One page, and the only plate paperwork a Colorado seller is likely ever to need. Colorado plates belong to the owner and come off at the handover, so there is no surrender form and no release - but a plate that went off with the car, was stolen off it, or has corroded into illegibility still has to be accounted for, and this affidavit is how. It is submitted to the county or state office in which the plate was last registered.
Written against DR 2283 (07/30/26), issued under C.R.S. 42-3-205.
If the buyer drove away with your plates on the car, this affidavit is not the first thing to reach for - reporting the transfer of ownership through myDMV is, because that is what separates your name from whatever happens next.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank DR 2283 from the dmv.colorado.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual DR 2283, rendered from the PDF the Colorado Department of Revenue, Division 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
One owner, one plate, one tick. The county and state stamp band at the foot is washed grey because it belongs to whoever receives the form, and the Owner 2 row is empty because the vehicle was registered to one person.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Owner 1 - first and last name
The registered owner, with a daytime telephone number underneath.
Watch out: The name that was on the registration, not the name on the title if the two differ. This affidavit is about a plate, and plates are registered rather than titled.
2
You fill this in
License Plate Number/Permit Number
The combination itself, beside the telephone number.
Watch out: Take it off the registration card rather than from memory. A wrong character sends the affidavit to a plate that belongs to somebody else.
3
You fill this in
Vehicle Make, Vehicle Model and Plate Type
What the plate was on, and what kind of plate it was.
Watch out: Plate type is the field that decides whether this is worth filing at all. Personalised and special plates carry a combination you have a right to; a standard green-and-white does not.
4
You fill this in
Tick what happened
Lost, Destroyed/Mutilated/Illegible, Stolen, or Other.
Watch out: Stolen requires a police report copy and Lost may require one. If you genuinely do not know which, Other with a written explanation is more honest than guessing.
5
You fill this in
Sign, under the ownership certification
Owner 1 signs and dates; Owner 2 signs where the vehicle was registered to two people.
Watch out: You are certifying that you own the vehicle to which these plates were registered. If the car has already gone, say so to the county rather than signing a sentence that has stopped being true.
6
You fill this in
Take it to the right office
The county or state office in which the plate was last registered, per the instruction at the foot of the page.
Watch out: The stamp block underneath is theirs. Leave it empty and let the office initial it when they take the form.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Owner 1
First Name and Last Name on one rule, then Daytime Phone Number and License Plate Number/Permit Number on the next.
Vehicle Make, Vehicle Model, Plate Type
Three boxes on one rule. Plate type matters because a personalised or special plate is worth replacing and an ordinary one usually is not.
Owner 2
A second first-and-last-name rule, for a vehicle registered to two people.
What has happened to the plate
Four tick boxes: Lost, with a note that a copy of a filed police report may be required; Destroyed, Mutilated, or Illegible; Stolen, where a copy of a filed police report is required; and Other.
The certification
Under penalty of perjury in the second degree, that the facts are true and that I own the vehicle to which these plates were registered.
Owner 1 Signature and Date, Owner 2 Signature and Date
Two rows.
County/State Stamp and Agent Initials
A block at the foot for the office receiving it, not for the applicant.
The instruction at the bottom
Submit form to the County or State office in which the plate was last registered.
What gets this one rejected
•A stolen plate with no police report. The form says a copy of a filed police report is required, without qualification.
•Filed at the wrong office. It goes to the county or state office where the plate was last registered, which is not necessarily where you live now.
•Signed by somebody who no longer owns the vehicle. The certification is that you own the vehicle to which these plates were registered.
•Anything written in the County/State Stamp block. That band belongs to the office receiving the form.
•Used to surrender a plate you still have. Colorado has no surrender form for an ordinary plate - it goes back over a county counter or into the metal recycling.
•One signature where two owners are named. The form gives an Owner 2 row for a jointly registered vehicle and expects it used.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•An ordinary plate is not usually worth replacing after a sale. It expired the moment you assigned the title. The affidavit matters where the plate was personalised, or where you want the record to show it is no longer on the road.
•Plate Type is the field to think about. A personalised or special plate carries a combination you have a priority right to. Getting that on the record before somebody else applies for it is the practical reason to file this.
