How to fill out Maryland VR-449A

The one document in this group that a private seller signs rather than reads about. It exists for a single situation: you are trading your car in to a dealer and the Maryland certificate is defective, lost or destroyed. Rather than making you order a duplicate and come back, the dealer completes this and you sign it as the previous owner - and the indemnity you are signing is worth understanding before you do.

Written against VR-449A (04-23), issued under Maryland Transportation Article, Section 13-113. The soundex box catches people out. It is the identification number the MVA holds for you, printed on the face of the certificate as OWNER'S SOUNDEX / DRIVER LICENSE NO., and on a Maryland driver it is simply the licence number.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VR-449A from the mva.maryland.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VR-449A guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank VR-449A — Affidavit in Lieu of a Title PDF at mva.maryland.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in VR-449A guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual VR-449A, 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-449A affidavit in lieu of a title filled in: previous owner Rosalind T. Purnell with a soundex number and date of birth, title number 41027365 for a 2021 Mazda CX-5 in Machine Grey with VIN JM3KFBCM0M0357418, the lienholder line empty with lien released answered yes, the Lost box ticked, an odometer reading of 61208, the dealer named as Tidewater Motors of Salisbury with a dealer number, and signatures from the previous owner and the dealer's authorised representative. — The actual VR-449A at revision 04-23. Three signature blocks, and the top two are yours: the previous owner and co-owner sign before the dealer's authorised representative does, because it is your certification the affidavit rests on.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Previous Vehicle Owner and Previous Co-Owner
Two boxes across the top of the sheet - the people the certificate is in the name of, which is you.
Watch out: The word previous is doing a lot of work. By the time this form is filed the dealer already has the car, so the form describes you in the past tense.
2
You fill this in
Owner's Soundex and Date of Birth
Two boxes under your name, with a matching pair for a co-owner.
Watch out: Soundex is the MVA's own word for the identification number it holds, and on the certificate it is printed as OWNER'S SOUNDEX / DRIVER LICENSE NO. For a Maryland driver it is the licence number.
3
Dealers only
Title Number, Year, Make, Model, Body Style, Color, VIN
Seven boxes across the vehicle row, usually filled in by the dealership from its own record of the trade.
Watch out: Check the VIN before you sign under it. You are the one affirming this under penalty of perjury, not the person who typed it.
4
Dealers only
Lienholder Name and Lien Released
A name box and a yes-or-no pair beside it.
Watch out: If the loan was settled out of the trade-in, this says so. A lien answered no with no explanation is a title that cannot be issued.
5
You fill this in
Defective, Lost or Destroyed
Three ticks, one to be chosen, describing why the certificate cannot be produced.
Watch out: Defective means it exists but is unusable - a spoiled assignment, a tear through the VIN. If it exists at all in that state, it has to travel with the form.
6
You fill this in
Odometer reading
A box marked no tenths, with the two exception statements beneath it.
Watch out: Read the dashboard on the day you hand the keys over. Nothing about a missing certificate suspends the federal mileage disclosure.
7
You fill this in
Printed Previous Owner Name, Signature, Date
The first of three signature blocks, with a co-owner block below it.
Watch out: This is the block that carries the indemnity. Print the name as well as signing, and read the paragraph above it once before you do.
8
Dealers only
Printed name of Authorized Representative and Title
The last block, signed by the dealership.
Watch out: It should be filled in before the form leaves your hands. An affidavit with your signature and a blank dealer block is a document you have signed for nobody.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Purpose	Use this form to certify the unavailability of a Maryland Certificate of Title for a vehicle acquired through a dealer trade in. Please complete this form in its entirety.
The out-of-state exclusion	This form will not be accepted for out-of-state Certificates of Title. If an older version of this title is received, it must accompany this application.
Vehicle Owner Information	Previous vehicle owner and previous co-owner, each with a soundex number and a date of birth.
Vehicle Information	Title number, year, make, model, body style, colour and vehicle identification number across one row.
Lienholder Name and Lien Released	A name box and a yes-or-no pair.
The three reasons	We are unable to present the current Maryland Certificate of Title with respect to the vehicle described above because the Title is: Defective, Lost, Destroyed.
Odometer Disclosure	A reading box marked no tenths with the two exception statements and the odometer discrepancy warning.
Dealer Name and Dealer Number	Two boxes down the right-hand side of the odometer block.
Certification	A solemn affirmation under penalties of perjury, and then an indemnity: should any legal action arise as a result of issuing a certificate of title, we hereby bind ourselves, our heirs, assigns and personal representatives to indemnify and hold harmless the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.
Signatures	Printed previous owner name, signature and date; the same for a previous co-owner; then the printed name, title, signature and date of the dealer's authorized representative.

What gets this one rejected

•Using it on a certificate from another state. The form rules that out in its own second sentence.
•A defective certificate left at home. If an older version of the title exists it has to accompany the application.
•Only one of two joint owners signing, where the certificate named both.
•An odometer reading omitted because the certificate is missing. The disclosure is federal and it does not depend on the paperwork being available.
•A missing dealer number, which is what ties the affidavit to a licensed business rather than to a private arrangement.
•Signing it in a private sale. It is a dealer trade-in form and there is no version of it for two individuals.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Read the indemnity before you sign. You are binding yourself, your heirs, assigns and personal representatives to hold the MVA harmless for anything that follows from a title being issued without the certificate. That is a real undertaking and it is why the form asks for a solemn affirmation rather than a signature.
•Private buyers cannot use it. If you are selling to an individual and the certificate is missing, the route is a duplicate on a VR-018 - or an order through myMVA - and then an ordinary assignment on the new certificate.

Every line here was read off VR-449A (04-23) 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-449A

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Previous Vehicle Owner and Previous Co-Owner

Owner's Soundex and Date of Birth

Title Number, Year, Make, Model, Body Style, Color, VIN

Lienholder Name and Lien Released

Defective, Lost or Destroyed

Odometer reading

Printed Previous Owner Name, Signature, Date

Printed name of Authorized Representative and Title

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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