How to fill out Maryland VR-470

One page that lets somebody else sign a Maryland title in your place. It is restricted in two senses: it covers only the vehicle described on it, and it covers only the kind of document ticked at the top - titling, registration, correction or disability products. The odometer reading goes on the form itself, which is the detail that makes it work as an authority to sign a certificate rather than just an errand note.

Written against VR-470 (12-25), issued under Maryland Transportation Article, Title 13, Subtitle 1. Fill in the odometer box yourself before the form leaves you. If the representative writes the mileage in later, the federal disclosure has been made by somebody who was not looking at the dashboard, and that is the exact failure the odometer power-of-attorney rules exist to prevent.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VR-470 from the mva.maryland.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VR-470 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Type of Document

   Tick Titling for a sale. Registration, Correction, Disability Products and Other are the alternatives.

   Watch out: Tick only what is actually needed. A power of attorney that covers everything is a power of attorney nobody should be asked to sign, and the MVA does not require it.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Owner's Full Legal Name and address

   Left-hand column: name, street address, city, state and ZIP, with the same set on the right for a co-owner.

   Watch out: Legal name means the name on the face of the certificate. This form is authorising somebody to sign as you, so the two have to be the same person on paper.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Power of Attorney Granted to - Full Legal Name

   The person who will be signing, with a business name box beside it where the representative is acting for a company.

   Watch out: Name one person, not a household. The MVA will be comparing this against the signature on the certificate.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Representative and Capacity

   Two boxes describing who they are to you - son, brother-in-law, office manager - and in what capacity they are acting.

   Watch out: Say something specific. Capacity is what an agent looks at when deciding whether the authority is plausible, and blank is the least plausible answer available.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Vehicle Make, Model Year, VIN, Title Number

   Four boxes across the vehicle row, from the face of the certificate.

   Watch out: This row is the restriction. The authority extends to this vehicle and no other, which is exactly what you want if the form goes astray.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Vehicle Mileage

   A box marked miles, no tenths, with the two exception ticks to its right.

   Watch out: Write it yourself, on the day you sign. Handing over a form with the mileage blank turns your representative into the person making a federal certification about a car they may not have seen.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Owner's Signature and Date

   The signature block, with a co-owner pair beside it.

   Watch out: No notary is needed here either, which surprises people who have signed a general power of attorney before. What is needed is the photocopied licence the form asks for at the top.

8. 8
   The buyer fills this in

   Representative Signature and Capacity

   The last row, signed by the person accepting the authority, with their capacity and the date.

   Watch out: They sign to accept it, and they are certifying under the same paragraph you are. An unsigned representative line leaves an authority nobody has taken up.

What gets this one rejected

• •No copy of the owner's driver's licence attached, which the form asks for in its third line.
• •The vehicle boxes left empty. This is a restricted authority and the restriction is the vehicle, so a form without a VIN grants nothing.
• •No type of document ticked, which leaves the scope of the authority undefined.
• •An odometer reading omitted. The whole reason the mileage sits on this form is so the attorney-in-fact can complete the certificate without you present.
• •A representative who has signed but not stated their capacity, which has its own box beside the signature.
• •One owner signing where the certificate names two. Both grant the authority or neither does.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •It is not a general power of attorney. A Maryland durable power of attorney drafted by a solicitor can also work - the MVA's manual accepts one where the owner has become incompetent, provided it covers the transfer of personal property. This form is the short route for everyone else.
• •Full power of substitution is in the text. The person you appoint may appoint somebody else. That is standard wording for an attorney-in-fact and it is worth noticing before you sign, because it widens the grant beyond the individual you had in mind.

Every line here was read off VR-470 (12-25) 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.