Readable version: Car title transfer and notarization rules by state, explained state by state. All site datasets: open data · data roundups.
What this dataset covers
What a private vehicle sale needs at the title step: whether the seller's or buyer's signature must be notarized, whether a bill of sale is required, the buyer's deadline to title, whether plates stay with the car, the title fee and the seller's report of sale.
Most often unconfirmed in this release: buyer_notary (44), seller_notary (35), fee (29), plates (19), deadline (18). 13 jurisdictions have their own page on the site (AL, CA, GA, HI, KS, MO, MT, NJ, NV, PA, UT, VA, WA); their rows also carry the explanatory text and all sources shown there.
Field dictionary
| Field | Meaning | Type | In this release |
|---|---|---|---|
jurisdiction_code | Two-letter postal code of the state or DC. | string | 51 of 51 filled |
jurisdiction | State name (or District of Columbia). | string | 51 of 51 filled |
agency | State motor vehicle agency. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string | 13 of 51 filled |
agency_url | Its page on selling or titling a vehicle. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (URL) | 13 of 51 filled |
seller_notary.required | Whether the seller's title signature must be notarized. | string (code) | 16 of 51 filled: yes (9), no (7) |
seller_notary.basis | Whether that answer is stated outright or read from the state's steps. | string (code) | 16 of 51 filled: stated (15), steps (1) |
seller_notary.text | The seller rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 8 of 51 filled |
seller_notary.wording | The official source's own words. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 8 of 51 filled |
buyer_notary.required | Whether the buyer's signature must be notarized. | string (code) | 7 of 51 filled: no (4), yes (2), some (1) |
buyer_notary.basis | Whether that answer is stated outright or read from the state's steps. | string (code) | 7 of 51 filled: stated (5), steps (2) |
buyer_notary.text | The buyer rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 5 of 51 filled |
buyer_notary.wording | The official source's own words. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 5 of 51 filled |
bill_of_sale.required | Whether a bill of sale is required. | string (code) | 34 of 51 filled: some (18), yes (7), advised (5), no (4) |
bill_of_sale.notarized | Whether the bill of sale must be notarized. | string (code) | 7 of 51 filled: yes (3), no (2), some (2) |
bill_of_sale.text | The bill of sale rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 10 of 51 filled |
bill_of_sale.wording | The official source's own words. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 10 of 51 filled |
odometer.text | Odometer disclosure rule. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 13 of 51 filled |
deadline.days | Days the buyer has to title or register. | integer | 33 of 51 filled; 2 to 60 |
deadline.unit | Calendar or business days. | string (code) | 33 of 51 filled: calendar (30), business (3) |
deadline.text | The deadline in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 12 of 51 filled |
deadline.wording | The official source's own words. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 12 of 51 filled |
plates.stay | Whether plates stay with the seller, go with the car or it varies. | string (code) | 32 of 51 filled: seller (30), varies (1), vehicle (1) |
plates.text | The plate rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 11 of 51 filled |
plates.wording | The official source's own words. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 11 of 51 filled |
fee.amount | Title fee. | number (US dollars) | 22 of 51 filled; $5 to $214.5 |
fee.text | Detail on the fee. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 7 of 51 filled |
seller_report.days | Days the seller has to report the sale. | integer | 7 of 51 filled; 5 to 30 |
seller_report.text | The seller report rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 6 of 51 filled |
seller_report.wording | The official source's own words. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 6 of 51 filled |
notes | Other points from the official source. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 5 of 51 filled |
unconfirmed | Fields the official sources read did not confirm for this row. Those values are null. | array of strings | 50 of 51 rows list at least one |
source_urls | Links to the official sources (all of them for jurisdictions with their own page; the main linked source for the others). | array of strings | 51 of 51 filled |
checked | When the row's sources were opened (YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD). A row with no official source carries the date of the check that found none. | date (YYYY-MM-DD) | 51 of 51 filled |
page_url | The page on mcc-solutionsnj.com that explains this row. | string (URL) | 51 of 51 filled |
Preview: the first 10 rows
jurisdiction | seller_notary.required | buyer_notary.required | bill_of_sale.required | deadline.days | plates.stay | checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | no | null | null | 20 | seller | 2026-11 |
| Alaska | null | null | no | 30 | varies | 2026-11 |
| Arizona | yes | null | null | 15 | seller | 2026-11 |
| Arkansas | null | null | yes | 60 | null | 2026-11 |
| California | no | null | some | 10 | null | 2026-11 |
| Colorado | no | null | yes | null | null | 2026-11 |
| Connecticut | null | null | yes | null | seller | 2026-11 |
| Delaware | null | null | null | null | null | 2026-11 |
| District of Columbia | null | null | advised | null | null | 2026-11 |
| Florida | null | null | null | 30 | seller | 2026-11 |
7 of 34 columns shown; the downloads have every column in full.
Download formats
The CSV has one row per jurisdiction and one column per field above, UTF-8, comma-separated. Nested fields use dotted names (seller_notary.required); lists are joined with | , and lists of objects become key: value; key: value items. The JSON keeps types (numbers, true/false, null, arrays) and includes this dictionary, the license and the checked date.
License
License: free to copy, share and adapt, including commercially, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Attribution required: credit "MCC Solutions" and link to this dataset page (https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/data/vehicle-title). The cite box below has text ready to paste.
Accuracy
Accuracy: every fact comes from an official government page as it read when checked (November 2026 for this release). Anything those pages did not confirm is null and named in the row's unconfirmed list; a null that is not on the list means the point does not apply or the source states none. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. We are not lawyers, and MCC Solutions is not a law firm.
Cite this data
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit MCC Solutions and link to https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/data/vehicle-title.
Changelog
- November 2026: sources checked for all 51 jurisdictions; this release has 34 fields, 369 confirmed values and 171 unconfirmed items.
- Downloads are generated from the data files on each request, so a corrected file shows up in the CSV and JSON straight away; a new entry is added here when the sources are checked again.