The Expert Podcast

So in this video we're going to talk about various types of title ownership documents. One is a vehicle title, which everybody's heard of. The other is an MSO or CO—sometimes an acronym that stands for Manufacturer's Statement of Origin (that's MSO) or Certificate of Origin (which is CO). And what are the differences?

Well, a vehicle title is a document issued by the local State Department of Motor Vehicles that defines who the owner of a vehicle is. So if you have a car you've purchased, when you bought it, you got a title from the last owner. It was signed from that owner, handed to you, you surrendered it to the Department of Licensing or Department of Motor Vehicles, and they created a new title certificate with your name on it as the owner. That's your title.

An MSO is slightly different. They look very much the same—if you look at an MSO and a title, they have the same layout, scroll work, security measures. It's not printed on a blank sheet of paper, but it doesn't come from the DMV. An MSO is a document that is issued by the vehicle manufacturer.

So if Toyota builds a brand-new vehicle, the MSO is kind of like the birth certificate for that vehicle. It's given to the new car dealer that's issued that car to sell as brand new and has the name of the dealer on it. And when the dealer sells it—let's say Any Town Toyota—they will sign the back over to the buyer of that vehicle, the new purchaser. Same holds true for any brand. If it's a Ford, the Ford factory will create an MSO—Manufacturer Statement of Origin—that will be given to the dealer.

Now, this difference is, in addition to showing the owner as the dealer, it also has a statement of origin: where it was built, what's the VIN number, year, make, and model, and other pertinent information. Now the dealer can assign that over to the owner, or they can assign it to another dealer. Let's say XYZ Toyota gets that car and the dealership down the street needs it because they have a buyer for it, and they will swap cars. The Toyota dealer will take another car from their inventory. That Toyota dealer can assign it to another dealer, and then that dealer can sell it to the owner.

Now if the title or MSO in either case is signed over to an individual—not a dealer—at that point, no further assignments are allowed on that document. It now has to be titled in the name of that civilian, that consumer, and a title is issued. No more MSO. A title is issued, and then that consumer can register it in their name or sell it to somebody else. It can't just flip over on the back and do what's called the "jump title."

What is a CO? A CO is a Certificate of Origin. Some manufacturers will refer to it as an MSO, some will refer to it as a CO. Most vehicles now—they call it an MSO, Manufacturer Statement of Origin. Some trailer dealers or RV dealers still call it a CO, but MSO is usually the preferred term.

Now, if you're a consumer and you've received an MSO for a vehicle that's been sold to you—immediately, immediately, immediately—surrender that to the DMV to get a title in your name. Here's why: if you lose that document, or it's damaged, or it has an error on it, or you spill coffee on it, it now becomes void. That manufacturer's certificate—statement of origin—is only valid if it's in good condition. If it's ripped, torn, crossed out, whited out, spilled coffee—it's void.

You are not allowed to request another copy of it from the factory. Only the dealer can. So if you bought a car from XYZ Toyota and for some reason they gave you the MSO—normally they don't, normally they sign it and submit it to DMV and DMV issues you a title—but if for some reason you have one, don't waste any time getting a title in your name.

Because you want to have it documented that that's your vehicle. Just because somebody signed it over to you—nobody else knows about that except for you and the person who signed it. The DMV doesn't know it's your vehicle. So if you lose that document, or if it's damaged, you're out of luck. You can't go back to the factory and say, "Hey, give me another one." You can't go to DMV and say, "Give me another one."

In fact, it's harder than if you lose a title, because there's no record of that vehicle in the system yet. It's not been established in the registration title system. It's only at the factory at that point. Sometimes you may be able to get a dealer to request a duplicate, but a lot of times manufacturers are hesitant to do that because they don't know if somebody has already assigned it and registered it in their name. And if the manufacturer gets a duplicate or creates a duplicate, they might be violating somebody's rights.

So if you have an MSO or a CO for a vehicle—a trailer, RV, motorcycle, anything—immediately register it in your name so you don't have to worry about a missing title document standing between you and having legal ownership.