How to fill out Connecticut Title exemption letter

Not a form and nothing to fill in - a one-page letter on department letterhead that exists because nobody outside Connecticut believes a car can legally be sold with no title. If you are selling an older car to a buyer in a state that titles everything, this is the document that ends the argument, and the department publishes it for exactly that purpose. It is linked from the department's own page on selling a vehicle without a title as "This letter".

Written against Title exemption letter (no revision printed), issued under Conn. Gen. Stat. s. 14-166, issued by Specialized Registry Services. The letter carries no revision date and no reference number, so there is no way to tell an old copy from a new one on its face. Download a fresh copy from the department at the time of the sale rather than reusing one somebody sent you.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Title exemption letter from the portal.ct.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank Title exemption letter — DMV letter confirming Connecticut does not title vehicles over twenty model years old PDF at portal.ct.gov · new tab

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Why there is no completed Title exemption letter here

There is nothing on this document to fill in and no box on it that belongs to a seller. It is a standing letter the department publishes ready-signed, addressed to whoever the reader hands it to, and the only thing to do with it is print it and put it in the folder with the registration certificate and the bill of sale.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
State of Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, 60 State Street, Wethersfield	The letterhead. It is issued centrally rather than by a branch office.
To Whom It May Concern	The salutation, which is the point: it is written for a stranger who is not the seller.
The statement of law	In accordance with Connecticut State Law Title 14, Section 14-166, the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles does not issue titles for vehicles older than 20 model years old.
The indented restatement	A second, set-apart paragraph quoting the statute: Connecticut State Law Title 14, Section 14-166 regarding exempted vehicles, the acquisition of a certificate of title shall not be required for a motor vehicle older than 20 model years.
Where to look next	Visit ct.gov/dmv to learn more about the requirements for selling non-titled vehicles in Connecticut. Additional information regarding Connecticut's state law can be found on NADA.com or POLK.com.
The telephone number	860-263-5710, the department's title line, printed for anyone who wants to check that the letter is real.
Signature block	Signed off by Specialized Registry Services, State of Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles - the unit at Room 305 that handles titles.

What gets this one rejected

•Using it in place of proof of ownership. It proves what Connecticut does; it proves nothing about your car. The registration certificate is what shows the vehicle is yours.
•Sending it instead of the registration certificate to an out-of-state buyer. They need both - the letter to explain the absence, the registration to establish the chain.
•Relying on it for a car that does have a Connecticut title. A certificate that exists has to be assigned, whatever the model year.
•Assuming the twenty-year line is a fixed year. It moves every 1 January, so a letter printed today describes a different set of cars from one printed in two years' time.
•Treating it as an exemption from registration. It is about the certificate of title only. The buyer still registers the car, still pays the tax and still needs an emissions test if the car is inside the programme's age band.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•The commissioner will still issue a title if asked. Section 14-166(b) is two sentences and the second one matters: the commissioner shall issue a certificate of title for a motor vehicle older than twenty model years old at the request of the owner and charge such owner any fees required by section 14-192. If a buyer's home state insists on a certificate, the ordinary title fee under that section is what it costs.
•The registration certificate is the proof of ownership. The department's words on the same page: if the vehicle is a non-titled vehicle in the state of Connecticut, your registration certificate is considered proof of ownership.
•The transfer still needs a Q-1. For registration of a non-titled vehicle the department asks for the registration from the last owner, a request for supplemental assignment of ownership (Form Q-1), and/or Bill of Sale (Form H-31).
•The department's own manual is behind the law here. The Dealer Online Manual reprints s. 14-166 in its appendix with the pre-2014 sentence about vehicles manufactured prior to 1981 still in it. The letter is current; the manual's reprint is not.

Every line here was read off Title exemption letter (no revision printed) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Connecticut 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.

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

How to fill out Connecticut Title exemption letter

Why there is no completed Title exemption letter here

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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