How to fill out Arkansas Reconstruction affidavit

The rebuild's paper trail, and the affidavit that turns a SALVAGE brand into a REBUILT one. The rebuilder lists every part repaired or replaced - an A for repaired, a B for replaced - and, for the parts on the form's own reverse-side list, the VIN of the vehicle each replacement part came from. Its back page carries the whole scheme in miniature: the owner of an Arkansas-registered vehicle damaged to seventy percent or submerged above the dash surrenders a Declaration of Damage and takes a SALVAGE title; when the vehicle is rebuilt, owner and rebuilder surrender this affidavit and the SALVAGE title and apply for a title bearing the notation REBUILT; vehicles more than seven model years old before the damage year are exempt; and failure by either party to handle this affidavit properly is a Class A misdemeanor.

Written against Reconstruction affidavit (no revision printed), issued under Ark. Code Ann. § 27-14-2301. If you are the owner, your one job is the acknowledgement and the surrender - and it is not a formality. The completed copy the rebuilder hands you is the document the department wants from you, and the misdemeanor for sitting on it is written against the vehicle owner by name.

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

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   Somebody else fills this in

   The rebuilder identifies itself

   Name, trading name, and address of the repairman or rebuilder making the affidavit.

   Watch out: Owners doing their own rebuild put themselves here and leave the owner block empty - the affidavit's voice belongs to whoever turned the wrenches.

2. 2
   Somebody else fills this in

   Owner and vehicle

   The owner's block where shop and owner differ, then the VIN, year, make, model and body style of the salvage vehicle.

   Watch out: The VIN here is the rebuilt vehicle's own. Donor VINs come later, in the parts column built for them.

3. 3
   Somebody else fills this in

   The parts list, A or B

   Each part repaired (A) or replaced (B) on its own row.

   Watch out: Check the reverse-side list before writing: the parts on it need the donor vehicle's VIN in the right-hand column, and a water-damaged vehicle's electrical components must all appear.

4. 4
   Somebody else fills this in

   Describe the rebuild

   Four lines of narrative on the repairs necessary to rebuild the vehicle.

   Watch out: Make the narrative agree with the Declaration of Damage that started the file - the department is reading them as chapters of one story.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   The rebuilder swears, the owner acknowledges

   The certification and signature of the repairer or rebuilder, dated; the owner signs the acknowledgement of receipt beside it.

   Watch out: Insist on your completed copy on the spot - the law obliges the shop to give it and you to surrender it, and both failures carry the same misdemeanor.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Surrender it with the salvage title

   The affidavit and the existing SALVAGE-branded certificate go to the department together, with an application for a title bearing the notation REBUILT.

   Watch out: Budget the title fee and expect the brand, not a clean slate - and when you later sell, the Buyer's Notification page is your next stop.

What gets this one rejected

• •Donor parts with no donor VINs. The reverse side lists the parts for which a VIN or VIN derivative must accompany the entry, and a B in the column with nothing beside it fails the list's whole purpose.
• •An owner who never surrenders it. The penalty paragraph splits the misdemeanor evenly: failure by the repairer to provide the completed copy, or failure by the owner to surrender it to the department.
• •A junk vehicle dressed as a rebuild. The reverse is blunt: vehicles with an ownership document bearing Junk, Non-repairable, Parts Only or similar shall not be registered for use on the streets and highways - reconstruction does not reach them.
• •An out-of-state salvage vehicle claiming the Arkansas age exemption. Vehicles not registered in Arkansas at the time of damage are not eligible for the age exemption, or any exemption.
• •Water damage with the electrical work left off. The form's own capitalised note requires all electrical components replaced to be listed for water damaged vehicles.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The brand changes, the history does not. What issues after this affidavit is a title marked REBUILT - and when the vehicle sells, the Buyer's Notification discloses that brand on a side window, so the affidavit's honesty is eventually read by the buying public.
• •Standards are sworn, not inspected. Arkansas's affidavit route swears the structural repairs meet manufacturer's or industry approved standards rather than routing every rebuild through a state inspection lane - which is why the sworn parts list carries the weight it does.

Every line here was read off Reconstruction affidavit (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.