How to fill out Georgia T-226L

Your buyer's escape hatch when your lender is slow. It asks a county tag agent to extend the initial registration period and issue a temporary operating permit for thirty days, on the ground that the lienholder has failed to provide the title in a timely manner. A seller does not file it - but a seller whose lender is the cause is the person who has to explain it.

Written against T-226L (Rev 04/2019), issued under a county tag agent, who issues the temporary operating permit this affidavit asks for. The Department's own file name for this form describes it as the thirty-day extension for a lien that has not been released, which is the plainest description of when it applies. It is a buyer's form with a seller's cause.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank T-226L 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
   The buyer fills this in

   Section A, primary owner

   First name, middle initial, last name and suffix, residence address, city, state, zip and telephone.

   Watch out: The instructions say the mailing address block should contain the physical address of the registrant. A post office box is not what this line wants.

2. 2
   The buyer fills this in

   Section A, secondary owner

   The identical block for a second registrant.

   Watch out: Empty is fine where there is only one buyer, and that is what the greyed block in the sample shows. Two buyers means two full blocks.

3. 3
   The buyer fills this in

   Section B, the vehicle

   The VIN and description of the car whose registration ran past its date.

   Watch out: Copy the VIN from the bill of sale that has to be attached, so the two documents agree character for character.

4. 4
   The buyer fills this in

   Section B, insurance

   The insurance company's name, the policy number and the policy expiration date.

   Watch out: Cover has to already be in place. The permit this form asks for puts a car on the road, and Georgia's database checks it.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Section B, seller or transferor

   Your full legal name or business name, your city and state, and the purchase date.

   Watch out: The purchase date here has to match the date of sale on the assignment. If they differ, the tag agent is looking at two accounts of the same transaction.

6. 6
   The buyer fills this in

   Section C, the sworn statement

   Name the county tag agent being asked to extend the initial registration period, then provide a Georgia driver's licence number and sign.

   Watch out: The named county has to be the one the applicant lives in. Naming the county where the car was bought sends the request to an office with no record of the applicant.

7. 7
   The buyer fills this in

   Section D, notary acknowledgement

   Day, month and year, the notary's full legal name, physical address, e-mail, telephone, signature, seal and commission expiry.

   Watch out: The instruction sheet says the signature must be notarised, and the form voids on correction - so get the notary appointment before the pen comes out, not after.

What gets this one rejected

• •Filing it too early. The instructions say the affidavit should be submitted no sooner than one week prior to the expiration of the original temporary licence plate.
• •Any correction. The banner reads that any correction or alteration will void this affidavit, and it is printed above the first block.
• •An unsigned notary section. The instruction is explicit that the signature must be notarised.
• •Turning up without the original temporary plate. It is one of the two required documents and the form names it.
• •Filing it in the wrong county. It goes to the county tag office in the county where the applicant resides.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •It buys thirty days, once. The sworn statement asks for a permit to expire thirty days from issuance. It is an extension of the initial registration period, not a renewable licence to keep driving on temporary paper.
• •The insurance details are not decoration. Section B asks for the insurer, the policy number and its expiry, because a temporary operating permit on an uninsured vehicle is exactly what Georgia's registration suspension machinery is built to catch.
• •It is evidence about your lender. The whole ground for the request is that the lienholder has not provided the title. If a buyer is filing this because of your loan, the fastest fix is on your side of the transaction, not theirs.

Every line here was read off T-226L (Rev 04/2019) 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.

Back to all Georgia seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Georgia involves.