How to fill out Hawaii CS-L(MVR)10

Honolulu names this form in the middle of its seller instructions, which tells you how routine the problem is: if the title is defaced or mutilated, the legal owners on record must apply for a duplicate. It covers the lost and the stolen certificate too, and the price is on the sheet - FEE $10.00, printed in the office-use box at the top. The one thing to understand before signing is who the applicant is. The signature line reads signature of lienholder of record, and only adds if no lienholder, signature of all registered owners required - so on a financed car the lender applies, not you.

Written against CS-L(MVR)10 (04/2026), issued under City and County of Honolulu Department of Customer Services, Division of Motor Vehicles, with a fee of $10.00 printed in the form's own office-use block. The mail-order trap is worth naming. Honolulu also publishes an affidavit for a certificate that was issued and posted but never arrived, and the two applications are not interchangeable: a title the county says it mailed is a non-receipt problem, while a title you had and lost is a duplicate problem. Filing the wrong one costs a fee and a wait.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank CS-L(MVR)10 from the www4.honolulu.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our CS-L(MVR)10 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

   License plate number and make

   The first description line. Both come off the certificate of registration, which is usually the document you still have when the title is the one that has gone.

   Watch out: If the registration has gone too, that is a separate application and a separate sheet. Do not try to solve both on this one.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Vehicle identification number

   The full VIN. It is the field the county searches on when the plate has changed since the certificate was issued.

   Watch out: Take it off the dashboard plate as well as the paperwork and check they agree before you write it down.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Registered owner of record

   The name as the county holds it, which is the name that was on the certificate rather than a married or shortened version of it.

   Watch out: If your name has changed since registration, the mismatch will surface here first. Bring the document that evidences the change to the counter.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Lienholder of record

   The lender the county has on file. Filling this in truthfully decides who signs at the foot of the page.

   Watch out: A loan you finished paying is still on record until the lender told the county. Check the record before assuming this line is empty.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Address

   Number and street on the rule, with city and zip code following the printed sub-labels beneath it.

   Watch out: The duplicate is posted to the address on file. If yours has changed, file the change of address first or the new certificate goes to the old house.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Which of the four things happened

   Lost, stolen, mutilated or defaced - four boxes inside one sentence. Mutilated and defaced are the ones that come with an obligation attached.

   Watch out: If you tick mutilated or defaced you must hand the certificate in with the application. The instruction is printed beside the signature block in capitals.

7. 7
   The lienholder fills this in

   Signature of lienholder of record

   The primary signature line. On a financed vehicle the lender signs, because the lender is the party the certificate was issued to.

   Watch out: This is the step that turns a two-day errand into a two-week one. Start with the lender, not with the counter.

8. 8
   You fill this in

   Or the signature of all registered owners

   The fallback, printed on the same caption: if no lienholder, signature of all registered owners required.

   Watch out: All of them. A jointly owned car with one signature comes straight back, and the certificate is still lost while it does.

9. 9
   You fill this in

   Firm name and title, and the date

   The last line: printed name and title of the authorised person where the owner is a company, and the date of the application.

   Watch out: A company applying here also needs its letter of authorization on file, and a sell-only authorisation is enough - it covers releasing ownership and applying for a duplicate title.

What gets this one rejected

• •Keeping a defaced certificate back. The instruction in the box beside the signature is in capitals - defaced or mutilated certificate must be surrendered with this application.
• •A registered owner signing where a lienholder is on record. The form asks for the lienholder's signature first and falls back to the owners only if there is no lienholder.
• •One owner signing for two. Where there is no lienholder the form requires the signature of all registered owners.
• •Using it for a registration certificate. That is the near-identical CS-L(MVR)5, and the two are easy to confuse because this form's own certification sentence mistakenly says Certificate of Registration where it means title.
• •Applying as the buyer of a car you have not yet titled. The applicant is the owner of record. A buyer who cannot get an endorsed certificate out of the seller is pointed instead at the Oahu First Circuit District Court appeal the county describes.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Issuing the duplicate kills the original. The certification is explicit: the applicant requests the issuance of a duplicate, which issuance shall void the original certificate. A title that turns up afterwards is worthless.
• •The county's own form has a typo in it and it matters. The certification sentence on this duplicate-TITLE application reads that the Certificate of Registration has been lost, stolen, mutilated or defaced. The heading, the fee box and the surrender instruction all say title. Do not let the sentence talk you into filling in the wrong form.
• •Type or print in ink. Printed across the middle of the sheet in the county's usual warning: improperly filled application will not be accepted.
• •A defaced title stops a sale until this is done. Honolulu puts the instruction inside the seller's own section, because an unsigned certificate that has been scribbled on is not endorsable and the buyer cannot use it.
• •Each county issues its own. The County of Hawaii's equivalent is VRL-MVR503. A duplicate is issued by the county holding the record, not by whichever office is nearest.

Every line here was read off CS-L(MVR)10 (04/2026) 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.