How to fill out Kansas TR-155

The demand letter with a statute stapled to it. When a paid-off lienholder is slow with the release, this form starts the legal clock: it records the vehicle, the owner, the lienholder, exactly how and when the final payment was made, and where the release must be sent - and beneath the request it reprints K.S.A. 8-1,157 in nine numbered paragraphs, from the three-business-day deadline for cash payoffs to the civil penalties, treble liability, costs and attorneys' fees waiting for a lienholder who ignores it.

Written against TR-155 (Rev 07/24), issued under K.S.A. 8-1,157. Send this form with the final payment, not after the silence starts. The statute's deadlines run from the receipt of payment and a request for the release - the form's own instruction is to attach it to the final payment or deliver it once the payment is submitted electronically - so a request mailed with the payoff cheque has the clock running before the lender's mailroom has finished opening the envelope.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TR-155 from the ksrevenue.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our TR-155 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

   Vehicle, owner, lender

   The identification row, your name and address as the record holds them, and the lienholder with an account number if you have one.

   Watch out: The account number is optional on the form and priceless in the lender's mailroom - it is how the request finds the loan without a phone call.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   How you paid

   One box only: cash, wired funds, intra-bank transfer, teller's check, certified check, cashier's check or other.

   Watch out: The box you tick chooses the deadline - three business days for the first three methods, ten for the rest. Wire the payoff if the calendar matters.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Amount and date

   The amount tendered as payment in full and the date the payment was sent.

   Watch out: Payment in full is the operative phrase. A payoff quote expires; if per-diem interest has crept past your figure, the lien is not satisfied and the clock never started.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Where the release goes

   Mail or fax, with the name, address and fax number.

   Watch out: Direct it to yourself unless the buyer's county is waiting on it. The statute counts the release complete when mailed, delivered, or faxed to the Division or a county treasurer's office - so aim it where it does the most good.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Sign and send with the payment

   Signature, printed name, date - then attach the form to the final payment.

   Watch out: Keep a copy and, if you fax anything, the confirmation sheet: the statute names that page as the required proof of delivery, and it is your exhibit if the Division ever has to hold the hearing.

What gets this one rejected

• •Two payment boxes ticked. The form says check only one, because the deadline differs by method - three business days for cash, wired funds or intra-bank transfer, ten business days for everything else.
• •A request sent before payment in full. The clock the statute starts runs from receipt of payment and a request for the release - a request racing the final cheque starts nothing.
• •No destination for the release. The mail-or-fax block is the point of the form: a lienholder must mail or deliver the release where directed by the person who requested it, and this is where you direct them.
• •Losing the fax confirmation. The statute's own paragraph makes the fax received confirmation sheet with the transmitted date the required proof of delivery - it is the receipt in any later complaint.
• •Using it against a lender who was never paid. This is a remedy for a satisfied lien left standing, not a negotiating tool for one still owed money.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Three days or ten, by payment method. Paid in cash, wired funds or intra-bank transfer, the lienholder has three business days after receipt of payment and a request to execute the release. Any other payment method - including the cashier's checks most payoffs use - allows ten business days.
• •Non-compliance has a price list. The Division can assess a civil administrative penalty after a hearing, an unpaid penalty triples with costs and attorneys' fees, interest runs at 10% per annum, and a lienholder who fails to release is separately liable to the title holder for any loss caused.
• •The aggrieved party can be you. The statute's complaint procedure names the Division, the owner of the vehicle subject to the lien, or the person making a valid request on an approved form - which is precisely what completing this sheet makes you.

Every line here was read off TR-155 (Rev 07/24) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Kansas Department of Revenue, Division of 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 Kansas seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Kansas involves.