How to fill out Georgia MV-18A

For a mistake that is printed on the certificate itself rather than written into the assignment, on a title application more than five years old. The Department no longer holds the microfilmed or imaged papers behind a title that old, so it reissues from what this affidavit says - and asks you to indemnify it for doing so.

Written against MV-18A (Rev 8-2020), issued under the Motor Vehicle Division's Research and Title Corrections section. This is the form for a title record that has aged past the Department's own paperwork. If the error is recent, or is in the assignment rather than in the printed certificate, one of the other correction routes is the right one and this affidavit will be refused.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV-18A from the dor.georgia.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Section A, owner information

   Your full legal name or business name, mailing address, city, state, zip, e-mail and telephone.

   Watch out: The instruction sheet says the mailing address block should contain the physical address of the owner. This is where the reissued certificate goes.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Section B, the certificate number

   The Georgia certificate of title number, one character per printed box.

   Watch out: It is on the face of the certificate. If the certificate is the thing you cannot find, this is not the form - a replacement title application is.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Section B, the correction grid

   Nine rows and two columns. Write what the certificate currently says on the left and what it should say on the right, on the one row that is wrong.

   Watch out: Fill in only the row that needs correcting. Retyping the correct rows into both columns invites a clerk to compare nine pairs instead of one.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Section C, certification and identification

   A Georgia driver's licence, identification or customer identification number, then a signature and date - and the indemnity paragraph above them.

   Watch out: Read the indemnity before signing. You are agreeing to defend and hold harmless the Department and the county tag agents against any claim arising from a certificate issued on the strength of what you have written.

What gets this one rejected

• •Using it on an odometer reading or an odometer brand. The purpose paragraph excludes both: it should not be used to change an odometer reading or to remove an odometer discrepancy brand or legend.
• •Using it on a title application newer than five years. The form is for information that was on a title application older than five years - a recent error is a different route.
• •Filing it without a title application. A completed and signed Form MV-1 has to accompany it, along with the original Georgia certificate of title unless it has been lost or stolen.
• •Correcting a VIN without an inspection. A completed Form T-22B certificate of inspection or a legible pencil tracing of the VIN plate is required, and the inspection has to be done by a Georgia law enforcement officer, a county tag agent or their designated employee.
• •Removing a salvage or rebuilt brand without evidence. A signed letterhead statement from the insurance company is required, saying the brand was placed in error and the vehicle is not now and has never been in a salvage or rebuilt condition.
• •Assuming it will be granted. The important information line at the foot reserves the right to deny the correction of any Georgia certificate of title.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Two places take it, and one of them is faster. The completed affidavit goes to a local county tag office, or by post to Research and Title Corrections at the Motor Vehicle Division in Atlanta. There is also an in-person customer service lobby on Welcome All Road that takes appointments booked online.
• •What it costs depends on whose name the title comes back in. No fee where the title is to be issued in the same names as the original. Where there is a transfer of ownership, the $18.00 title application fee and the title tax are due, and if it has been more than 30 days since the date of transfer, the penalty fees go with it.
• •The salvage route has its own price. Where the insurance company will not write the letter, a Motor Vehicle Division salvage inspector's report can stand in - and that means a Form T-22R request for inspection, this affidavit, a title application, the original certificate and a $100 inspection fee payable to the Department.

Every line here was read off MV-18A (Rev 8-2020) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Georgia Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

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