Verifying Ownership With A Bill of Sale or Error Affidavit

Vehicle and Vessel Registration

When purchasing a vehicle in a casual (private) sale, we recommend that the purchaser request a Bill of Sale from the seller, and the seller offer a Bill of Sale to the purchaser in addition to completing the Certificate of Title. A Bill of Sale can often resolve certain paperwork issues and avoid the need for a return trip to the seller and our office with additional paperwork.

Click on these links to download the applicable Bill of Sale form for your motor vehicle, mobile home, or vessel (requires Adobe® Acrobat™ Reader to view). We recommend that you use our Bill of Sale form, since it meets the requirements of Florida law. The purchaser should also make sure they have obtained the complete name, current address, and telephone number of the seller. The Tax Collector's Office can no longer provide that information to the purchaser, under the new Driver Privacy law which became effective on October 1, 2004. 

When a certificate of title is submitted for transfer and the name of the purchaser entered in the "Transfer of Title by Seller" section has been lined through, altered or is not the same person applying for the title transfer, the owner of record must either:

a. Provide an affidavit containing the perjury clause regarding the alteration or accompany the purchaser to the tax collector’s office to provide a general affidavit as to the alteration, or,

b. Must apply for an unaltered certificate of title to transfer to the purchaser.

Duplicate title fees will be charged. If either of these guidelines cannot be met, a court order is required.

As a convenience to our customers we have made an affidavit containing the perjury clause available on this website through the following link: Click here for UDS316. 

For more information on completing the Certificate of Title, click here.