How to fill out Kentucky TC 96-169

For a vehicle whose identification number has stopped existing - rusted through, cut out with a repaired panel, or never fitted because somebody built the thing in a shed. Kentucky assigns a replacement number, and it charges $5.00 per application to do it. The condition that stops most people is buried in the required documents: where the vehicle or trailer has no identification number at all, a minimum of five (5) years of ownership is required before applying.

Written against TC 96-169 (Rev 02/2026), issued under KRS 186.1911, 601 KAR 9:080 and 601 KAR 9:200. A Kentucky-assigned number is permanent and it travels with the vehicle. On a rebuilt car it arrives alongside a rebuilt brand, and both of them are visible to anybody who runs a history check afterwards.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TC 96-169 from the transportation.ky.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank TC 96-169 — Application for Vehicle or Trailer Identification Number PDF at transportation.ky.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual TC 96-169, rendered from the PDF the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Division of Motor Vehicle Licensing publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.

Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below

Kentucky form TC 96-169 filled in: Delphine R. Hoskins of Nelson County applies for a replacement non-rebuilt identification number for a 1979 Chevrolet C10 Fleetside pickup last registered to Alonzo B. Hoskins in Nelson County in 1994, signed and sworn before notary Wanda C. Skaggs on 18 September 2026. — The last-known-registration block is filled in with a name that is not the applicant's, which is the ordinary case on a vehicle this old - it was registered to somebody who is no longer here, and that entry is how the Cabinet finds the record at all.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Select one of the four
A replacement number, a mobile home number, a homemade trailer number, or a plate for a Classic Project title - with Rebuilt or Non-rebuilt where you chose replacement.
Watch out: Rebuilt and Non-rebuilt are not about the condition of the car. They are about whether it went through the Cabinet's rebuilt process, and the answer changes what comes back.
2
You fill this in
Section 1, who you are
Name, county of residence, email, address and phone.
Watch out: County of residence is asked for separately from the address because it decides which clerk finishes the job afterwards.
3
You fill this in
Section 2, what the vehicle is
Vehicle type, make, year, model and body style - and trailer dimensions only if it is a trailer.
Watch out: With no identification number, this description and the last-known-registration block underneath are the whole of the identification. Be specific.
4
You fill this in
The last known registration
The name it was last registered in, the county, the plate, the year, and that person's address.
Watch out: An inherited vehicle will carry a parent's name here. That is expected, and it is a good reason to keep the old registration receipt rather than throw it out.
5
You fill this in
Sign and swear the attestation
That you are the owner, that there is no legible identification number, and that you are asking the Cabinet to assign one.
Watch out: The penalty band at the foot is printed in full for a reason. An assigned number on the wrong vehicle is forgery in the second degree, not a clerical slip.
6
You fill this in
Post it with the fee and the documents
Cheque or money order to the Kentucky State Treasurer, with proof of ownership, to the Rebuilt Support Section in Frankfort.
Watch out: One vehicle, one envelope, one fee. Two vehicles need two of everything, and the form says so.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Required documents	Proof of ownership - a title, a registration or a court order, with a bill of sale or affidavit of ownership accepted only for a Classic Project - and, where there is no identification number at all, five years of ownership. A homemade trailer needs receipts for the parts and a notarised statement explaining where the parts originated.
Fee	$5.00 per application, payable by cheque or money order to the Kentucky State Treasurer, with the printed instruction not to pay with cash and a separate form, documentation and fee for each number requested.
Select one of the following	Four routes: a replacement number with a Rebuilt or Non-rebuilt sub-choice, a number for a mobile home, a number for a homemade trailer, and a number plate for a Classic Project title.
Section 1, owner or applicant information	Name, county of residence, email, street address, city, state, ZIP and phone.
Section 2, vehicle or trailer information	Vehicle type - passenger car, truck, motorcycle, trailer or other - then make, year, model, body style and trailer dimensions.
The last known registration	A second block: the name the vehicle was last registered in, the county, the licence plate number, the year, and that registrant's address, city, state, ZIP and phone.
Section 3, signature and notarisation	The attestation that the owner is the owner, that there is no legible vehicle or trailer identification number, and a request that the Cabinet assign one - then a signature, a date, and the notary's block with a commission number and expiry.
For MVL use only	A number assigned line and a signature, filled in by the Cabinet.
The penalty band	KRS 186A.990 printed in full at the foot: knowingly giving false, fraudulent or erroneous information in connection with an application for assignment of a vehicle identification number is forgery in the second degree.

What gets this one rejected

•A vehicle with a legible number. The attestation says there is no legible identification number, and a hard-to-read one is not the same thing.
•Less than five years of ownership on a vehicle that never had a number. The required-documents block sets the minimum and it is not waived on a good story.
•Cash. The fee line says cheque or money order and says not to pay with cash.
•Two numbers requested on one sheet. A separate form, documentation and fee are required for each.
•A bill of sale as proof of ownership on anything but a Classic Project. The parenthetical limits it to that route.
•A homemade trailer with receipts but no statement. The instruction wants a notarised statement explaining where the parts originated as well.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•It goes to the Rebuilt Support Section, not to a clerk. The instruction line addresses it to the Cabinet at 200 Mero Street in Frankfort, by post or into the Rebuilt Section drop box.
•The last-known-registration block is how they find the vehicle. With no identification number there is nothing else to search on, so the plate and the previous registrant are doing the work the number normally does.

Every line here was read off TC 96-169 (Rev 02/2026) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Division of Motor Vehicle Licensing 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 Kentucky seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Kentucky involves.

How to fill out Kentucky TC 96-169

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Select one of the four

Section 1, who you are

Section 2, what the vehicle is

The last known registration

Sign and swear the attestation

Post it with the fee and the documents

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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