How to fill out Minnesota PS2002

The form for a vehicle Minnesota has never heard of. Its own subtitle is the test - use when there is no vehicle ownership record - and it is what DVS asks for when a search of the national title information system finds nothing at all. It is part affidavit and part history: how the vehicle came into your hands, what condition it was in, and why no document exists. Its signature band does double duty and the form says so: signatures of the seller(s) and applicant(s) attest to the accuracy of the information and serve as a bill of sale.

Written against PS2002 (09/16), issued under Minnesota Statutes 168A.07. The bond is the part that surprises people. The photographs are not for the file - the department uses them to value the vehicle, and the value decides whether a surety bond is required and how large it has to be.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank PS2002 from the assets.dps.mn.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   The buyer fills this in

   Section A, the vehicle

   Model year, make, body type or style, and the identification number or motorcycle frame number.

   Watch out: Take the identification number from the vehicle itself and photograph it while you are there. On a car of the age this form is usually about, the doorpost label may be long gone and the number may only survive on the frame.

2. 2
   The buyer fills this in

   Last known plate number

   Plate, state of issue and expiration date, on the row beneath - plus the engine number if it is a motorcycle.

   Watch out: Blank is an acceptable answer if there genuinely was no plate. Guessing at one sends the department looking for a record that will not match.

3. 3
   The buyer fills this in

   The vehicle was purchased or acquired from

   Name and address of the person you got it from, and the date acquired.

   Watch out: The form puts seller in quotation marks throughout, which is a hint that inherited, found on the property and given by a neighbour are all answers it expects.

4. 4
   The buyer fills this in

   Explain how you acquired the vehicle

   The first free-text box: how it came to you, and why there are no documents or record of ownership.

   Watch out: Write the sequence, with dates. This is the box a title is granted or refused on, and it is read by somebody who knows nothing about the vehicle.

5. 5
   The buyer fills this in

   Explain the condition of the vehicle

   The second box, and the form's own instruction is to be specific.

   Watch out: Condition here is about value as much as honesty - it and the photographs are what a surety bond, if one is required, gets sized from.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   The seller signs section C

   Printed name and signature, attesting to the accuracy of the information.

   Watch out: Where there is a seller who can be found, get this signed. The band is expressly a bill of sale and it is the only transfer document a vehicle like this will ever have.

7. 7
   The buyer fills this in

   The applicant signs section C

   Printed name and signature, under the undertaking to defend and protect the state of Minnesota against any and all future claims of ownership.

   Watch out: That undertaking is the trade. Minnesota issues a title on your word, and you carry the risk if somebody turns up later with a better claim.

What gets this one rejected

• •Submitting it without an application to title. The instructions list the PS2000 first, and this form has no application in it - it explains a gap, it does not fill one.
• •Photographs of the front and back only. All sides, plus the identification plate or a legible tracing of it, and a motorcycle needs a photograph of the federal safety sticker as well.
• •A history that is really a summary. It bought at an auction with no paperwork is not an explanation of why no record exists, and the two free-text boxes are the substance of the form.
• •The seller's band left blank where there was one. DVS's own guidance is that the seller must sign this form if a transfer is being completed, because the signatures serve as a bill of sale.
• •Using it where a record does exist. Where the vehicle can be found in the national system the route is a due diligence affidavit and a bonded title, not this.
• •Forgetting the major parts. If major parts are replaced the instructions want original invoices or bills of sale attached and a declaration of reconstruction with them.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •No record and no proof are the same doorway with two routes. DVS looks the vehicle up first. A record found sends you to the due diligence affidavit; no record found sends you here.
• •It becomes the bill of sale. The signature band is expressly a bill of sale, which is why the seller signs it at all. On a vehicle with no paperwork, this sheet is the only document of transfer that will ever exist.
• •Trailers are treated more lightly. Photos are not required for trailers with a gross weight of less than 6,000 pounds, though a photograph of the identification plate should still be submitted.

Every line here was read off PS2002 (09/16) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services 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 Minnesota seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Minnesota involves.