How to fill out Hawaii CSD-LOA-MVR

A company cannot sign a certificate of title, so a company-owned car needs a person the county has agreed to accept. That is what this letter does. Honolulu names it among the documents a seller provides to the buyer where the vehicle is company-owned, and its own heading sets the rule for how it may be presented: all LOAs must be either printed on official company letterhead or submitted using the DMV template, and if the template is used it may be either printed or handwritten. The most important thing on the sheet is the limitation, because the reverse turns your one-word answer into the exact list of transactions your named people may do.

Written against CSD-LOA-MVR (2025-04), issued under City and County of Honolulu Department of Customer Services, Division of Motor Vehicles, required for any motor vehicle transaction on behalf of a company or organisation. Read the reverse before you write one word in the limitation box. The county reads that word literally, and a letter authorising your office manager only to sell will not let her walk out with replacement plates for the same vehicle - which is a wasted appointment on a service that is by appointment only.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank CSD-LOA-MVR from the www4.honolulu.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our CSD-LOA-MVR guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   The date

   Top left. It is the date the authorisation is given, and the county files the letter with the transaction it supports.

   Watch out: A letter dated after the transaction it is meant to authorise is not an authorisation. Sign it before the appointment, not in the queue.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   The limitation, in the one blank the sentence leaves

   One box carries the whole scope: this letter hereby authorizes the following individuals to ____ vehicles for, with see reverse side for limitation list printed underneath it. Write the verb and then spell out the transactions rather than relying on the verb alone.

   Watch out: If the company needs to release ownership AND apply for a duplicate title AND collect plates, write all three. There is no implied extra permission, and the county reads the box literally.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Legal name of the company

   As registered with the State of Hawaii - the form names the Department of Taxation, the DCCA and BREG beneath the rule.

   Watch out: Trading names and registered names differ more often than people think. Take it from the registration, not from the invoices.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Address and phone

   Street, then city, state and zip across three boxes, then a phone number on its own line.

   Watch out: Use the registered address. A counter checking the company against a public register is comparing this against that.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Up to three authorised individuals

   Three pairs of rules, each with a printed name and title on the left and that person's signature on the right.

   Watch out: Everyone who might turn up at the counter should be on the letter. Adding a fourth name later means a fresh original, not an amendment.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   The authorising signature and title

   The block at the foot, signed by an individual with authority to bind the company, with their title in the box beside it.

   Watch out: Bring proof of that authority to the counter - the county accepts a GET licence copy, a DCCA officer listing, an original business card showing signing authority, or photo identification.

7. 7
   Somebody else fills this in

   The reverse: the limitation list

   Not a fill-in page. It is the county's own explanation of what a general, specific, buy-only or sell-only authorisation permits.

   Watch out: Read it before page one, not after. It is the only part of the document that tells you whether the letter you are about to write does the job.

What gets this one rejected

• •A photocopy. The county's requirement is an original or a certified copy of an original.
• •A letter on plain paper. It has to be on company or business letterhead, or on the county's own template.
• •A signature from someone whose authority nobody can check. Honolulu asks a representative completing the letter at the counter to prove they may sign - a copy of the GET licence, a listing as an officer on the DCCA website, an original business card showing title and signing authority, or government-issued photo identification.
• •A company name that does not match the register. The form asks for the legal name as registered with the State of Hawaii Department of Taxation, the DCCA or BREG, not the trading name on the van.
• •A limitation written more narrowly than the job. The reverse is explicit that an authorization only to sell lets those individuals only release ownership or apply for a duplicate title - so a company that also needs to collect replacement plates has to say so.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The limitation is the whole document. General, specific, buy-only or sell-only are different letters with different consequences, and the reverse side sets out what each one permits.
• •Sell-only is narrower than people expect. Release ownership, or apply for a duplicate title. That is the list. Anything else the company wants doing needs a different limitation.
• •Buy-only is narrower too. Authorized individuals may only register and only apply for replacement plates and/or emblems.
• •It is filed, not carried. The letter goes on file with the county, which is why Maui describes an LOA as something a company must have on file authorising you to buy vehicles on behalf of the business.
• •Dealers live by it. Honolulu's dealer service requires a signed letter for every single transaction, identifying the representative authorised to act, and attaches it to the transaction record.

Every line here was read off CSD-LOA-MVR (2025-04) itself — the PDF is here — and off the City and County of Honolulu Division of Motor Vehicle, Licensing and Permits 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 Hawaii seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Hawaii involves.