How to fill out Arkansas 10-308

The only notarised form in an Arkansas seller's set, and it exists for the day a pen slipped. When an assignment on a certificate of title has been altered - a name written over, a figure corrected, a wrong buyer scratched out - this affidavit is how the person who altered it explains themselves under oath: on what date they altered the assignment of which state's certificate, title number and all, for what reasons, and a sworn statement that the alteration was not made with intent to defraud, or with intent to evade the laws of the State of Arkansas governing the registration of motor vehicles. The department's reply is printed at the foot, and it is not a promise: it reserves the right to consider each application individually on its merits, and your affidavit does not necessarily mean that a certificate of title will be issued thereon.

Written against 10-308 (no revision printed), issued under Ark. Code Ann. Title 27, Chapter 14. The moment a mistake happens on an assignment, stop writing. Strike-throughs, initials and second attempts each add a fresh alteration for this affidavit to explain, and the department's printed warning means every addition lowers the odds the altered certificate is accepted at all.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 10-308 from the dfa.arkansas.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our 10-308 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Today's date, and who comes before the notary

   The date the oath is sworn and the deponent's name - the person whose pen made the alteration.

   Watch out: If the buyer altered it, the buyer swears. An affidavit in the wrong voice explains nothing and gets weighed accordingly.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   When the alteration happened

   On or about the day the assignment was changed - approximately is allowed, the form says on or about.

   Watch out: Honest approximation beats false precision. The examiner cares about the sequence of events, not the hour.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Which certificate

   The issuing state and the certificate of title number, from the front of the altered document.

   Watch out: The title number ties the oath to the paper. Copy it exactly - an affidavit about the wrong certificate number is a new problem.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   The reasons, in plain sentences

   Four lines for what was wrong and what was done: the misspelling, the wrong figure, the changed circumstance.

   Watch out: Name the true facts as well as the error - corrected the buyer's first name from the misheard spelling to the spelling on his license tells the examiner everything they need.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Sign in front of the notary, not before

   The affiant's signature, then the notary completes the subscribed-and-sworn block, the commission expiry and their own signature.

   Watch out: Bring photographic identification and an unsigned affidavit. The swearing is the point: a notary certifying a signature they watched is what turns your explanation into evidence.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Send it with the altered certificate

   The affidavit travels with the title work it explains, into the department's individual consideration.

   Watch out: Read the printed reservation at the foot and have a fallback: if the department declines the altered assignment, the replacement-title route is the reset button.

What gets this one rejected

• •Skipping the notary. Every other sheet in an Arkansas sale is signed plain; this one is sworn, and an unsworn explanation of an altered assignment is just more writing on a damaged document.
• •The wrong deponent. The affidavit says comes (name) who being duly sworn, deposes and says that he altered the assignment - it is the alterer's oath, not the owner's, where those differ.
• •A reason that is not a reason. Fixed it is not an account; the examiner weighing the altered certificate needs to know what was wrong and what the true facts are.
• •Treating the affidavit as acceptance. The printed notice is explicit that the department decides each application on its merits and the affidavit does not guarantee a title issues.
• •Altering the assignment again to match the affidavit. The affidavit explains the alteration that exists; a second correction needs its own explanation, and by then a replacement title is the cleaner road.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Prevention is a replacement title. Where the assignment is badly damaged - multiple corrections, a buyer who signed and vanished - the last titled owner can apply for a replacement certificate and start the assignment clean, rather than stacking oaths on a mess.
• •Any state's certificate. The form leaves the issuing state blank, because the altered assignment arriving at an Arkansas counter is as often on an out-of-state title as an Arkansas one.

Every line here was read off 10-308 (no revision printed) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Office of Motor Vehicle pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Back to all Arkansas seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Arkansas involves.