How to fill out Maryland VR-018

The way back from a title that is lost, destroyed, altered, mutilated, misassigned or returned to the state, and the form that quietly solves a much older problem too. Its second half lets an owner certify that a lien over seven years old has been satisfied, which is how a car with a defunct finance company on the record gets a clean title without tracking down a bank that no longer exists.

Written against VR-018 (10-25), issued under Maryland Transportation Article, Section 13-111. Order it before you advertise the car, not after you have a buyer standing in the driveway. The online route exists and is faster, and either way the fee is $40.00 and the certificate arrives by post.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VR-018 from the mva.maryland.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VR-018 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank VR-018 — Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title PDF at mva.maryland.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in VR-018 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual VR-018, rendered from the PDF the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration 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

A Maryland VR-018 application for duplicate certificate of title filled in: Rosalind T. Purnell with an email address and phone number, the Lost reason box ticked, the secured party lines left empty, current MD title number 41027365 for a 2021 Mazda CX-5 with VIN JM3KFBCM0M0357418, her full name, driver's licence number and date of birth, a Salisbury resident address, and her signature dated 12 August 2026. — The actual VR-018 at revision 10-25. Only one reason box is ticked, and the seven-year lien certification lower down the sheet is deliberately left blank - it is a separate declaration with an indemnity attached and it is not part of an ordinary lost-title application.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Name, Email Address, Phone Number
The first row. The MVA uses these to come back to you if the record does not match.
Watch out: Give an email address you actually read. The duplicate itself arrives by post, but questions about the application do not.
2
You fill this in
Reason for Request
Tick exactly one of Lost, Destroyed, Altered, Mutilated, Misassigned, Returned to State or Other.
Watch out: Misassigned is the box for a certificate you have signed wrongly - the buyer's name in the seller's row, or a signature in the dealer reassignment block. It is a specific and well-trodden mistake and it has its own tick.
3
You fill this in
Name of Secured Party
The lender still showing on the record, if there is one, with its address beside it.
Watch out: If the record shows a lender, the duplicate goes to them rather than to you. That is normal, and it is a reason to sort a stale lien out before ordering the certificate.
4
You fill this in
Current MD Title Number
The eight-digit number from the top right of the missing certificate.
Watch out: It is printed on the registration card too, which is usually the surviving document when the title is the one that has vanished.
5
You fill this in
Owner's Full Name, Driver's License Number, Date of Birth
Three boxes, with a matching row for a co-owner underneath.
Watch out: The name has to match the record rather than the licence if the two have drifted apart. A name change is a VR-448 and it has to happen before this, not after.
6
You fill this in
Current Resident Street Address
Where you live, with a mailing address on the row below where the two differ.
Watch out: Tick the new address box if you have moved. The MVA posts the duplicate to the record address, and an uncorrected record is how a duplicate title goes to a house you sold in 2019.
7
You fill this in
Signature and Date
Under the penalty-of-perjury certification, with a co-owner line beside it.
Watch out: Every owner named on the title signs. The bullets underneath spell out the exceptions - a business states its signer's capacity, a trust signs through its trustee, a bankruptcy trustee attaches the court appointment.
8
You fill this in
The seven-year lien certification
The second signature block, used only where a satisfied lien over seven years old is still on the record.
Watch out: Read what you are signing. It is an indemnity: if a lienholder turns out to exist after all, you have promised to make full restitution and to hold the MVA harmless.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The online alternative	Skip the form and obtain your duplicate title electronically, with the myMVA route and the note that kiosks can do it too, and that an online or kiosk order can be posted to an alternate address at the owner's request.
Name, Email Address, Phone Number	Three boxes across the first row.
Reason for Request	Seven options, one to be selected: Lost, Destroyed, Altered, Mutilated, Misassigned, Returned to State, or Other with a line to explain. The altered, mutilated or misassigned certificate has to come in with the application.
Name and Address of Secured Party	Two boxes for a lender still showing on the record.
Vehicle block	Current MD title number, make, model, year and vehicle identification number.
Owner and Co-Owner	Full name or business name, driver's licence number or FEIN, and date of birth, for each.
Addresses	Current resident street address and current mailing street address, each with city, state and ZIP, and a tick to say the address is new.
The certification and signature block	A penalty-of-perjury certification, then owner and co-owner signature and date lines, followed by six bullets covering joint ownership, business entities, trusts, deceased owners, surviving spouses and bankruptcy trustees.
The seven-year lien section	Marked Important: this section can only be used if the lien(s) are over seven (7) years old and have been satisfied. Under it, a certification that the lien has been satisfied in full and an indemnity - that the owner will make full restitution to the lienholder and furnish the lien release, and will defend, indemnify and hold the MVA harmless.
For MVA use only	Supervisor approval, reason for approval, and a tick for a copy of the identification.

What gets this one rejected

•An application posted without a copy of the valid state issued identification of every vehicle owner and of whoever is presenting it.
•An altered or mutilated certificate described on the form but left at home. The damaged original is required with the application.
•Two owners on the record and one signature. If jointly owned, all owners' signatures are required.
•A business signing without stating the capacity of the person signing after their name, which the printed bullets ask for.
•The seven-year lien certification used on a lien that is younger than that, or one that has not actually been paid.
•A deceased owner's application with no letters of administration attached.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•A duplicate cancels everything before it. The MVA's manual is explicit that if a duplicate title is issued it replaces any previously issued titles and it becomes the valid title. The old certificate is dead paper from that moment, which is what makes a duplicate the right answer to an assignment you have spoiled.
•The penalty line is not boilerplate. Printed under the signature bullets: penalty for falsifying this application for a title or registration is punishable by fine up to $1000.

Every line here was read off VR-018 (10-25) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration 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 Maryland seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Maryland involves.

How to fill out Maryland VR-018

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Name, Email Address, Phone Number

Reason for Request

Name of Secured Party

Current MD Title Number

Owner's Full Name, Driver's License Number, Date of Birth

Current Resident Street Address

Signature and Date

The seven-year lien certification

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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