The route to a Georgia title for a vehicle whose certificate cannot be produced at all - bought years ago and never titled, a seller who has died or vanished, a paper trail that stops. It is the sworn statement that supports a surety bond, and it is an attachment: the bond itself is a separate document executed by a surety.
Written against MV-46A (Rev 12-2013), issued under the Motor Vehicle Division, as an attachment to a Motor Vehicle Certificate of Title Bond.
A bonded title is the long way round and it is worth checking the short ways first. If the certificate exists but has gone missing, a replacement application is faster and cheaper; if it was posted and never arrived, the Form T-216 route may make the replacement free.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV-46A from the dor.georgia.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual MV-46A, rendered from the PDF the Georgia Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division 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 MV-46A at revision 12-2013. The three questions on the right are the ones that decide whether a bond is possible at all - a yes to the abandoned vehicle question prohibits it outright, and a yes to the total loss question sends the vehicle for a salvage inspection first.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Applicant
Your full legal name, Georgia driver's licence or identification number, street address with city, state and zip, and your county of residence.
Watch out: County of residence decides which tag office the eventual application goes to, and the bond has to be in the same name as the applicant.
2
You fill this in
The person you got it from
The transferor's full legal name, licence or identification number and street address.
Watch out: Write what you know and say so in the statement if that is little. An unknown transferor is not automatically fatal, but pretending to know is.
3
You fill this in
The statement
Three ruled lines explaining why the certificate cannot be provided.
Watch out: It is verified against the vehicle history report, so keep it to what the report will support - dates, who had it, what happened to the paperwork.
4
You fill this in
The vehicle
Year and make, vehicle identification number, and model.
Watch out: The VIN is what the history report is pulled on. If the plate on the car is unreadable, the inspection the bond needs is also the thing that establishes the number.
5
You fill this in
Any liens on the history report
Yes or no, with the release attached if yes.
Watch out: An old lien that was paid but never released is the commonest yes here, and clearing it is a separate errand with the lender before this form is any use.
6
You fill this in
Abandoned vehicle process
Yes or no.
Watch out: A yes ends it: the form says use of a surety bond is prohibited. Georgia handles abandoned vehicles through its own process and a bond is not a way round it.
7
You fill this in
Total loss or major component replacement
Yes or no to whether an insurer has ever settled it as a total loss, or the vehicle has been wrecked badly enough to need two or more major component parts replaced.
Watch out: A yes means a salvage vehicle inspection has to be scheduled before anything else happens. Answering no to save time is a false statement in a sworn affidavit.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Applicant
Your full legal name as applicant for a Georgia title, your Georgia driver's licence or identification number, your street address including city, state and zip code, and your county of residence.
The person you got it from
The seller's or dealer's - the transferor's - full legal name, their Georgia driver's licence or identification number, and their street address including city, state and zip code.
The statement
Three ruled lines for a full and complete statement giving the reason the vehicle's certificate of title cannot be provided. The form warns that the statement is subject to verification and validation of the vehicle history and satisfaction of any security interest or lien.
The vehicle
Vehicle year and make, vehicle identification number, and model - with length and width instead where the vehicle is a mobile or manufactured home.
State where the vehicle is titled
With an instruction to attach a vehicle history report from the state of issuance.
Three yes-or-no questions
Whether any security interests or liens appear on the vehicle history report, with an instruction to attach the release if so. Whether the vehicle was acquired through the abandoned vehicle process, where a yes prohibits the use of a surety bond outright. And whether an insurance company has ever made a total loss settlement, or the vehicle has been wrecked badly enough to need two or more major component parts replaced, where a yes means a salvage vehicle inspection has to be scheduled first.
Oath and affirmation
Sworn and affirmed on the applicant's own personal knowledge, before a notary who signs, seals, prints their name and states the commission expiry.
What gets this one rejected
•A vehicle that came through the abandoned vehicle process. The form says it in the question itself: if yes, use of a surety bond is prohibited.
•A vehicle that has been a total loss without an inspection first. If the answer to the third question is yes, the vehicle must first be scheduled for a salvage vehicle inspection.
•Filing it alone. It is an attachment to the motor vehicle certificate of title bond, and it has to be accompanied by a certification of inspection by a duly constituted Georgia law enforcement officer.
•A dealer trying to sell the car first. The line under the applicant block says a dealer must first acquire the bonded certificate of title prior to assignment or transfer of the vehicle.
•A statement that does not explain anything. The block asks for a full and complete statement of the reason the certificate cannot be provided, and warns that it will be verified against the vehicle history.
•Any alteration. The footer says the form must be complete and legible and that any alteration or correction voids it.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The inspection is by law enforcement. The footer names it: certification of inspection by law enforcement, by a duly constituted Georgia law enforcement officer. That is the T-22B, and it is not something a garage can do.
•A vehicle history report has to come with it. The state-of-title block carries the instruction to attach one from the state of issuance, and the three yes-or-no questions are answered against what it shows.
•The bond is a separate document. This affidavit supports the application; the Motor Vehicle Certificate of Title Bond is executed by a surety agent with a witness, and the Department publishes it separately.
