How to fill out Georgia T-227

For when a signature and a legal name do not match. Georgia's tag offices cannot know that Missy Jones and Melissa Ann Jones are the same person - the form's own example - so this affidavit says so, and the person signing it takes legal and financial responsibility if that turns out to be untrue.

Written against T-227 (Rev 05-2005), issued under the Motor Vehicle Division and the county tag offices that have to accept the name it reconciles. The Department's own analogy on the back of this form is worth keeping in mind for the whole Georgia set: a title to a motor vehicle is like a deed to a home, and the same care used in a property transaction should be used here.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank T-227 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

   Part 1, the name the title is for

   The name the certificate is to be issued in.

   Watch out: This is the buyer's name in an ordinary sale, and it is not necessarily either of the two names being reconciled in part 2.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Part 1, the vehicle

   Vehicle year, vehicle make and the vehicle identification number.

   Watch out: Three boxes on two rules. The VIN gets a wide box of its own and belongs there rather than crammed after the make.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Part 2, the first name

   One of the two versions of the name - typically the one that appears on the document with the discrepancy.

   Watch out: Copy it exactly as it appears there, including or omitting a middle initial as the document does. The point of the affidavit is that the two strings differ.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Part 2, the second name

   The other version - typically the legal name from the driver's licence.

   Watch out: For a person the legal name is the name on the driver's licence; for a business it is the name on the business licence or articles of incorporation. The form says so on its own instruction sheet.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Part 2, who is giving the affidavit

   The name of the person swearing it, with a company or business name where one is involved.

   Watch out: This person carries the liability. The undertaking is to hold harmless, pay restitution and indemnify the State, the Department, its agents, the owners and the lien holders.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Part 3, driver's licence number

   The licence number of the person completing the affidavit, with their address and telephone number.

   Watch out: It is what ties the affidavit to the legal name it is asserting, so it has to be the licence the legal-name version came from.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Part 3, the company blocks

   Printed company or business name, position with the company, and company address - only where a business is involved.

   Watch out: Leave all three alone if you are an individual. A part-completed company block reads as an unanswered question about who is actually signing.

What gets this one rejected

• •Using it to explain a difference in a last name. The information sheet says so in terms - this affidavit will not be accepted to explain any differences in a last name.
• •Using it in place of a divorce decree, a marriage certificate or a court ordered name change. All three are named as things it cannot substitute for.
• •Using it in place of a power of attorney. If one person signed another person's name, the form says the second person must complete a power of attorney and it must be submitted with the title application.
• •Using it for a motor vehicle dealer's name. The form use section says it cannot be used to explain differences in a dealer's name.
• •Two different suffixes. Where the legal name has a suffix and a required signature has a different one - John Doe IV against John Doe III - new signatures have to be obtained instead.
• •Someone with no personal knowledge signing it. The first three parts must be completed by a person with personal knowledge of the facts, and the person who completes it bears the legal and financial responsibility if the facts are successfully challenged.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Four kinds of people can sign it. The vehicle owner, the security interest or lien holder, a judgment creditor, or the seller. A person named in a power of attorney can also submit it.
• •It travels with a title application. The information sheet lists the documents it can support: a title application backed by a replacement title application, a Georgia title, a statement of origin, an out-of-state title assigned to a Georgia owner, or a Georgia court order or judgment.
• •If it is refused, new signatures are the only way. The sheet ends with the fallback: where the discrepancies are not acceptable even with this affidavit, new documents or signatures without discrepancies have to be obtained.

Every line here was read off T-227 (Rev 05-2005) 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.