How to fill out Hawaii CS-L(MVR)5

The certificate of registration is one of the three documents a Hawaii seller hands over, and it is the one that lives in the car and therefore the one that goes missing. Without it the buyer cannot complete the transfer - the county lists the last-issued certificate of registration among the documents they must bring - so a lost registration stops a sale as surely as a lost title does. This is the one-page cure, and unlike the duplicate title it is signed by the registered owner alone, with no lienholder in the way. Honolulu also says elsewhere that there is no cost to obtain a duplicate motor vehicle registration certificate.

Written against CS-L(MVR)5 (03/2026), issued under City and County of Honolulu Department of Customer Services, Division of Motor Vehicles, on the signature of the registered owner of record alone. Do not confuse this with the affidavit for a certificate that never arrived in the post. A registration the county mailed and you never received is a non-receipt problem with its own form; this one is for a certificate that reached you and then went missing, was stolen, or got ruined.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank CS-L(MVR)5 from the www4.honolulu.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our CS-L(MVR)5 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

   Plate number and registration expiration

   The two boxes on the first line. The expiry is the month and year printed on the certificate you have lost, which the county can confirm from its record if you cannot.

   Watch out: If the expiry has already passed, you are renewing rather than duplicating - and a transfer will not complete on an expired registration anyway.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Make and emblem number

   Make on the left, and the emblem number - the sticker number - on the right.

   Watch out: The emblem is on the plate, not on the paperwork. Walk out to the car before you fill this line in.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Vehicle identification number

   The full VIN across the middle of the sheet.

   Watch out: This is what lets the county find the record when the plate or the emblem has changed. Get it exactly right and the rest is recoverable.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Registered owner of record and address

   The name and address the county holds. The address determines where the duplicate is posted.

   Watch out: Registration certificates and emblems are not forwardable by post. If you have moved, file the change of address before or alongside this.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Lost, stolen, mutilated or defaced

   One of four boxes inside the certification sentence.

   Watch out: Mutilated or defaced means the old certificate has to come in with the form - the surrender instruction is in the panel beside the signature.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Signature of the registered owner

   One line, one signer. Unlike the duplicate title, no lienholder is involved.

   Watch out: If two owners are on the record, the counter will want both - the county's practice on jointly held records is consistent across its forms.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Firm name and title, if the owner is a company

   The last rule on the sheet, for the authorised person named on the company's letter of authorization.

   Watch out: A buy-only authorisation covers this one - it lets the named individual register and apply for replacement plates and emblems.

What gets this one rejected

• •Holding on to a defaced or mutilated certificate. The panel beside the signature is the same as on the title form: it must be surrendered with this application.
• •Guessing the emblem number. It is on the sticker; a wrong number is a mismatch against the county's own record.
• •Filling it in for a title. The heading says certificate of registration, and the duplicate title is CS-L(MVR)10 - a separate sheet with a separate fee and a different signature rule.
• •Applying while the registration itself has expired. A duplicate reprints what is on record; a lapsed registration needs renewing, and a transfer needs it current in any case.
• •Sending it to the wrong address after a move. The county posts the duplicate to the address on file, and warns that registration certificates and emblems are not forwardable by USPS.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The duplicate voids the original. Same certification as the title version: issuance of the duplicate shall void the original certificate.
• •The registered owner signs, full stop. No lienholder line and no fallback. On this form the owner of record is the applicant.
• •Type or print in ink. The county's standard warning is printed across the sheet: improperly filled application will not be accepted.
• •A new emblem is not free even though the certificate is. Honolulu's own answer is that there is no cost to obtain a duplicate motor vehicle registration certificate, however a fifty-cent fee will be applied for a new emblem sticker.
• •It is an express-window job, unlike the transfer itself. Ownership transfer is not an express-window transaction on Oahu and needs an appointment. A duplicate registration does not.

Every line here was read off CS-L(MVR)5 (03/2026) 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.