One page appointing somebody to act for you on one vehicle. The grant is wider than people expect - it covers applying for an original or a duplicate certificate of title, registering, transferring title and recording a lien, and it lets your attorney-in-fact print your name and sign their own on your behalf. It also carries full power of substitution, which means the person you appoint may pass the authority on.
Written against HSMV 82053 (Rev 06/16/22), issued under section 319.225(6), Florida Statutes - the provision that separates this non-secure form from the department's secure version.
This is the form that lets a sale happen while you are deployed, in hospital, or four states away - and it is also the form that lets somebody sell your car without you. Complete it, keep a copy, and do not sign a blank one for anybody.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank HSMV 82053 from the flhsmv.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual HSMV 82053, rendered from the PDF the Florida Department of Highway Safety and 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 actual HSMV 82053. One vehicle row is used and the second is left empty, because everything listed on a single form has to belong to the same owner. The whole of the co-owner block below is grey for the same reason: this certificate is in one name.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The date at the very top
Month, day and year in the three boxes before the words I/we hereby name and appoint.
Watch out: It is the date the authority begins, and it is the first thing on the page rather than the last. A form dated after the day your attorney-in-fact used it is a form that did not authorise what they did.
2
You fill this in
Who you are appointing
The full name of the person or entity, printed legibly - the form says so beneath the line.
Watch out: What you are handing over is set out in the paragraph underneath: applying for an original or duplicate certificate, registering, transferring title, recording a lien, and printing your name and signing their name on your behalf. It is broader than most people expect, and it comes with full power of substitution.
3
You fill this in
Which kind of thing this covers
Motor vehicle, mobile home, vessel, vessel with an untitled trailer, or vessel with a titled trailer. Only one.
Watch out: The form says please check only one of the following options, and the trailer distinctions are by weight - under 2,000 pounds is untitled, 2,000 or more is titled. Ticking two makes the document ambiguous about what was authorised.
4
You fill this in
The vehicle table
Year, make, body type, title number and VIN, on one row. There is a second row for a second vehicle.
Watch out: The line at the foot is the constraint: the owner and co-owner must be the same for all vehicles listed. Two cars in two different names need two forms.
5
You fill this in
Your printed name and your signature
Printed name of the owner-grantor on the left, signature on the right, under the perjury declaration.
Watch out: The notice above it asks you to complete the form in its entirety prior to signing. Signing a power of attorney with blanks still in it is handing somebody a pen as well as an authority.
6
You fill this in
Licence number, date of birth and address
Driver licence, identification card or FEID number, date of birth, and the full address underneath.
Watch out: This is the non-secure power of attorney, and the paragraph at the foot draws the line that matters: whoever is appointed may complete the odometer disclosure as the buyer only or the seller only, never as both. A dealership signing both halves needs the secure HSMV 82995 instead.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The date, and who you are appointing
As of today, with the date written in, you name and appoint the person - and the form says the full legibly printed name is required, not initials and not a trading name.
What the appointment covers
Applying for an original or duplicate certificate of title, registering, transferring title, or recording a lien on the vehicle described, and doing all things necessary to the application or any related instrument.
Which kind of thing
One box only: motor vehicle, mobile home, vessel, vessel with an untitled trailer under 2,000 pounds, or vessel with a titled trailer of 2,000 pounds or more.
The vehicle
Year, make or manufacturer, body type, title number and the vehicle or hull identification number.
The instruction above your signature
Notice to owners: please complete this form in its entirety prior to signing. It is there because a signed blank is a gift to whoever holds it.
Owner and co-owner
Legibly printed name, signature, driver licence, identification card or FEID number, date of birth where applicable, and full address - one block each, under a perjury declaration.
The odometer limit, printed at the foot
This non-secure form may be used where the person appointed will complete the odometer disclosure as the buyer only or the seller only. It cannot be used to let one person or business sign as both buyer and seller for the purpose of disclosing the odometer reading.
What gets this one rejected
•Signing it before it is filled in. The notice to owners asks for the form to be complete first, and an appointment over a blank vehicle description is not a limited power of attorney at all.
•Using it to let a dealership disclose the mileage on both sides of the deal. The form directs that to the department's secure version, and only where the paper title is held by the lienholder or lost.
•Different owners on different vehicles. The form says the owner and co-owner must be the same for every vehicle listed on it.
•Using it on the electronic-title route. The department's transfer procedure states that a power of attorney cannot be used where an electronic title is being reassigned at the counter.
•Treating a dealership's staff as separate people. A licensed dealer and their employees are considered a single entity for this purpose.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Full power of substitution, in plain words. The form ratifies whatever your attorney-in-fact may lawfully do, and gives them power to put someone else in their place. Appoint somebody you would be content to see delegate.
•It is one vehicle, not your affairs. The authority is tied to the description block. It is limited in subject, not in strength.
