How to fill out Kansas TR-39a

The form that lets a Kansas car be sold before its title exists on paper. The sheet opens with the fact that makes it necessary: as of January 2003, the Division will not issue a vehicle title of any type when there is a lien recorded on it. Pending the release of lien and the issuance of the certificate, this agreement gets the buyer a 60-day temporary registration, binds you to deliver the properly assigned paper title within sixty days of the date of sale, personally or by registered or certified mail - and it shouts its own limit in capitals: the official transfer of ownership must be obtained by assignment of the Kansas certificate of title.

Written against TR-39a (07/24), issued under K.S.A. 8-135d and 8-135(c)(7). The date on this sheet is load-bearing three times over: it is the date of sale and delivery, the date the buyer's 60-day permit measures from, and the start of your sixty days to deliver the assigned paper title. A seller who signs it before the lender has quoted a payoff timeline has started a clock they do not control - call the lienholder first, then date the agreement.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TR-39a from the ksrevenue.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our TR-39a 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

   The vehicle and the price

   Year, make, style and VIN, then the date of sale and delivery and the purchase price.

   Watch out: The date doubles as the date of this agreement, and every deadline on the sheet - the buyer's permit, your delivery promise, the penalty line - runs from it.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   The salvage question

   Is this a nonhighway or salvage vehicle - Yes or No.

   Watch out: Answer it honestly and read the consequence printed beside it: a Yes means the vehicle is not to be operated on public roadway, permit or no permit.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Your band, and your lender

   Owner name(s), address, and the lienholder's name and address exactly as the registration receipt shows them.

   Watch out: Attach that registration receipt - the form requires it to show both your name and the lienholder's, and prescribes a duplicate registration from the county if yours does not.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   The buyer's band

   Their name(s) and address, plus their own lienholder if a lender is financing the purchase.

   Watch out: You are the one filling it in - the instruction gives the whole sheet to the seller - so copy from the buyer's license, not from what they tell you over the hood.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Sign, print, and have them do the same

   Your signature and date with your hand printed name, then the buyer's acknowledgement signature and hand printed name.

   Watch out: The instructions void the form without all four. This is also the moment to hand over copies - original to buyer, seller should keep copy, printed at the sheet's foot.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Deliver the title inside sixty days

   Pay off the lien, receive the clear paper certificate, assign it completely, and deliver it personally or by registered or certified mail.

   Watch out: Registered or certified mail is not decoration - it is the form's named delivery method and your proof of the date. Ordinary first-class post proves nothing if the sixty days are ever argued about.

What gets this one rejected

• •An incomplete sheet. The instructions are blunt: this form must be filled out in its entirety by the seller, and this form is only valid if all information has been obtained.
• •No registration receipt attached. The seller must attach a copy of the vehicle's current registration receipt showing their name as owner and the lienholder's name - and if the receipt is missing or shows no lienholder, the fix the form prescribes is a duplicate registration or vehicle record verification from a county treasurer's office.
• •Leaving it in a drawer instead of the glovebox. The form must be in the vehicle while it is in operation on the 60-day permit, or while the buyer is running a plate they are about to transfer.
• •Treating it as the transfer. The capitals on the sheet decide this one - ownership moves only by assignment of the Kansas certificate of title, which is why the sixty-day delivery promise exists at all.
• •Missing the sixty days. Blow the delivery window and the underlying statute's default rule resurfaces: a sale without assignment of the certificate of title is fraudulent and void.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •It buys the buyer a 60-day permit. The buyer may submit this form and proof of insurance to any Kansas county treasurer's motor vehicle office to obtain a Kansas 60 day permit - which is how the car lawfully drives while your lender processes the payoff.
• •Penalty and interest wait at the far end. The form's own note: if application for title and registration is not made within 60 days of the date of sale and delivery, penalty and interest will be assessed. Your delivery speed sets the buyer's margin.
• •Pair it with a TR-40. The companion power of attorney lets the buyer complete the assignment themselves when the clear paper title finally prints - one signature ceremony instead of two, sixty days apart.

Every line here was read off TR-39a (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.