The form for getting the Registry to tell you what it holds. Eight different searches at $5 apiece, plus a $10 photocopy of a title application and its supporting documents, and it is the answer to two questions a seller cannot resolve any other way: what title number does my car actually have, and who is the lienholder the Registry still shows on it.
Written against TTL111 (TTL111-0823, August 2023), issued under 18 U.S.C. 2721, the Driver's Privacy Protection Act.
The photocopy option is the expensive one and usually the useful one: $10 buys the actual registration and title application the Registry holds for a title transaction, including the supporting documents, which is where an old lien release or a mis-keyed name will be visible. The $5 inquiries return a computer printout and nothing more.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TTL111 from the mass.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual TTL111, rendered from the PDF the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles 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
Eight boxes and a fee against each. Title history is the one that answers what the Registry currently shows for a car; the $10 photocopy of the application is the one that shows how it got that way, which is what you need if a lien nobody remembers is still on the record.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Pick the search
One of eight boxes. Title history and registration or title inquiry are the two a seller usually wants.
Watch out: A title inquiry gives you the current record. Title history gives you the sequence of records, which is what shows an old lien that was never released.
2
You fill this in
Section A, who you are
Name, licence or identification number, and address.
Watch out: This has to be you. The Registry releases records about a vehicle to its owner, not to a prospective buyer or a curious neighbour.
3
You fill this in
The vehicle
Registration, year, make, vehicle identification number, title number and policy number, as far as you can fill them in.
Watch out: The vehicle identification number alone is usually enough. It is the only one of those six that is stamped on the car itself.
4
You fill this in
Where to post the answer
A separate mailing address block.
Watch out: Fill it in even if it is the same address. A blank block is a request the Registry cannot answer.
5
You fill this in
Sign, and enclose your identification
Signature, date, and a photocopy of your licence or state-issued identification.
Watch out: Cheque or money order to MassDOT, and no cash. The form says so twice.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Request for
Eight tick boxes: address and licence inquiry, registration or title inquiry, insurance policy history, registration transaction history, a photocopy of the registration and title application at $10 per title transaction including supporting documents, title amend information, registration history and title history.
A, Licence or Vehicle Owner Information
Last name, first name, middle initial, suffix, licence or identification number, and a street address, city, state and ZIP.
Vehicle information
Registration number, year, make, vehicle identification number, title number and insurance policy number - as much of it as you have.
Mailing address
A second address block for where the answer should be posted.
Signature
The licence or identification holder, or the vehicle owner, signs and dates. A photocopy of the licence or state-issued identification goes in the envelope.
What gets this one rejected
•An unsigned application. The instruction is that the licence or identification holder or the vehicle owner must complete and sign it.
•No photocopy of identification enclosed.
•Cash. The instruction is explicit - do not mail cash - and the cheque or money order is payable to MassDOT.
•A request about somebody else's vehicle. Records about a person are protected, and the Registry's fee schedule notes that a Driver's Privacy Protection Act form may be required.
•Ticking several boxes and enclosing one $5 cheque. Each inquiry has its own fee.
Every line here was read off TTL111 (TTL111-0823, August 2023) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
