How to fill out Georgia T-7

Evidence that the transaction happened and that the mileage was declared by the seller and acknowledged by the buyer. On a titled car it is optional and the Department still recommends it; on a 1985 or older vehicle that Georgia does not title, it is the chain of ownership.

Written against T-7 (Rev 9-2022), issued under the federal odometer disclosure regulations this form cites, and filed where the primary purchaser resides. There is no requirement to notarise this and no space to. If someone tells you a Georgia bill of sale needs a notary, they are describing a different state's form.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank T-7 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, the vehicle identification number

   Seventeen characters in seventeen printed boxes across the top of section A.

   Watch out: Copy it from the certificate, not from the windscreen plate. A transposed character here and a correct one on the title turns a five-minute counter visit into an affidavit.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Section A, odometer reading

   The mileage at handover, with the printed no tenths reminder beside the box.

   Watch out: This is the same declaration you made on the back of the certificate and it has to say the same thing. On a vehicle twenty model years old or older, the instructions allow the word exempt in this space instead.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Section A, date of sale or transfer

   Month, day and year, in three separate boxes.

   Watch out: Three boxes, two digits each in the first two. The year box takes the last two digits, which is why a four-digit year written across it is the most common thing to have to redo - and a correction voids the form.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Section A, purchase price

   What the buyer actually paid.

   Watch out: Write the real number. It does not set the buyer's tax - Georgia values a used vehicle from the state assessment manual - so understating it buys nobody anything and is a false statement on a document both of you certify.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Section B, seller information

   Your full legal name, mailing address, city, state, ZIP and county. A business seller adds a Georgia tax identification number and a Georgia sales tax number.

   Watch out: The secondary column is for a second registered owner. If the certificate names two of you, both belong here and both sign in section E.

6. 6
   The buyer fills this in

   Section C, purchaser information

   The buyer's full legal name, mailing address, city, state, ZIP and county.

   Watch out: The county in this block decides where the form is filed - the county tag office where the primary purchaser resides, which may be nowhere near where the car changed hands.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Section D, lienholder

   Name, address and telephone number of any lienholder, security interest holder or encumbrance holder.

   Watch out: Leave it empty only if it is genuinely empty. Section E certifies that there are no liens except as listed here, and a lender still showing on the Department's record is a lien whether or not you remembered it.

8. 8
   You fill this in

   Section E, the signature grid

   Primary and secondary seller signatures with dates on the first row, primary and secondary buyer signatures with dates on the second.

   Watch out: Both sides sign the same sheet on the same day. A bill of sale carrying only the seller's signature proves half of what it exists to prove.

What gets this one rejected

• •Any correction. The banner across the top says a correction or alteration will void the form, and it is printed above the first box rather than buried in the instructions.
• •A missing buyer signature. The whole purpose of the form is that the odometer reading has been declared by the seller and acknowledged by the buyer, and section E is where the acknowledgement happens.
• •Filing it in your own county. The form goes to the county tag office in the county where the primary purchaser resides.
• •Using it as the only document on a vehicle Georgia titles. A Georgia certificate of title is required for a 1986 or newer model year vehicle, motorcycle, camper or travel trailer, and this form does not replace it.
• •Leaving section D empty when there is a lender. The certification says there are no liens except as listed there, so an empty block is an assertion rather than a gap.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Twenty model years, written in words. The instructions on this form state the odometer exemption twice: twenty model years old and older vehicles are exempt, and where a vehicle qualifies the seller may enter the word exempt in the space provided for the odometer reading. It is the clearest statement of the rule anywhere in the Georgia set.
• •A pre-1986 vehicle needs an inspection as well. Where the vehicle is old enough that Georgia does not title it, the bill of sale travels with a Form T-22B certification of inspection if it has not previously been registered in Georgia.
• •It is the form a court-ordered sale uses too. Section B has a court order case number line, and the instructions say a court order is required where a court has ordered the sale of the vehicle.

Every line here was read off T-7 (Rev 9-2022) 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.