How to fill out California REG 31

A physical inspection matching the metal to the paperwork. It is required for a vehicle coming into California from another state, for a rebuilt or specially constructed vehicle, and where a title has been replaced within the last 90 days.

Top of the blank California REG 31, Verification of Vehicle, as the agency publishes it

Step 1 · the form itself Blank REG 31 — Verification of Vehicle PDF at dmv.ca.gov · new tab View the blank REG 31

Top of our filled-in example of California REG 31, Verification of Vehicle

Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in REG 31 guide PDF · 2 pages · 650 KB · new tab See our filled-in example

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank REG 31 from the dmv.ca.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our REG 31 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Written against REG 31 (Rev 5/2025), issued under California Vehicle Code 4150 and 4453. The vehicle may still be subject to a separate verification by the California Highway Patrol, and the form says so. A CHP appointment is not same-day in most of the state.

Last updated August 22, 2026.

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual REG 31, 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 California REG 31 with only its two certification blocks completed: the verifier's signature, the city and state the verification was executed at, the date, and the verifier's email address, all in grey to show that none of it is the vehicle owner's to write. The checklist above them - VIN location, federal certification label, odometer and emission label - is left blank because the DMV's own fillable PDF carries no boxes there. — This is what the REG 31 looks like when it is completed correctly by the only person allowed to complete it. It is worth seeing for what is not on it: the DMV's fillable PDF contains no boxes at all for sections 1 to 9, because a verifier marks them by pen while standing at the car. The two blocks at the foot are the whole of the form's fillable content, and neither of them is yours.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Vehicle owner's signature
The one line on this form an owner ever signs, and only in a single circumstance: the statement of facts above it is about an identification number or engine number that does not match the titling documents.
Watch out: It is empty on this sample because the numbers agreed. Sign it on a form where they did not, and you are certifying under penalty of perjury that you had no knowledge of the difference.
2
You fill this in
Printed name and date, owner's block
Completed only alongside that statement of facts, never on its own.
Watch out: If a verifier hands you a form and asks you to sign here on a car with no numbering problem, something has been misunderstood. Ask which discrepancy is being declared.
3
The vehicle verifier fills this in
Verifier signature
The certification that the vehicle described above was physically examined today and found to be as indicated.
Watch out: The label on the box rules out the shortcut in advance: a stamped or typed signature will not be accepted. It has to be signed by hand.
4
The vehicle verifier fills this in
Executed at, and date
The city and state where the form was signed, and the date - both marked REQUIRED on the form itself.
Watch out: A verification is a snapshot of a car on a day. The date here is what a counter compares against everything else in the application.
5
The vehicle verifier fills this in
Verifier's email address
How the department goes back to the person who did the inspection.
Watch out: Everything above these five boxes is a printed checklist, and the warning at the top says any missing section, alteration, cross-out or erasure voids the form even when initialled. There is no correcting one; there is only doing another.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Who fills it in	Not you. It says so across the top: NOT TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT. It has to be completed in full by an authorised DMV representative, a California licensed vehicle verifier, an authorised auto club employee, or a peace officer trained to perform verifications - while physically inspecting the complete, assembled vehicle.
Licence plates on vehicle	None, dealer, or temporary permit, with plate number, state, expiry, number of axles and motive power.
Vehicle identification number	Recorded off the car, with separate boxes for the 8th and 10th VIN characters.
Category	Automobile, commercial, permanent trailer ID, trailer coach, motorcycle, off-highway. One box.
Sections 1 to 9	Every numbered section needs at least one box ticked. Anything that does not apply is marked N/A rather than left empty.

What gets this one rejected

•Any missing section, alteration, cross-out or erasure - even when initialled. The warning on the form says that voids it and a new verification has to be done.
•A blank where N/A belongs. The instruction is to mark non-applicable areas, not to skip them.
•Completing it yourself, or letting the buyer complete it. It is void the moment an applicant fills it in.
•A verification attempted on a vehicle that is not complete and assembled.

Every line here was read off REG 31 (Rev 5/2025) 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.

Forms that go with this one

For a car still on another state's title, see what to have ready at a Sacramento pickup, where our page notes that titles issued outside California are fine.

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

How to fill out California REG 31

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Vehicle owner's signature

Printed name and date, owner's block

Verifier signature

Executed at, and date

Verifier's email address

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Forms that go with this one

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