Tells the DMV the car is no longer yours. Until it is filed you are still the registered owner of record, which means parking citations, toll notices and civil liability for whatever the buyer does with the car keep arriving at your address.
Written against REG 138 (Rev 3/2024), issued under California Vehicle Code 5602.
Five days is short, and the deadline runs from the date of sale, not from the day the buyer gets round to registering. File it the same afternoon.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank REG 138 from the dmv.ca.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our REG 138 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual REG 138, rendered from the PDF the California Department of Motor Vehicles publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
The actual REG 138. Capitals in black or blue, as the instruction line at the top asks. Note the odometer: two boxes with the form's own comma between them, and no tenths. The buyer's details go in the top block and yours in the lower one - the DMV lists getting those two the wrong way round first among its own tips.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
New owner's name
The buyer's last name or company name, then first name, in capitals.
Watch out: This is the block people fill with their own details. The DMV lists exactly that mistake first among its own helpful tips - the buyer goes at the top, you go underneath.
2
You fill this in
New owner's address
Where the buyer actually lives, with an apartment number if there is one.
Watch out: An address that cannot be read is not corrected, it is discarded. The warning box says the information will not be updated or retained, and no notice is sent to tell you.
3
You fill this in
Odometer reading
Whole miles, split across the two boxes with the form's printed comma between them - thousands on the left, the last three digits on the right.
Watch out: No tenths. The box label says so, and a reading with a decimal in it is one of the reasons a notice gets thrown away.
4
You fill this in
Date of sale, transfer, or lease return
Month, day and year of the handover.
Watch out: This is the date the five-day clock runs from, and the date that decides whether a citation two weeks from now is yours or theirs. Put the real date.
5
You fill this in
Seller's name and address
Your details, in the lower block.
Watch out: Capitals in black or blue ink, as the instruction line at the very top of the form asks.
6
You fill this in
Selling price
Whole dollars, no cents.
Watch out: If the car was a gift, the form tells you to enter 0 - not to leave it blank.
7
You fill this in
Vehicle identification strip
Licence plate or CF number, make or builder, year model, and the full VIN along the bottom.
Watch out: All four, on every form. If you sold two cars the same day, that is two separate REG 138s with the right plate and VIN on each - the DMV asks for individual forms.
8
You fill this in
Seller's signature
One signature, yours, on the rule at the right.
Watch out: A co-owner does not have to sign a release of liability. Then file it - online at dmv.ca.gov/nrl if you want any proof it arrived, because a mailed form generates no confirmation at all.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
New owner's last name (or company name) and first
The buyer. The form carries an explicit tip about this because people fill the buyer's details into the seller block and their own into the new owner block, which files the notice backwards.
New owner's address, apt number
Where the buyer actually lives. A notice with a made-up or illegible address is discarded rather than corrected.
Odometer reading (no tenths)
Whole miles. The box says no tenths and means it.
Date of sale, transfer, or lease return
Month, day, year. This is the date the five-day clock runs from, and the date that decides whether a citation is yours or theirs.
Seller's or lessee's name and address
Yours. Bottom half of the card.
Selling price (no cents)
Whole dollars. The form adds: if the vehicle is a gift, enter 0 for selling price.
Seller's or lessee's signature
One signature, yours. A co-owner does not have to sign a release of liability.
Vehicle licence or CF number, make or builder, year model, VIN
The identification strip along the bottom. All four, on every form.
What gets this one rejected
•Filing it late. The form's own headline is Protect Yourself - Submit this form within FIVE days.
•Writing in anything but capitals, or in a colour other than black or blue. The instruction line at the top asks for CAPITAL LETTERS in black or blue ink.
•Swapping the buyer and seller blocks. The DMV lists this first among its helpful tips, which tells you how often it happens.
•One form for several cars sold the same day. The DMV asks for individual forms for each vehicle, each with its own plate and VIN.
•Posting a bill of sale along with it. The form says not to mail a copy of a bill of sale or any other documentation with this form.
•Incomplete or illegible information of any kind. The warning box is blunt: the information WILL NOT be updated or retained, and no notice is sent to tell you so.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•['File online instead', 'dmv.ca.gov/nrl is faster and prints a receipt. A mailed form generates no confirmation at all - you never find out whether it arrived.']
•['Keep the bottom half', 'The sheet is a card and a stub. Detach the stub, keep it, and mail only the top card.']
Every line here was read off REG 138 (Rev 3/2024) itself —
the PDF is here — and off the California Department of Motor Vehicles pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
