A replacement certificate with the processing fee waived, for the narrow case where the Motor Vehicle Division posted a title and it never arrived. It is the cheapest way out of a missing Georgia title and almost nobody knows it exists, because it only works inside a sixty-day window from the issue date.
Written against T-216 (Rev 2-23-2011), issued under Section 40-3-31, paragraph (5), of Georgia law, as the form itself cites it.
This is the oldest form in the Georgia seller set - revision 2-23-2011 - and only eight of its lines carry fillable boxes. The signature rules, the printed name blocks and the whole notary acknowledgement are printed rules with nothing behind them, so they are completed in ink.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank T-216 from the dor.georgia.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual T-216, 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 T-216 at revision 2-23-2011. Six weeks lie between the posting date and the date this was signed - well inside the sixty-day window that makes the replacement free. The I/We line, the signature rules and the notary block have no fillable fields in the Department's PDF and are signed in ink.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The certificate number
The Georgia certificate of title number the Department's record shows was issued.
Watch out: You get this by asking - the form's own certification is that an inquiry was made with the State Processing Center or the county tag office. It is not a number you are expected to already have.
2
You fill this in
The vehicle
Year model, make and vehicle identification number on one line.
Watch out: As the Department's record has them, since the whole affidavit is a statement about that record.
3
You fill this in
The owner's address as the record shows it
The address the Department was posting to.
Watch out: This is often the answer to why the title never arrived. Write what the record says, not where you live now - the current address has its own block at the foot.
4
You fill this in
The date it was posted
Month, day and year the certificate was mailed.
Watch out: The sixty days run from the title's issue date, so this line is what decides whether the fee is waived or whether $8.00 is due.
5
You fill this in
The date you sign
The date of the affidavit, in the block above the notary section.
Watch out: Count the days between this and the posting date before you file. Past sixty and the application is still valid, it simply stops being free.
6
You fill this in
Owner's current street address
Where you actually are now, in the two blocks at the bottom right.
Watch out: This is where the replacement gets posted. Filing an affidavit about a title lost in the post and then repeating the address that lost it is the mistake this block exists to prevent.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The certification about the record
That an inquiry was made with the State Processing Center or the county tag office, and that their records reflect the certificate number that was issued, for a described vehicle, in named owners, at a stated address, and posted on a stated date.
The vehicle
One line for the vehicle year model, make and vehicle identification number.
The owners and the address
Owners' names as shown on the State Processing Center record, and the owner's address as the record has it - which is the point of the exercise, because a title posted to a stale address is exactly how one goes missing.
The date it was posted
Month, day and year. It is what the sixty days are counted from.
The request
The owners' printed names, and a request that a replacement certificate be issued since the original has not been received.
The sworn statement
Under section 40-3-31, paragraph (5), a solemn swearing under penalty of a felony for making a material false statement, punishable by a fine up to $5,000.00 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both.
Signature, notary and current address
The owner's signature and printed name, a notary acknowledgement with day, month and year, seal, printed name and commission expiry, and the owner's current street address and city, state and zip.
What gets this one rejected
•Filing it outside the window. The waiver only applies to replacement applications received within sixty days of the title's issue date, and applications received later cannot be processed without the $8.00 processing fee.
•Filing it on its own. A completed and signed title application has to accompany it.
•Having an attorney-in-fact complete it. The form states that the vehicle owner must complete this form and that an attorney-in-fact cannot.
•Using it where the title went to a lienholder. The provision does not cover titles posted by the Motor Vehicle Division to a recorded security interest or lien holder.
•Any alteration. The form says all applicable spaces must be completed and that any alterations or corrections void it.
•Guessing the mailing date. The whole affidavit is a statement about the Department's own record, and the certification says an inquiry was made to establish it.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It is a fee waiver, not a different process. What this affidavit buys is the $8.00 processing fee, waived under section 40-3-31, paragraph (5). Everything else about a replacement title still applies.
•Expedited service costs extra. A $10.00 special handling fee is due for applications processed through the Processing Center's walk-in or mail-in expedited service.
•Two places will take it. The county tag agent, or the State Processing Center at the Motor Vehicle Division in Atlanta, whose post office box the form prints.
Every line here was read off T-216 (Rev 2-23-2011) 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.
