The Expert Podcast

So who is allowed to apply for a duplicate title for a motor vehicle or a lost title? Well, in all 50 states, the only party who is legally entitled to make application for a lost title, duplicate title, replacement title—whatever you want to call it—is the current title owner. And here's what we mean by that.

Here's an example of an application for the state of Utah for a duplicate title. Most states have a very similar form. The person who signs and applies for this form must be the actual person currently listed in the official title records. So if you had a title that was signed over to you on the back and you lost it, well, your name's not going to be in the system as the title owner. If you bought a vehicle from somebody else and you lost the title, your name's not going to be in the system. So unless your name is already filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles or titling division, you cannot apply for a duplicate title—only the legal title owner who had a title at one time printed by the government issued to their name.

You can't apply for a duplicate. Now there's more bad news than that. If there are two people on the title and they're listed as "and"—Josh Moe and Sally Smith—both people have to sign that form. If there's a lien holder on the title, look what it says down here: section four, lien holder information and lien release. So if you have a vehicle that has a lien holder in the title records, they also have to sign it.

Now, it doesn't matter if the loan’s paid off. If you paid off the loan for your car a long time ago but the lien holder never took their name off the title record, you can't get a duplicate title. The lien holder has to sign to let the DMV know that it's paid off. Look, you know it's paid off—you paid all the money, you paid the payoff, you paid all your payments. The bank lien holder even knows it's paid off. However, if the DMV does not know that, then it's not going to be removed from the title.

So the short answer is: if you are listed as the official legal owner in the title records, you can apply for a duplicate title. If you are not showing in the title record, then you are not allowed to file for a duplicate. You may be able to file for another type of title, but not a duplicate. So check out the website for the other options. But duplicate title is a privileged request made by a legal owner whose name is already filed with the government as being on file for ownership of that vehicle or lien holder.