One page headed STOP, published by the Registry for exactly this transaction. It lists the five things a Service Center has to be handed before it will process a car bought from a private individual, and it is worth a seller reading because two of the five are things only the seller can supply: a properly completed assignment on the back of the certificate, and the mileage recorded in the right place.
Written against TTLREG105 (TTLREG105_0523, May 2023), issued under Massachusetts RMV counter policy.
The Registry publishes a second, shorter checklist for a title-only transaction, and the two are not interchangeable: the title-only sheet has three items instead of five because it drops the insurance stamp and the identity requirement. Read the heading before you work down the boxes.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TTLREG105 from the mass.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual TTLREG105, 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
The only thing there is to fill in on this sheet is the five boxes, so that is what the sample shows. Read the small print under PROOF OF OWNERSHIP before the buyer leaves your driveway: signatures of sellers and buyers, and mileage recorded in the appropriate area, are both your side of the transaction rather than theirs.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
The buyer fills this in
Completed application
Twelve named sections of the Registration and Title Application, ticked off one at a time.
Watch out: Garaging address and seller information are the two most often left out, and both are on this list for that reason.
2
The buyer fills this in
Proof of insurance
Section K stamped and signed by a Massachusetts agent.
Watch out: The checklist adds a rule the application itself does not print: the policy change or effective date cannot be more than thirty days old or a date in the future.
3
You fill this in
Proof of ownership
The certificate of title with the assignment completed, or a bill of sale and the previous registration for a vehicle outside the title law.
Watch out: This is the box that fails because of something the seller did days earlier. Signatures on both sides and the mileage in the right strip are checked here, not at the kerb.
4
The buyer fills this in
Proof of identity
One of the four documents the checklist names.
Watch out: An out-of-state licence is fine for registering a car in Massachusetts. What is not fine is a photocopy, or a Social Security card that somebody has laminated.
5
The buyer fills this in
Correct payment
$75 for the title, plus the registration fee for the plate type, plus the sales tax the checklist says is calculated on sale price or NADA book value, whichever is higher.
Watch out: Cheques are made out to MassDOT, not to the RMV. The Registry is a division of the Department of Transportation and the payee reflects that.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Completed application
Twelve sub-items to tick off inside the Registration and Title Application: vehicle, title, owner or business owner, lessee, garaging address, lienholder, sales or use tax schedule, purchase information, insurance information, seller information, and the signature section.
Proof of insurance
The application carrying the agent's stamp and signature in Section K, with a policy change or effective date that is neither more than thirty days old nor in the future.
Proof of ownership
The certificate of title, or - for a vehicle old enough to be outside the title law - a copy of the bill of sale and the previous registration. Either way it must contain signatures of sellers and buyers, and the mileage must be recorded in the appropriate area.
Proof of identity
One of four: an unexpired driving licence from any US state or territory or from Canada; an unexpired foreign passport or consular identification, translated if it is not in English; a physical, unlaminated Social Security card; or proof of lawful presence.
Correct payment
$75 for the title plus the registration fee for the plate type plus the tax, by cash, card, or cheque or money order payable to MassDOT.
What gets this one rejected
•A certificate with the buyer's signature missing. The checklist asks for signatures of sellers and buyers, plural on both sides.
•An assignment with no mileage on it. Mileage must be recorded in the appropriate area, which is the strip on the reverse and not a separate sheet.
•Any erasure, white-out or alteration on the proof of ownership or the application.
•A laminated Social Security card, which the checklist rules out by name.
•A photocopy of the bill of sale where the vehicle is not exempt from titling - the certificate is the proof of ownership for everything else.
•Coloured paper or card stock, and anything that is not legible on white 8 1/2 by 11.
Every line here was read off TTLREG105 (TTLREG105_0523, May 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.
