How to fill out Hawaii CS-L(MVR)38A

The buyer's mirror of the seller's power of attorney, and worth a seller's attention because its odometer clause runs the other way. The seller's version makes the owner write the reading down so the agent can only repeat it. This one appoints the attorney-in-fact to sign the mileage disclosure if the odometer reading on the vehicle is equal to or greater than the odometer reading which was disclosed by the seller - a one-way ratchet that stops a buyer's agent certifying a lower figure than the one you gave. That is why the form has no odometer blank on it at all.

Written against CS-L(MVR)38A (04/2026), issued under City and County of Honolulu Department of Customer Services, Division of Motor Vehicles, notarised and appointing an attorney-in-fact to sign as purchaser for the vehicle described on it. The absence of an odometer blank is the design, not an omission. A buyer's agent has nothing to certify from except the vehicle in front of them and the figure you disclosed, and the form only authorises them to sign if the car's reading is at least as high as yours. If it is lower, the sale needs your correction statement, not their signature.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank CS-L(MVR)38A from the www4.honolulu.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our CS-L(MVR)38A guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   The buyer fills this in

   That I (we) - the purchaser

   Every person who will be a registered owner of the vehicle signs this line, in the names that will go on the certificate.

   Watch out: As the seller, this is the line to read. It should name the person who agreed to buy your car, not the person standing at the counter.

2. 2
   The buyer fills this in

   who reside at

   The purchaser's address, city, state and zip on the labelled rule.

   Watch out: Compare it with the address the buyer gave you for your notice of transfer. Two different addresses for one buyer is worth a question.

3. 3
   The buyer fills this in

   Make, type and model year

   The vehicle being bought. The power is specific to it.

   Watch out: A description that does not match your car means this document authorises nothing about your sale.

4. 4
   The buyer fills this in

   Plate number and VIN

   The identifying pair for the vehicle the purchaser is appointing an agent to register.

   Watch out: Check the VIN against your certificate before you hand anything over. It is the only field on the sheet that cannot be loosely right.

5. 5
   The buyer fills this in

   The appointed attorney-in-fact

   The person empowered to act as purchaser - to apply for registration, title, duplicates or other certificates issued by the Director of Customer Services.

   Watch out: This is who you will actually be dealing with. Ask for identification that matches this line before you release the certificate.

6. 6
   The buyer fills this in

   The mileage condition

   Not a field. A printed condition appointing the agent to sign the mileage disclosure only if the reading on the vehicle is equal to or greater than the one the seller disclosed.

   Watch out: It protects you as much as the buyer. Keep your own copy of the reading you certified so there is a record of what the floor was.

7. 7
   Somebody else fills this in

   The notary certification panel

   The blank block at the foot, completed by a notary once the purchaser has signed in front of them.

   Watch out: An unnotarised power of attorney from a buyer's agent is not a document to hand a title over on. Ask to see the notary's completion, not just the signature.

What gets this one rejected

• •Filing it without notarisation. Like the seller's version, the notary certification block is what makes it work at a counter.
• •Using it to buy a vehicle that is not described on it. The make, type, model year, plate and VIN make the appointment specific to one car.
• •Expecting it to sign the seller's half. It appoints an agent as purchaser - Section A on the front of the certificate is not within its reach.
• •Treating it as a substitute for the buyer's own application. Section D on the back still has to be completed, by the agent if not by the buyer.
• •Grabbing this one when you meant the seller's. The forms differ by a letter in the code and by the paragraph that matters most.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The mileage condition is a floor, not a permission. Equal to or greater than what the seller disclosed. An agent facing a lower reading than the seller certified is outside the authority this document grants.
• •Same powers, opposite side of the deal. Any application for original registration, certificate of title, duplicates or other certificates issued by the Director of Customer Services, as purchaser for the vehicle described.
• •Full power of substitution, again. The closing paragraph is the same as the seller's version: everything the purchaser might or could do if personally present.
• •A seller should ask to see it. If someone other than your buyer turns up to complete the transfer, this is the document that says they may - and the vehicle it describes should be yours.
• •It is not the double-transfer cure. That role belongs to the seller's power of attorney or a notarized bill of sale, given by the person who never titled the car.

Every line here was read off CS-L(MVR)38A (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.