North Dakota car bill of sale Do you need one? And what else does North Dakota require?

Do you need a separate bill of sale?

Only where there is no title

The transfer runs on the assigned title. Where there is no title, you sign SFN 2888, the Seller's Certificate and Vehicle Bill of Sale, before a notary and give the reason the title cannot be furnished. For an untitled vehicle the buyer also needs more, including a notarized SFN 2903 Vehicle Statement of Ownership and a VIN inspection on SFN 2486, the Certificate of Motor Vehicle Inspection. For an antique, 40 years or older, NDDOT's manual says SFN 2888 and SFN 2486 may be used as proof of ownership. A substitute, not a companion.

Source: ND DOT forms SFN 2888 (4-2026) and SFN 2486 (5-2026); NDDOT Registration Manual

Does the title need a notary or witnesses?

Neither — unless you have no title

The Assignment and Warranty of Title, SFN 2877, carries no notary block. The Seller's Certificate and Vehicle Bill of Sale, SFN 2888, does — a full notary section — because that form is used as proof of ownership where no certificate of title is available. The notary attaches to the title substitute, not to the title.

Source: ND DOT forms SFN 2877 (4-2026) and SFN 2888

What happens to the plates?

Off — and the unused months become a credit on your next vehicle

Selling earns a credit here, not a refund. It can only go toward one replacement vehicle. A $5 credit transfer fee is due, and any credit above that vehicle's fees is lost. The seller removes the plates and the vehicle is then unlicensed. This plate rule does not apply to snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, prorate trucks and trailers, antiques, collectors, DAV and POW plates, or government vehicles. NDDOT's registration manual: an owner who has removed plates from a vehicle at the time it was transferred is allowed a credit towards the registration fees on a replacement vehicle, based on the number of unused months left. The plate number the credit is calculated from must be noted on the application, and the credit counts each month left after the month of the sale. Apply for the transfer within 30 days of buying your replacement vehicle.

Source: NDDOT Motor Vehicle Registration Manual

Do you have to tell the state you sold it?

Nothing to the state — 30 days to the buyer

Read this one carefully because the clock points somewhere unusual. North Dakota has no private-seller notice of sale; the only quarterly report of sales in the registration manual is filed by snowmobile dealers with State Parks and Recreation. What it does impose is a delivery duty: SFN 2877 states on its face that it is to be completed by the seller and DELIVERED TO THE BUYER WITHIN 30 DAYS of the date of sale. State law sets the same 30 days. Missing it is a class B misdemeanor. So the 30 days is owed to the person who bought your car, not to a government office. NDDOT's registration manual still says 15 days, while the form and the law say 30. Handing it over within 15 meets both.

Source: ND DOT form SFN 2877 (4-2026); NDCC 39-05-17; NDDOT Registration Manual

Where does the odometer reading go?

On the title itself

Write the reading in the odometer section on the title. A seller whose name is on the title discloses the mileage there, not on a reassignment document. SFN 2877 states that it CANNOT be used for odometer-required vehicles. Federal law sets the range — model year 2011 and newer, for the first 20 years. Vehicles over 16,000 pounds GVWR are exempt.

Source: NDDOT Registration Manual; ND DOT form SFN 2877; 49 CFR 580.5(c) and 580.17

The forms North Dakota publishes

• Assignment and Warranty of Title (SFN 2877) — Yours to complete and give the buyer within 30 days. Not for odometer-required vehicles. Where: dot.nd.gov/forms/sfn02877.pdf. Revision: 4-2026.
• Reassignment / Odometer Disclosure (SFN 18773) — May be used for the odometer disclosure. A seller whose name is on the title discloses on the title. Where: Not on the public forms page — contact the Motor Vehicle Division. Revision: not published.
• Seller's Certificate and Vehicle Bill of Sale (SFN 2888) — Only where no title is available. Must be notarized. Where: dot.nd.gov/forms/sfn02888.pdf. Revision: 4-2026.

Selling here, registering somewhere else

These are the rules where you are selling, not where the buyer is taking it. The title is signed under North Dakota’s rules, and the plate and the notice are yours to handle here.

Registering it and paying tax falls under the buyer’s own state’s rules.

How North Dakota compares

Counted from the same answers, for all fifty states.

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