buyer presents the assigned title, completes the Application for Vehicle Registration (BA-49), pays the title fee, sales tax and registration fee, and leaves with license plates.

• Start here on the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) site
• New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC)
• Make an appointment