How to fill out Colorado DR 2394

The sworn heart of every Colorado bonding route. Four checklists point at it - surety bond, motor vehicle 25 years old or older, manufactured home over 25 years, and trailers 2000 lbs or less - and this is the two-page affidavit they all end at. It asks four narrative questions, and the answers are what a county reads to decide whether the claim of ownership is honest.

Written against DR 2394 (03/26/25), issued under C.R.S. 38-29-119 and 42-6-115. Read the last sentence of the certification before you sign. It is not a general perjury clause - it hands anyone who suffers loss by reason of this title being filed a direct right of action against you personally.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank DR 2394 from the dmv.colorado.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank DR 2394 — Bond Statement Guide & In Lieu of Bond Affidavit PDF at dmv.colorado.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is all 2 pages of the actual DR 2394, 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

Both pages of Colorado form DR 2394 filled in under the in-lieu-of-bond route for a vehicle over 25 years old: a 1988 Ford F-150 pickup, vehicle identification number 1FTEX15N1JKA26138, applicant Imogene F. Ratzlaff of Salida, bought for 2,200 dollars on 3 July 2026 with no bill of sale, narrative answers describing the efforts made to reach the seller and the owner of record, the vehicle marked Roadworthy and no liens. — Page 1 of 2. Which of the four routes this is, the vehicle in the detail a title application needs, and the free-text reason the title is not available.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Tick the route
One of four boxes at the top, each naming the checklist that governs it.
Watch out: The choice is made by the vehicle, not by preference. Twenty-five years old or older and it is the in-lieu-of-bond route; anything newer and a surety bond has to be purchased.
2
You fill this in
Vehicle Description
Vehicle identification number, fuel type, year, make, body, model, colour and empty weight.
Watch out: Take the identification number from the Colorado Certified VIN Inspection, not from the vehicle. The inspection is the document the county trusts.
3
You fill this in
Reason Title Not Available
A free-text box explaining why there is no certificate.
Watch out: Name the circumstance plainly - bought at auction with a bill of sale only, seller died, previous owner never sent the title. A vague answer here is what turns a four-week application into a four-month one.
4
You fill this in
Vehicle purchased from, and the price
Who you got it from, when, what you paid, and whether a bill of sale is attached.
Watch out: Attach it if you have one. The yes/no is read against the packet, and a yes with nothing behind it is worse than an honest no.
5
You fill this in
State your efforts to have the seller establish title.
The first narrative box - what you did to get the person who sold it to you to produce a certificate.
Watch out: Dates and methods. Two telephone calls in March and a letter in April is an answer; tried to contact him is not.
6
You fill this in
State your attempts to contact owner of record
The second narrative box, covering the owner the record search turned up.
Watch out: This is where the certified mail goes. The checklists ask for the letter and the return receipt as attachments, so describe what you sent and when it came back.
7
You fill this in
Condition, liens, and the signature
Roadworthy or Not Roadworthy, a yes/no on liens with a lienholder name, then a signature and date.
Watch out: The certification above the line gives anyone who suffers loss from this filing a right of action against you. It is the most personal sentence on any Colorado motor vehicle form.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The four route boxes at the top	Title or Salvage Title Established by Surety Bond; In Lieu of Bond for Motor Vehicle 25 Years Old or Older; In Lieu of Bond for Manufactured Home 25 Years Old or Older; and In Lieu of Bond for Trailers 2000 lbs or Less. Each names the checklist it belongs to.
Vehicle Description	Vehicle identification number, fuel type with a plug-in electric yes/no beside it, year, make, body, model, colour and CWT.
The classification questions	Off-Highway Vehicle yes/no, Snowmobile yes/no, Commercial Use yes/no, Bus Capacity adult or juvenile, plus dealer number, date purchased, MSRP and size.
Applicant's Name and address	Name, street address, city, state and ZIP.
Reason Title Not Available	A deep free-text box with a note offering a separate sheet if more space is needed.
Vehicle purchased from, Date Purchased, Price	Who sold it to you, when, and for how much, with a Bill of Sale Attached yes/no under them.
State your efforts to have the seller establish title.	The first of two narrative boxes, and the one a county reads hardest.
State your attempts to contact owner of record to insure they have no interest in the vehicle.	The second, which is where the certified mail described in the checklists gets written up.
Present condition of the vehicle	Roadworthy or Not Roadworthy - a two-way tick that decides whether the vehicle is heading for an ordinary title or a salvage one.
Are there any LIENS against this vehicle?	Yes or no, with a Name of Lienholder line under it.
The certification	Signed under penalty of perjury in the second degree, and carrying a warning with teeth: if any person suffers any loss or damage by reason of the filing of this certificate of title, they shall have the right of action against myself as the Applicant.

What gets this one rejected

•No route box ticked. Four different procedures share this affidavit and the county has to know which one it is reading.
•A narrative box left empty. Efforts to have the seller establish title and attempts to contact the owner of record are the substance of the application, not preamble.
•Attempts described but not evidenced. The checklists want a copy of the letter and a certified or registered mail return receipt going in with it.
•Roadworthy ticked on a vehicle a certified inspector has found otherwise. The condition tick and the Colorado Certified VIN Inspection are read together.
•A lien answered no where a record search found one. The search results go in the packet, so the two are read side by side.
•Filed before the record search. Every one of the four checklists puts a title record search before this affidavit, because the affidavit is partly a report on what the search found.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•The bond itself is not this form. Where the surety bond route applies, a bond is bought from an insurance company for two times the appraised value of the vehicle. This affidavit is what accompanies it.
•Over 25 years old and no bond is bought at all. A motor vehicle 25 years old or older takes the in-lieu-of-bond route, where this affidavit and the checklist replace the surety bond entirely.

Every line here was read off DR 2394 (03/26/25) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Colorado Department of Revenue, Division 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.

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

How to fill out Colorado DR 2394

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Tick the route

Vehicle Description

Reason Title Not Available

Vehicle purchased from, and the price

State your efforts to have the seller establish title.

State your attempts to contact owner of record

Condition, liens, and the signature

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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