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

One page that lets somebody else sign a Hawaii transfer in your place, and the only document in the seller's set that Honolulu itself calls for by name outside the ordinary sale: a second buyer recording a double transfer needs a notarized bill of sale or seller power of attorney from the person who never titled the car. Its powers are drawn wide - to sign any application for original registration, certificate of title, duplicates or other certificates issued by the Director of Customer Services, City and County of Honolulu - and it ends with full power of substitution. The one thing it does not delegate is the mileage. The owner writes the odometer reading on the form itself, and the attorney-in-fact is appointed to sign the disclosure exactly as stated in that disclosure.

Written against CS-L(MVR)38B (04/2026), issued under City and County of Honolulu Department of Customer Services, Division of Motor Vehicles, sworn before a notary and appointing an attorney-in-fact to act before the Director of Customer Services. Read the appointment line before you sign it, because it is broader than a one-sale mandate. It covers any application for registration, title, duplicates or other certificates for the vehicle described, and it carries full power of substitution - meaning your appointee may pass the power on. If you want it narrower, that constraint has to be written on the document before the notary sees it.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank CS-L(MVR)38B from the www4.honolulu.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our CS-L(MVR)38B 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

   That I (we) - the owner granting the power

   Every registered owner named on the certificate goes on this line. A jointly owned car needs both, or the agent can only sign for one.

   Watch out: Write the names as the certificate prints them. A power of attorney granted by a name the county does not hold is a power of attorney from a stranger.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   who reside at

   Address, city, state and zip on one rule, with the four sub-labels printed underneath.

   Watch out: Use the address the county has on record if you can. Where the two differ, expect the counter to ask which is right.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Make, type and model year

   The vehicle this power applies to. It is specific to one car - there is no general version of this form.

   Watch out: Type is the county's body-style code from the registration, not the model name. This form is read alongside the certificate.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Plate number and VIN

   The identifying pair. The VIN is what makes the appointment unambiguous if the plate changes before the sale completes.

   Watch out: Copy both from the registration certificate and check the VIN against the car. A power of attorney for the wrong VIN authorises nothing.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   The person you appoint

   The attorney-in-fact, described on the form as of Honolulu aforesaid. This is the person who will sign the transfer in your place.

   Watch out: Pick someone who can physically get to a satellite city hall. The whole value of the document is that they can attend when you cannot.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   The odometer reading

   Whole miles, no tenths, written by you. The appointment that follows binds the agent to disclose exactly this.

   Watch out: Never leave it blank on the theory that the agent will know it on the day. A blank reading turns a safeguard into a signed licence to write any number.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   The two exception boxes

   Mileage in excess of the odometer's mechanical limits, or a reading that is not the actual mileage - the same two declarations as everywhere else in Hawaii.

   Watch out: Both stay empty on an honest odometer. The form spells the second warning out in capitals precisely because ticking it is not a small thing.

8. 8
   Somebody else fills this in

   The notary certification panel

   A blank block at the foot of the page, headed NOTARY CERTIFICATION. The notary completes it, not you.

   Watch out: Sign in front of the notary, not before. A signature already on the page when you arrive is the commonest reason a notary declines to certify it.

What gets this one rejected

• •Handing it over unnotarised. The panel at the foot is not decoration - a notary certification block on a power of attorney is what makes it usable at a counter.
• •Leaving the odometer blank so the agent can fill it in later. The form's own wording appoints the attorney to sign the mileage disclosure exactly as stated in the owner's disclosure, which means the owner has to have made one.
• •Using it as the sale document. It appoints a signer; the transfer still runs on the endorsed certificate of title, and the buyer still applies in Section D.
• •Appointing the buyer to sign for you on a straightforward sale. The county's strong preference is that buyer and seller attend together, and a single appointment at any satellite city hall covers a joint transaction.
• •Confusing it with the buyer's version. CS-L(MVR)38A is the near-identical sheet for a purchaser, and its odometer paragraph works the opposite way round.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The odometer paragraph is the heart of it. The owner states the reading and ticks any exception; the agent is then appointed to sign a disclosure that matches. That is the safeguard against a power of attorney being used to change a mileage.
• •The powers named are the county's own list. Original registration, certificate of title, duplicates or other certificates issued by the Director of Customer Services - which is the office the certificate is issued in the name of.
• •Full power of substitution is included. The closing paragraph grants the attorney authority to do all acts authorized thereby as fully as the owner could if personally present, with full power of substitution.
• •It is a Honolulu instrument. The appointee is described as of Honolulu aforesaid and the powers run to a City and County officer. A neighbour-island transaction needs that county's own version.
• •A double transfer is its most common real use. The county's route for a car sold on by someone who never titled it is a notarized bill of sale or a seller power of attorney, and then two recorded transfers rather than one.

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