The form that should have been filed on the car you traded in. When a Kentucky dealership takes a vehicle and does not put the title into its own name - which is normal, because it intends to sell it on - the statute still requires the dealer to tell the county clerk within 15 days that the car is theirs now. The header says FOR USE BY LICENSED KENTUCKY AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ONLY, so you will never sign one; you will meet it when a trade-in is still showing in your name months later.
Written against TC 96-183 (Rev 03/2014), issued under KRS 186A.220.
Knowing this form exists is worth more to a seller than filling it in ever could be. If a car you traded in is still registered to you, ask the dealership for the date and the county its notice of acquisition went to - it is a specific question with a specific answer, and it is far quicker than a complaint.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TC 96-183 from the transportation.ky.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual TC 96-183, 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
Filled in from the dealership's side, with the previous owner's block carrying the name that would otherwise stay on the registration. Section 3 is the part worth reading if a car you traded in is still yours on paper.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
Dealers only
Section 1, the dealership
Name, dealer number, federal identification number and address.
Watch out: The dealer number is the part that matters to a seller chasing this. A dealership that will not give you theirs is telling you something.
2
Dealers only
Section 2, the vehicle
Vehicle identification number, year, make, model, mileage, current title number, plate and decal.
Watch out: The plate line is a leftover from before 2024. Since January 2024 the plate leaves with the seller, so on a current trade-in it comes off before the car does.
3
Dealers only
Section 3, the previous owner
Your name and address, as the person the dealership took the vehicle from.
Watch out: This is the block that clears the record. If it is wrong or missing, the clerk has no way to connect the dealership's notice to your registration.
4
Dealers only
Signature, title and date
The dealer's signature, the signer's job title and the date - filed with the clerk in duplicate within fifteen days.
Watch out: There is no notary line on this form, which makes it the fastest document in the set to produce. That is worth remembering when a dealership says the paperwork is complicated.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Section 1, dealer information
Dealership name, dealer number, federal identification number, birth month, then address, city, state and ZIP.
Section 2, vehicle description
Vehicle identification number, a combined year, make and model line, mileage, the current title number, the current plate and the current decal.
Section 3, previous owner information
The name of the previous owner or dealer, a dealer number line used only if the previous owner was itself a dealership, and an address block.
The certification
One printed sentence: that the vehicle described above has been acquired by the above dealership and that all records shall indicate the transfer to same.
Signature, title and date
The dealer's signature, the signer's job title, and the date - and no notary anywhere on the sheet.
What gets this one rejected
•A private individual filing it. The instruction band says in capitals that it is for licensed Kentucky automobile dealers only.
•Using it to convey a vehicle. The same band says this form should not be used for conveyance or transfer of a vehicle - it notifies, it does not transfer.
•Filing it late. The statute gives fifteen days after acquiring the vehicle, and a dealership that misses that has an unreported car on its lot.
•Sending only one copy. The instruction is to submit in duplicate.
•Leaving the previous owner's block thin. The clerk is matching this against a record that still carries your name and address.
•Filing it for a vehicle the dealership did title in its own name. This form exists for the case where it does not.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It is the missing piece when a trade-in stays in your name. If the dealership filed this, the clerk's record shows the vehicle acquired by the dealership on a dated notice. If it did not, there is nothing between you and the next property tax bill.
•No notary, uniquely. Every other document in a Kentucky transfer is sworn. This one carries a dealer number instead, which is the licence the state can act against.
