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Sold your car? Here is what to do next
The sale is done and the car is gone. Now what? There is a short list left, and one item on it is the one that bites people.
Handing over the keys is not the last step.
Tell the state you sold it
Most states have a filing that takes the vehicle off your record.
A notice of transfer. A release of liability. A seller’s report of sale. The name depends where you are.
Some take it online in a few minutes. Some give you a deadline measured in days.
This is the step people skip, and it is the one that matters most.
Until the buyer registers the vehicle, it can still look like yours.
Your state page says whether yours has one, what it is called and how long you have.
Every state, at a glance
The short answer for each state. Tap a state for the full answer, its source and the date it was checked.
| State | Tell the state? | Plates |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No. Alabama has no notice of sale | They come off, and stay with the seller |
| Alaska | Yes — and it tears off the title | They stay — unless they are personalized |
| Arizona | Yes. As soon as you sell | Off before they take possession |
| Arkansas | Optional — and the sale already protects you | They come off, and can move to your next vehicle for $1, plus any higher registration fee |
| California | Yes. Within 5 calendar days | They stay with the car |
| Colorado | Not required, but you may. Within 5 days | You keep them — never let the buyer drive off with them |
| Connecticut | Cancel the registration — and the clock is a tax clock | Off — and cancel the registration |
| Delaware | Yes — and it tears off the title | Off — and returned to any DMV office |
| District of Columbia | No notice of sale. The tag cancellation receipt is your record | Off at the sale; cancel or turn in within 5 business days, unless you move them to another vehicle |
| Florida | Yes. Within 30 days | They come off, and stay with the seller |
| Georgia | Yes — by canceling your registration | They stay with you — cancel the registration |
| Hawaii | 10 days — and a fine if you do not | They stay with the vehicle |
| Idaho | Yes. Within 5 days of delivering it | Off — they stay with you |
| Illinois | Yes — mail the Seller's Report of Sale | Off — sent to the Secretary of State, or moved to your next vehicle |
| Indiana | Not required — optional within 30 days | Off — and the BMV does not want them back |
| Iowa | Optional — but Iowa names three ways to prove it | Off — keep them for your next car, or turn them in |
| Kansas | Optional, $10, and filed online | Off — the right to use it expires |
| Kentucky | Only if the buyer misses 15 days — or is out of state | You keep it |
| Louisiana | Yes, within 15 days | They come off, and get destroyed |
| Maine | No notice — but deliver the certificate | Off — the plate stays with you |
| Maryland | No notice — the plate return is the act | Off — then return them to the MVA, or move them to your next vehicle |
| Massachusetts | Cancel the registration — excise tax depends on it | Off — move them to your next car, or cancel and cut them in half |
| Michigan | Nothing to file — keep proof for 18 months | Off before they take possession — keep it for another vehicle or destroy it |
| Minnesota | Yes — and it does not transfer ownership | They go with the car — and so do the taxes |
| Mississippi | No form. Surrendering the plate is the notice | They come off — and are surrendered |
| Missouri | Yes. Within 30 days, and it is required | Off before they take possession |
| Montana | Nothing. Montana says so outright | Off — and do not believe the promise |
| Nebraska | No seller notice listed — the plates go back or move to your next vehicle | Off — turn them in for a refund, or move them to your next vehicle |
| Nevada | Cancel the registration; the resale notice is optional, but protects you | You keep them |
| New Hampshire | No notice — the plates are the mechanism | Yours — credit follows the primary owner |
| New Jersey | No notice — the plate surrender is the act | Off — and surrendered to an agency |
| New Mexico | Yes. Mail MVD-10048, Notice of Vehicle Sold. No deadline is stated. | Off, then moved or canceled within 30 days |
| New York | No notice — the surrender and the receipt are it | Surrender them — you may get a refund |
| North Carolina | No notice — but the plate cannot wait | Off — and surrender it immediately |
| North Dakota | Nothing to the state — 30 days to the buyer | Off — and the unused months become a credit on your next vehicle |
| Ohio | Nothing to file | Off immediately — the statute says so |
| Oklahoma | Pre-register within 2 business days (you or the buyer). The $10 notice is optional. | They come off, and stay yours |
| Oregon | 10 days — and read what it does not do | They stay with the car, unless you take them off |
| Pennsylvania | No separate notice — the agent files it | Off — and mailed back to Harrisburg |
| Rhode Island | Yes — immediately, by law | Off — and the DMV will not take them at a counter |
| South Carolina | Yes — Form 416, the Notice of Vehicle Sold | Off — move it to another vehicle or return it within 30 days |
| South Dakota | Yes — report the sale when you sell, and give the buyer a seller's permit | You keep them — plate with owner |
| Tennessee | Nothing to file. It expires by law | They come off, and follow you |
| Texas | Optional — TxDMV says to file it. Within 30 days | They come off, and stay with the seller |
| Utah | Yes — and you can do it by phone | Off, unless sold with it — then 20 days to turn them in or reuse them |
| Vermont | Yes — return the registration certificate right away | Off — return them within 5 days, or move them to your next car |
| Virginia | Yes — and you can do it by phone | Off before they take possession — then turn them in |
| Washington | Yes. Within 5 business days, and it is an obligation | Off — you are legally obligated |
| West Virginia | Yes — the Sold Vehicle Notice, about 60 days after the sale | They come off — the seller keeps them |
| Wisconsin | Yes. Within 30 days, online | Off — then destroy them, do not return them |
| Wyoming | Nothing to file — it expires by law | Off immediately, unless it goes to close family or a joint owner |
Plates
States split into two camps and it is worth knowing which you are in.
In some, the plates stay with you and come off before the vehicle leaves.
In others they go with the vehicle.
Get it wrong in the first kind and your plate is on a car you no longer control.
Insurance, in that order
Cancel too early and you have a gap on something still registered to you.
Cancel too late and you are paying for a car somebody else is driving.
Hand over. File the notice. Then close the policy.
Tell the insurer the date it actually changed hands.
Tolls and tickets
These arrive weeks later and they arrive at whoever is on the record.
Keep the bill of sale and your copy of the notice. Between them they show the date it stopped being yours.
That is usually the whole argument.
A post-sale checklist
Ours is one page, in order, and the state-specific parts point at your state's own sheet. Free, no account.
What this page is
A plain description of how this generally works in private vehicle sales in the United States. Rules differ by state and change. It is not advice about your sale — for that, your state's motor vehicle agency is the authority, and their current page is what governs.