How to fill out Idaho 3395

Four boxes for the moment somebody crossed something out. Idaho does not treat an altered title document as automatically void the way some states do, but it does want the alteration explained in writing and sworn to, and this is the sheet that does it: regarding title paperwork for the above-described vehicle, a correction was made on the following document or documents, then describe error and reason for correction or erasure. It is signed under penalty of perjury pursuant to the law of the State of Idaho. A seller reaches for it when a date was written wrong on an assignment, a digit was transposed in a VIN, or a buyer's name was started in the wrong box.

Written against 3395 (Rev 10/23), issued under Idaho Code 49-518. Do not use this to paper over an open assignment. If the problem is that a certificate was signed with the buyer's name left blank, the issue is section 49-519(6) rather than a clerical slip, and no statement of correction cures it - the route out is a duplicate title and a fresh, complete assignment.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 3395 from the itd.idaho.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our 3395 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

   Correct the document properly first

   A single line through the wrong entry, the right entry beside it, and your initials against the change.

   Watch out: Do not white it out and do not write over the top. A correction that cannot be read as a correction reads as an alteration.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Identify the vehicle

   VIN, make and model, year, across the top rule.

   Watch out: Copy the VIN off the title, not off the document you just corrected - especially if the VIN is what you corrected.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Name the document

   Certificate of title, bill of sale, title application - whichever carries the correction.

   Watch out: If two documents were corrected, name both. One statement can cover a set of papers about one transaction.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Describe the error and the reason

   What was written, what it should have said, and why it was wrong.

   Watch out: Plain and short beats careful and vague. The county deputy reading it wants to know that the change was innocent and who made it.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Print your name and sign

   Your name, a phone number, and a signature under the perjury certification.

   Watch out: The Company Name box stays empty for a private seller. It exists for a dealership or a financial institution.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Send it with the corrected paperwork

   This sheet has no address of its own because it never travels alone.

   Watch out: Give it to the buyer along with everything else. It is no use to them if it is still on your kitchen table.

What gets this one rejected

• •A description that does not name the document. The first block asks which document was corrected, and a statement that a correction was made somewhere explains nothing.
• •An explanation that does not say what the error was. The second block asks for the error and the reason, which are two things.
• •Using it to change a fact rather than to explain a change. Nothing on this sheet amends the department's record - it accompanies the corrected document.
• •Signing it as somebody who did not make the correction. It is a first-person certification about a correction that was made.
• •Reaching for it to explain away an odometer reading. A mileage that was wrong when it was certified is an odometer disclosure problem, not a clerical one.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •ITD's own way to correct a form is a line and initials. The instructions on ITD 3337 set the pattern: put a line through the incorrect information, enter the correct information, and initial the correction. This statement is what accompanies that when the county wants it in writing.
• •A wrong title, as opposed to a wrong correction, goes a different way. ITD's Vehicle Titles page: where a title was issued with an incorrect owner name, lienholder name or vehicle description, the owner or lienholder resubmits the title with a signed letter of explanation, and a title correction fee applies if the error came from the original application.

Every line here was read off 3395 (Rev 10/23) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Idaho Transportation Department, Division of Motor Vehicles 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 Idaho seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Idaho involves.