Transferring a vehicle title in North Dakota

1. Check the front of the certificate of title before you hand over money: the Registration Manual's title transfer rules say all liens shown on the front of the certificate of title must be released before the department will transfer it.
2. Complete and sign Part 3, the Purchaser's Certification and Application, on the back of the certificate of title — or on SFN 2475 if the block on the title cannot be used or a second lienholder has to be listed. If the title reads 'John and Mary Doe', both new owners sign; in a company name it must be countersigned, for example 'Smith Company by John Smith, President'.

• Check the front of the certificate of title before you hand over money: the Registration Manual's title transfer rules say all liens shown on the front of the certificate of title must be released before the department will transfer it.Official page
• Complete and sign Part 3, the Purchaser's Certification and Application, on the back of the certificate of title — or on SFN 2475 if the block on the title cannot be used or a second lienholder has to be listed. If the title reads 'John and Mary Doe', both new owners sign; in a company name it must be countersigned, for example 'Smith Company by John Smith, President'.SFN 2475Official page
• Fill in SFN 2872, the Application for Certificate of Title & Registration of a Vehicle, in full — applicant legal name and driver's license number, the vehicle details, the purchase price less any trade-in, and the lienholder if you are financing — and sign section VI. Signing it is also your certification that the vehicle will be insured as required by law.SFN 2872Official page
• Sign Section 5 of SFN 18609, the Damage/Salvage Disclosure Statement, if the seller answered yes to any of the disclosure questions. The form's instructions say the buyer only has to complete Section 5 in that case.Applies when: The vehicle is less than nine model years old — for 2026, model year 2019 and newer — and the seller answered yes to any damage question.SFN 18609Official page
• Take the endorsed certificate of title, SFN 2872, a valid state or government-issued photo ID and the damage disclosure to a title-issuing Motor Vehicle branch, or mail them to the Motor Vehicle Division at 608 E Boulevard Ave, Bismarck ND 58505-0780, within 30 days of receiving the title from the seller. NDCC 39-05-17(4) says the registration may be suspended or revoked if you miss it.SFN 2872Official page
• Pay the $5 certificate of title fee, the 5% motor vehicle excise tax on the purchase price less any trade-in allowance, and a full-year registration fee for the vehicle, less any license plate credit you are carrying. NDDOT accepts cheque, cash, Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.SFN 2872Official page
• Put plates on the vehicle before you drive it beyond the fifth day. You may drive for five days from the date of acquisition with no plate at all if a dated bill of sale, a dated copy of the certificate of title, or the back of the vehicle's current registration card is in the vehicle; beyond that, self-issue the 75-day temporary registration permit online or at a Motor Vehicle office.Official page

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• Sign and date Part 1, the Assignment and Warranty of Title, on the certificate of title, and fill in the buyer's legal name and address, the purchase price and the purchase date. If the title reads 'John and Mary Jones' both must sign; if it reads 'John Jones or Mary Jones' either may sign; a company title must be countersigned by an agent showing their title and business name.SFN 2877Official page
• Complete and sign Section 4 of SFN 18609, the Damage/Salvage Disclosure Statement, disclosing whether the vehicle has sustained body or structural damage in the past eight years and whether that damage reached the greater of $10,000 or 25% of pre-damage retail value. NDCC 39-05-17.2 stops the department transferring the title without it.Applies when: The vehicle is a passenger car, truck, pickup, motorcycle, motor home or unconventional vehicle less than nine model years old — for 2026, model year 2019 and newer.SFN 18609Official page
• Take your license plates off the vehicle. NDCC 39-04-36 says the registration expires on transfer and the transferor shall remove the number plates, and NDDOT's FAQ confirms the vehicle is then treated as unlicensed and subject to a full-year license fee when re-titled.Official page
• Hand the endorsed certificate of title to the buyer within 15 days of the sale, as NDDOT's Registration Manual and its selling-a-vehicle FAQ both state. NDCC 39-05-17(2) and the current SFN 2877 both say 30 days instead — deliver inside 15 days and you satisfy either reading.Official page
• Carry the unused months of registration onto one replacement vehicle by writing the plate number you removed on the new SFN 2872 and paying the $5 plate or credit transfer fee. You must reuse the physical plate whether or not credit remains, and any credit above the new registration fee is lost — it cannot be put toward the title fee or the excise tax.Applies when: You are replacing the vehicle you sold and want the remaining registration credit.SFN 2872Official page

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• Complete the odometer certification on the face of the certificate of title together: the seller states the mileage and signs, and the new owner signs and prints their name certifying the mileage stated. The Registration Manual says the Motor Vehicle Division is required to refuse to transfer ownership unless the odometer disclosure is completed.Applies when: The vehicle is model year 2011 or newer, per NDDOT's odometer disclosure table and the SFN 2872 instructions.Official page
• Use the secure Reassignment/Odometer Disclosure SFN 18773, obtained from the Motor Vehicle Division, instead of the odometer block on the title where the certificate of title is lost or is being held by a lienholder. SFN 2877 states expressly that it cannot be used for odometer-required vehicles.Applies when: An odometer disclosure is required but the paper title is not in hand.SFN 18773Official page

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• The North Dakota certificate of title with Part 1 signed and dated by the seller, showing the buyer's name, the purchase price and the purchase date, and Part 3 completed and signed by the new ownerErasure, alteration or mutilation voids the assignment. NDDOT's title checklist says the title must have no write-overs, cross-outs or mutilations; a defaced title needs a notarised SFN 2964 Statement of Error, Correction, or Alteration.
• SFN 2872SFN 2872, Application for Certificate of Title & Registration of a Vehicle, completed in full and signed by the buyerOne form does both jobs. It also carries the excise tax exemption number, the lienholder details and the insurance certification.
• A valid state or government-issued photo ID for the buyerNDCC 39-05-05(1)(f) requires the owner's legal name to be evidenced by a valid state-issued driver's license, identity card or other documentary evidence. Where there are two or more owners, at least one must meet it.

• Deadline30 calendar days from the date the buyer receives the endorsed certificate of title — Buyer: Submit the endorsed certificate of title to the Motor Vehicle Division with the $5 transfer fee and apply for a new certificate of titleNDCC 39-05-17(4) says the registration of the vehicle may be suspended or revoked if the transferee fails to present the endorsed title and apply within thirty days.
• Deadline5 calendar days from the date of acquisition of the vehicle — Buyer: Stop driving on dated evidence of ownership alone and get a plate or a temporary permitAfter five days the vehicle may not be operated without a plate, a temporary registration permit or validation tabs; NDCC 39-04-37 makes operating an unregistered vehicle unlawful.
• Deadline15 calendar days from the date of sale — Seller: Deliver the endorsed certificate of title to the buyerNDCC 39-05-17(5) makes a violation of the transfer section a class B misdemeanour by an owner, lienholder or transferee.

North Dakota charges a 5% motor vehicle excise tax on the full purchase price less any trade-in allowance, payable to the Motor Vehicle Division when the title application is made — but NDCC 57-40.3 carries a published exemption list that covers gifts between close relatives, inheritance, joint-tenancy consolidation and several other transfers.

Inspection

Sometimes required

• The vehicle is rebuilt or reconstructed, or is being retitled after a salvage certificate of title — SFN 2486.
• The vehicle is newly constructed or a kit car, has been modified, or is an antique restoration — SFN 2486.

North Dakota runs no periodic safety inspection, and neither the Registration Manual's out-of-state section nor NDDOT's moving-to-North-Dakota answer asks for one; an inspection on SFN 2486 or a VIN inspection on SFN 61999 is required only for particular vehicles.

Emissions

Not publishedNDDOT publishes no emissions test requirement for titling or registering a vehicle in North Dakota: the Motor Vehicle Registration Manual and the inspections FAQ describe only equipment-standard and VIN inspections under NDCC 39-21, 39-27, 39-29, 39-29.1 and 39-29.2, and neither names an emissions test.

Notarization

Sometimes required

• A lien on the front of the title is being released on SFN 2876 — the lienholder signs before a notary public or authorized officer.
• SFN 2888 Seller's Certificate and Vehicle Bill of Sale is being used because a certificate of title cannot be furnished — the seller signs before a notary public or authorized officer.
• A defaced or altered title requires a notarised SFN 2964 Statement of Error, Correction, or Alteration.

The assignment on a North Dakota certificate of title is not notarized, and neither SFN 2872 nor SFN 2475 requires a notary — but several NDDOT affidavits do, and each names whose signature the notary witnesses.

Odometer disclosure

Required, unless you are exempt

• Model year 2010 and older vehicles are outside the disclosure for calendar years 2020 through 2030 under NDDOT's published odometer table.
• A truck with a manufacturer's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating over 16,000 pounds is exempt from the Truth in Mileage Act.
• The disclosure covers passenger vehicles, motor homes, motorcycles, pickup trucks, trucks and unconventional vehicles; other classes are outside it.

The seller must complete the odometer disclosure on the face of the certificate of title, and the new owner must sign and print their name certifying the mileage; NDDOT's own table and SFN 2872's instructions set the cut-off at model year 2011 and newer for calendar years 2020 through 2030.

North Dakota is a Plate with Owner state: NDCC 39-04-36 says the registration expires when ownership is transferred and the transferor shall remove the number plates, so the seller keeps the plates and the vehicle is treated as unlicensed until the buyer registers it.

• The seller keeps the plates
• The buyer gets new plates
• The seller may move the plates to a replacement vehicle
• The plates may transfer to an immediate family member

The seller may carry the unused months of registration as a credit onto one replacement vehicle by putting the plate number on the new application and paying a $5 plate or credit transfer fee; the plate itself has to be reused whether or not credit remains. Credit that exceeds the new registration fee is lost and cannot be applied to the title fee or the excise tax. A credit may be assigned to a spouse, sibling, or lineal ancestor or descendant. A buyer may drive the vehicle for five days from the date of acquisition with dated evidence of ownership and no plate, or self-issue a 75-day temporary registration permit.

• In person at a state title office
• By mail

North Dakota runs title and registration off one paper: SFN 2872, the Application for Certificate of Title & Registration of a Vehicle, and NDCC 39-05-03 bars the department from registering a vehicle unless a title application is made or a title has already been issued.

• Start here on the North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT), Motor Vehicle Division site
• North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT), Motor Vehicle Division
• Make an appointment