How to fill out Kentucky TC 96-16A

How a Kentucky seller finds out what actually happened to a car after it left. Because there is nothing to file at the handover, there is no confirmation number and no timestamp to point at later - so the record itself is the evidence. This form asks the Cabinet for it, and its structure is set by federal privacy law: six permitted purposes, one of which you have to initial beside, and a certification that you take full responsibility for any violations.

Written against TC 96-16A (Rev 05/2022), issued under KRS 61.874 and 601 KAR 2:020(6). There are three sibling forms with almost the same name and they are not interchangeable: this one is for a person or a business, the TC 96-16B is narrowly about motor fuel theft, the TC 96-16G is for government agencies and the TC 96-16T is for towing and storage companies and creditors in possession. Sending the wrong one back costs the whole three to five days again.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TC 96-16A from the transportation.ky.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank TC 96-16A — Request for Motor Vehicle or Boat Record that Includes Personal Information PDF at transportation.ky.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual TC 96-16A, 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 96-16A filled in by a former owner: Delphine R. Hoskins requests the title history of a 2015 Subaru Outback, vehicle identification number 4S4BSANC4F3291746, title number 052318476, plate HRT 419, for a non-commercial purpose, initialling the written-consent line, ticking the certification and the individual-with-a-driver-licence status, and swearing it before notary Wanda C. Skaggs on 2 September 2026. — One set of initials, in the fifth box, and five boxes deliberately empty. The purpose you initial has to be true of you, and a former owner asking about her own vehicle is the person the written-consent line describes.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
I, ______, on behalf of ______
Your name, and who you are asking for. Asking for yourself, say so.
Watch out: The second rule is where a business names itself. An individual asking about their own former car fills it in with themselves rather than leaving it blank.
2
You fill this in
Title History
The first of the three boxes. Current Owner returns less; Other needs you to say what you want.
Watch out: Title history is what shows whether a transfer happened, when it was keyed and to whom. That is the question a seller actually has.
3
You fill this in
Identify the vehicle three ways if you can
Vehicle identification number, title number and plate number.
Watch out: One is required, but giving all three removes the ambiguity that sends a request back. Your old registration receipt carries all of them.
4
You fill this in
Non-commercial
The second of the two purpose boxes, which sets the per-page fee rather than the per-record one.
Watch out: Commercial means, in the form's terms, use by a business. Curiosity about your own car is not a business use.
5
You fill this in
Initial exactly one permitted purpose
Your initials in the box beside the reason that is true, and nothing beside the other five.
Watch out: Read all six before you choose. The certification underneath binds you to the one you initialled and to nothing else.
6
You fill this in
Sign it, then swear it
Printed name, signature and date, then the attesting official's block.
Watch out: Payment is by cheque or money order to the Kentucky State Treasurer, and it goes in the same envelope as the form.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The opening sentence	I, [name], on behalf of [whom], hereby request the following - with three tick boxes underneath: Title History, Current Owner, and Other, the last carrying a specify line.
Identifying the vehicle	Three rules on one line: vehicle identification or hull number, title number, and licence plate number.
Commercial or non-commercial	Two boxes, and the choice sets the fee scale printed beside them.
The six permitted purposes	Each with its own initial box: normal course of business verification; a civil, criminal, administrative or arbitral proceeding; insurance claims investigation, antifraud, rating or underwriting; a licensed investigative agency or security service; a requester who has obtained the written consent of the individual the information pertains to; and research or statistical reporting.
The certification	One tick box and two sentences - that the requested information is permissible for the reason initialled above and will be used only as indicated, and that the undersigned takes full responsibility for any violations.
Status	Three exclusive boxes: acting on behalf of a business with its federal employer number, an individual with a valid driver licence and its number, or an individual without one giving a state identification number.
Contact block	Address, city, state, ZIP, phone, email, and a box to tick if the information is to be returned by email.
Signature and jurat	Printed name, applicant signature and date, then subscribed and attested before me with a commission number and expiry.
The fee line	Printed above the initials: $3.00 per record for a commercial request, or $0.10 per page plus mailing cost for a non-commercial one, payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer.

What gets this one rejected

•No initials beside any purpose. The certification refers to the reason initialled above, so with nothing initialled it certifies nothing.
•Initials beside two purposes. The form is built around one, and a request that claims several is a request nobody can grant.
•A vehicle identified only by make and model. The fee line says the identification number, title number or plate number is required.
•No status box ticked. The line above them says to check one and that a valid ID number is required.
•An unsworn request. The jurat at the foot is not optional even though the request is only for paperwork.
•Asking for a record more than five years old. The note under the mailing address says title records older than five years are not available.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Non-commercial is the right box for your own car. The commercial rate is for a business making money from the information. A former owner checking what happened to their own vehicle is not that, and the page-based rate applies instead.
•Processing takes days, not minutes. The Cabinet's own page says applications are processed within three to five business days and returned by post or by email as requested.

Every line here was read off TC 96-16A (Rev 05/2022) 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 96-16A

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

I, , on behalf of

Title History

Identify the vehicle three ways if you can

Non-commercial

Initial exactly one permitted purpose

Sign it, then swear it

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

Want the paperwork handled instead?

Or send the details — we'll come to you

How to fill out Kentucky TC 96-16A

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

I, ______, on behalf of ______

Title History

Identify the vehicle three ways if you can

Non-commercial

Initial exactly one permitted purpose

Sign it, then swear it

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

Want the paperwork handled instead?

Or send the details — we'll come to you

I, , on behalf of