For the narrower and more infuriating problem: a certificate the MVA issued and you never received. Not lost after it arrived - never arrived. The Administration will replace it at no cost, which is the difference between this sheet and a duplicate application, and in exchange you certify that every certificate previously issued in your name for the vehicle is nullified.
Written against VR-091 (02-18), issued under Maryland Transportation Article, Section 13-111(a) and (e).
The revision on this one is from 2018 and it is one of the older sheets the MVA still publishes. Check the code in the corner before relying on a saved copy, and if the certificate was issued long enough ago that it might genuinely have been delivered and lost, a duplicate application is the honest route.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VR-091 from the mva.maryland.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VR-091 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual VR-091, 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
The actual VR-091 at revision 02-18. The co-owner row is empty because the certificate names one owner - and the county box is filled in, because Maryland asks for county separately from city on almost every form it prints.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Owner's Name - First, Middle, Last
Three separate boxes on the first row, with a co-owner row underneath.
Watch out: Match the name the certificate was issued in. This form is a statement about a document the Administration has already printed, so the name it printed is the name that matters.
2
You fill this in
Street Address
One full-width rule under the name rows.
Watch out: If this differs from the address the certificate was posted to, that is the likeliest explanation for the whole problem and worth mentioning at the counter.
3
You fill this in
City, County, State, Zip Code
Four boxes across the row below the street address.
Watch out: County is its own box and it is not optional. Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset all have Salisbury post towns nearby, and the MVA is not guessing.
4
You fill this in
Make of Vehicle
First box of the vehicle row. Make only - there is no model box on this form.
Watch out: Do not try to squeeze a model into it. The VIN beside it is what identifies the vehicle and the make is only there for a human reader.
5
You fill this in
Vehicle Identification Number
The middle box of the vehicle row.
Watch out: From the registration card or the dashboard plate, because the certificate you are writing about is the document you have not got.
6
You fill this in
Title Number
The last box of the vehicle row - the number of the certificate that never arrived.
Watch out: The registration card carries it. If you have neither the card nor the certificate, the MVA can look it up, but you will be doing this at a branch rather than by post.
7
You fill this in
Owner's Signature and Date
The signature block, above three bullets about joint owners, business entities and trusts.
Watch out: You are certifying two things at once - that it never came, and that you will send it back if it ever does. The second one binds you after the replacement has arrived.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The identification requirement
This application must be accompanied by a copy of the valid state issued identification(s) of the vehicle owner(s) and any person presenting the application, and it asks for black ink apart from the signature.
The certification sentence
I/we certify that the original/duplicate title certificate applied for in the name(s) below was never received.
Owner's Name
First, middle and last in separate boxes, with a matching row for a co-owner.
Address
One wide street rule, then city, county, state and ZIP across the next row.
Vehicle block
Make of vehicle, vehicle identification number and title number.
The nullification paragraph
I/we fully understand that the issuance of this duplicate title certificate, at no cost to me, will nullify all title certificates issued previously in my/our name(s), covering the above described vehicle.
The return undertaking
I/we further certify that should the original title described come into my/our possession at any time, I/we will return it immediately to the Motor Vehicle Administration for cancellation.
Signatures
Owner's signature and date, co-owner's signature and date, with the same three bullets about joint owners, business entities and trusts that the duplicate application carries.
Approved by
An MVA line at the foot.
What gets this one rejected
•Using it for a certificate that arrived and was then mislaid. The certification says never received, and that is a different fact from lost.
•Filing it without a copy of the state-issued identification of every owner and of whoever hands it in.
•One signature where the record shows two owners.
•A title number left blank, which is what the Administration matches the previously issued certificate against.
•A county missing from the address row. Maryland asks for it separately and this form is no exception.
•Completing it in blue or black ink except the signature is fine - completing it in pencil is not, and the printed instruction asks for typing or black ink.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•No cost is the whole point. The paragraph says at no cost to me. A certificate that was issued and never delivered is the Administration's problem to solve, and it solves it without another fee.
•It is a promise about the future too. If the missing certificate ever turns up, you have undertaken to send it straight back for cancellation. Two live certificates for one vehicle is the exact condition this form exists to prevent.
Every line here was read off VR-091 (02-18) 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.
