Not a lien release, though it is what most sellers find when they go looking for one. The 78-007 moves a recorded lien from one lender to another - the lien shown in favor of the undersigned Assignor on the attached Certificate of Title - when a loan is sold or refinanced, and the new lender applies for a fresh certificate showing itself. A seller paying off a car signs nothing on it; it is on this page so you recognise it and put it down.
Written against 78-007 (09/17), issued under the lienholder shown on the certificate - this is a lender's document from its first line.
If a buyer's lender or a title pledge company asks you to sign a 78-007 as part of a private sale, stop and read what you are being handed - a private individual is not a lienholder of record, and the only lien that belongs in your sale is the buyer's new one, recorded on their application, not assigned from anybody.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 78-007 from the dor.ms.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our 78-007 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual 78-007, rendered from the PDF the Mississippi Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Services 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 actual 78-007 completed the only way it ever legitimately is - by two lenders, over a seller's head. The owner's name appears once, as the person the certificate was issued to, and no line on either half of the form is his to sign. If your loan is simply paid off, the document you want bears no resemblance to this one: it is a release on the face of your certificate, or an electronic release the lender transmits.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
The lienholder fills this in
The certificate block
Title number, issuance date, the owner's name and address - the old lender copies these from the certificate it holds.
Watch out: This is the one place a seller appears on the form: as a name in a lender's records. If you are being asked to supply anything more than confirmation of these details, ask why.
2
The lienholder fills this in
Make and VIN
The vehicle, in two lines.
Watch out: Lenders identify cars by VIN and certificate number, not by plate - the plate is registration, and registration is the county's business, not the lien's.
3
The lienholder fills this in
Assigned to, address, assigned date
The new lienholder and the date the loan changed hands.
Watch out: The assigned date matters to the record: the substitution regulation keeps the original security agreement's lien date, so the new lender inherits the old priority rather than starting fresh.
4
The lienholder fills this in
Signature and witness
The assignor's authorized representative signs; a witness adds name and address.
Watch out: Note what Mississippi asks of lenders here versus sellers on the assignment: your transfer needs no witness at all, and this one does. Formality tracks who is moving the money.
5
The lienholder fills this in
The application for transfer of lien
Below the cut line, the assignee applies for a new certificate subject to the liens named and none other.
Watch out: The reissued certificate is why a seller might glimpse this form at all - the title that eventually reaches your buyer's chain shows the successor lender, and this is the paperwork that put it there.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The lien being assigned
Certificate of title number, its date of issuance, who it was issued to and their address - identifying the lien by the certificate that records it.
The vehicle
Make and vehicle identification number, one line each.
The assignment
Assigned to (the new lender), that lender's address, and the assigned date.
The assignor's execution
The old lienholder's name, the signature of its authorized representative, and a witness block with name and address - a lender-to-lender formality no private sale ever has.
The application half, below the dotted line
APPLICATION FOR TRANSFER OF LIEN: the assignee confirms the transfer and applies for a new Certificate of Title subject to the following named liens and none other, with first-lien and second-lien blocks. The top half stays in the lender's records; the cut line says so.
What gets this one rejected
•A seller filing it to clear a paid-off loan. Nothing on the form releases anything - it keeps the lien alive under a new name. A payoff is recorded by release, not assignment.
•Filing it without the certificate. The form's first sentence ties the lien to the attached Certificate of Title, so it travels with the paper it amends.
•Missing the fee. The form prints its price in the corner - a $10.00 fee for the new certificate the assignee is applying for.
•An unsigned witness block. The assignor's representative signs and a witness with a full address backs the signature - lender paperwork holds itself to formalities the private assignment never asks for.
•Second liens smuggled in. The application half binds the new certificate to the liens named and none other, so an unlisted encumbrance dies on the reissue.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•What a paid-off seller needs instead. A release, and Mississippi gives it two shapes. On paper, the lienholder releases the lien on the front of the title and hands the certificate over - the Department's e-lien FAQ describes exactly that paper-title lien release. Electronically, a lienholder with a federal EIN must transmit the release within 14 days of satisfaction, and a lien more than eight years old is recorded as satisfied unless the lender recertifies it annually.
•When the lender has vanished. The 78-006's own instructions put the burden where it hurts: if the lienholder has gone out of business or changed names and the loan has been paid in full, it is still the owner's responsibility to obtain a lien release. That means chasing the successor institution - the eight-year automatic satisfaction is the backstop for liens old enough to qualify.
