How to fill out Delaware MV216

The Delaware answer to a certificate that is wrong rather than missing. Three tick boxes at the top - Corrected Title, Defaced Title, VIN Correction - and one condition printed in capitals across the middle: the original certificate of title must accompany the application for a corrected title, and odometer disclosure information must be completed for corrected titles.

Written against MV216 (02/2024), issued under the Division of Motor Vehicles, which issues a corrected certificate against the original surrendered with this application. Almost every reason to reach for this form is avoidable by reading the certificate before you write on it. The one that is not is an error the Division made when it issued the title - and that is worth checking for on the day it arrives rather than on the day you sell, because the original has to travel with the application and the car cannot be transferred while the Division has it.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV216 from the dmv.de.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MV216 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Tick what is wrong with it

   Corrected Title, Defaced Title or VIN Correction, top right.

   Watch out: Defaced is for physical damage or writing on the certificate. Corrected is for a value that is wrong on an otherwise sound document.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Delaware tag number and the two dates

   Tag number, last title issue date, last expiration date. The new tag number box beside them is for corrected titles only.

   Watch out: These three come off the registration card and the front of the certificate you are about to surrender.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Correct Mileage, From and To

   The reading the certificate carries now, and the reading it should carry.

   Watch out: Compulsory on a corrected title, in capitals, whether or not mileage is what you are correcting.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   The two odometer boxes

   Over the mechanical limit and started again at zero, or not the actual mileage.

   Watch out: The same two boxes as on the back of the certificate, and the same warning under them about a false statement resulting in fines and/or imprisonment.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Make, VIN, year, colours, body style

   The vehicle as the corrected certificate should describe it.

   Watch out: If the VIN in this row differs from the one on the certificate, you are making a VIN correction and you need the inspector's signature further down.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Registered Weight, From and To

   A weight correction, stated as a pair.

   Watch out: Mostly a trailer and commercial problem, because Delaware prices those registrations by weight. Leave it alone on an ordinary car.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Change of VIN, From and To

   The serial number as recorded and as it should be.

   Watch out: Nothing happens here without the line underneath being signed by an inspector. Book the inspection before you fill the form in.

8. 8
   Somebody else fills this in

   Signature of Inspector Authorizing Change of Serial Number

   The inspector's signature on its own line under the VIN row.

   Watch out: Not an owner's, not a dealer's. It is the whole safeguard on this half of the form.

9. 9
   You fill this in

   Change of Name, From and To

   The name on the certificate now, and the name it should carry.

   Watch out: A legal name change - marriage, divorce, court order - is a different errand with its own documents. This box is for a certificate that got your existing name wrong.

10. 10
    You fill this in

    Liens or encumbrances, and the owner block

    Secured party name and address - if none, state so - then owner names and the address the corrected certificate is posted to.

    Watch out: With a lien still recorded, the reissued certificate goes to the lender. Plan for that before you surrender the original.

11. 11
    You fill this in

    Sign, with driver's licence numbers

    Signature of Owner and Signature of Co-Owner, each with a licence number, plus a line for anybody else presenting it.

    Watch out: The sworn line above the signatures is the same one on the duplicate application. Read it and make sure it describes your situation before you sign.

12. 12
    The lienholder fills this in

    The two lienholder blocks

    Lien satisfied, with a date of release, or lien to be re-entered - completed by the lender, never both.

    Watch out: Printed between them, in capitals: DO NOT FILL IN BOTH BLOCKS. Filling in both is a contradiction about whether a debt still exists.

What gets this one rejected

• •Applying without the certificate. Printed in capitals: original certificate of title must accompany application for corrected title.
• •Leaving the odometer information out. Also printed in capitals: odometer disclosure information must be completed for corrected titles.
• •Filling in a new tag number on anything but a corrected title. The box says Corrected Titles Only underneath it.
• •Correcting a VIN without an inspector. The change of VIN row carries its own signature line for the inspector authorizing the change of serial number, and the Division does not accept an owner's word for it.
• •Completing both lienholder blocks. The instruction is printed between them.
• •Assuming a correction is free. The fee line is on the form: $35.00 corrected with no lien, $55.00 corrected with a lien.
• •Using it to fix a mileage figure the seller wrote wrong on a title that has already been assigned. That is a different problem with a different form - a sworn affidavit signed by both parties - because a correction to somebody else's disclosure is not something an owner can apply for.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Corrected, defaced, VIN - three different failures. Corrected covers a wrong name, weight, colour or mileage on a certificate the Division issued. Defaced covers a certificate that has been damaged or written on so that it can no longer be relied upon. VIN correction covers a serial number recorded wrongly, and is the only one of the three that needs an inspector.
• •From and To is the pattern. Mileage, registered weight, VIN and name are all stated as a pair of boxes rather than a single value. The Division wants to see what is being changed as well as what it is being changed to, because the correction is being made against a record it already holds.
• •Where it goes. The masthead carries the address: STATE OF DELAWARE DIVISION OF MOTOR VEHICLES, PO BOX 698 DOVER, DE 19903, and the Division's own website address under it.
• •A spoiled certificate is not a repair job. Delaware's own standard for every document in a title transaction is no alterations, corrective tape, or erasable ink. Correction fluid on a certificate turns a correctable error into a defaced title, which is the second box on this form.

Every line here was read off MV216 (02/2024) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Delaware 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 Delaware seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Delaware involves.