How to fill out Mississippi 78-031

The one-way door: the certification that sends a vehicle to a licensed used motor vehicle parts dealer or scrap metal processor for parts or scrap. The seller certifies ownership, that the vehicle is at least ten model years old and free of liens, and - the sentence that makes it final - that the vehicle shall never be titled again; it must be dismantled or scrapped. The business completes the bottom half and mails the form to the Department within seventy-two hours.

Written against 78-031 (11/19), issued under Miss. Code Ann. Section 63-21-39, which the form cites for both the surrender and the penalty. This form and a junk brand are cousins: both are permanent. If there is any question of the vehicle being rebuilt - by you or anyone - stop, because the salvage-and-inspection road preserves that option and this form forecloses it in writing.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 78-031 from the dor.ms.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our 78-031 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank 78-031 — Certification to Cancel Title for Scrapped, Dismantled or Destroyed Vehicle PDF at dor.ms.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in 78-031 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual 78-031, 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

A Mississippi Form 78-031 filled in: Harmon T. Leflore certifies he was issued a title now lost for a 2011 Ford Focus, VIN 1FAHP3FN4BW152873, at least ten model years old and lien-free, odometer 158772 with neither exception checked, gives his driver's license number and Florence address and signs with the date; the acquirer's half names Chunky River Auto Parts and Metals of Meridian with its NMVTIS ID number and acquisition date, and the business agent's signature line is left for ink. — The actual 78-031 at Rev(11/19), completed for a flood car going to a licensed parts dealer. The middle certification is the document's whole gravity - ten model years, no liens, never titled again, on pain of Section 63-21-39's misdemeanor and felony clauses - and the lower half belongs to the scrap business, whose seventy-two-hour duty to mail the form to the Department starts when the deal completes.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
The true ownership box
Never titled in my name, title lost or stolen, or title already surrendered for cancellation - one tick.
Watch out: Lost-title scrapping is this form's quiet gift: no replacement certificate needed to scrap a ten-plus-year-old vehicle, because the certification stands in for the paper.
2
You fill this in
Read the never-again sentence aloud
The vehicle is ten model years old at least, lien-free, and shall never be titled again.
Watch out: This is the last decision anyone makes about this VIN. If any part of you is unsure, the salvage route keeps a rebuilt future open and this line closes it.
3
You fill this in
Vehicle and mileage
VIN, make, model, year, and the odometer reading with its caution-flanked exception statements.
Watch out: Yes, even the crusher gets a mileage disclosure - the reading dies on this record, so read it off the dash like any sale.
4
You fill this in
Your identity, licence number included
Name, driver's license number, address, signature, date.
Watch out: The DL number is non-negotiable by the form's own privacy notice - it is how the state knows the person scrapping the car is the person entitled to.
5
Somebody else fills this in
The business's half and your copy
The licensed dealer or processor completes its block - name, NMVTIS ID, acquisition date, agent's signature and title - and owns the seventy-two-hour mailing.
Watch out: Photograph or copy the completed form before the truck leaves. The tag is already off and headed for the Tax Collector; this sheet is the car's death certificate, and you want a copy of it.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The precondition banner	THIS FORM MUST BE TYPED OR COMPUTER PRINTED AND CAN ONLY BE USED TO TRANSFER A VEHICLE FOR PARTS OR SCRAP TO A LICENSED, USED MOTOR VEHICLE PARTS DEALER OR SCRAP METAL PROCESSOR.
The ownership certification	Three alternatives, one true: I never obtained a title to the vehicle in my name; I was issued a title but the title has been lost or stolen; or I have surrendered the title to MS Department of Revenue for cancellation per Miss. Code Ann. Section 63-21-39(1).
The finality certification	That the vehicle is at least ten (10) model years old, not subject to any secured interest or lien, and shall never be titled again - with the penalty spelled out: falsification would result in a misdemeanor and/or felony per Section 63-21-39(1)(J)(i) and (ii).
The vehicle and the odometer	VIN, make, model and year, then the odometer reading, no tenths, between the CAUTION: READ CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU CHECK A BLOCK warning and the two exception statements.
The seller's block	Seller's name, driver's license number - required by state law, the privacy notice explains, under the federal disclosure statutes and Section 63-21-15 - street address, city, state, ZIP, signature and date.
The acquirer's half	Below the printed rule of asterisks: the business certifies the vehicle has been acquired as junk, parts only, or scrap, with its name, address, NMVTIS ID number, date of acquisition, and the business agent's signature, printed name and title - and the seventy-two-hour mailing duty is theirs.

What gets this one rejected

•A vehicle younger than ten model years. The certification's age floor is absolute on this form - a newer wreck goes through the salvage title machinery instead.
•A lien anywhere on the record. Not subject to any secured interest or lien is certified, not hoped; an old forgotten lien surfaces here, and the eight-year automatic satisfaction rule is the honest fix, not a false certification.
•Selling to an unlicensed buyer. The banner limits the form to licensed parts dealers and scrap metal processors - the NMVTIS ID line in the acquirer's half is how the Department checks.
•A driver's license number left blank. The privacy notice is unusually direct: failure to provide the information will result in the denial of a certificate of title - the number is the anti-fraud anchor of the whole certification.
•Using it on a car somebody might want to drive. Never titled again means never - a running classic sold for parts money through this form is legally scrap forever, whatever the buyer does next.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Which of the three ownership boxes. They map to real situations: an inherited yard truck never titled in your name; a title lost somewhere in three house moves; or a title you have already surrendered to the Department for cancellation. Tick the true one - the form works in all three cases, and the penalty clause exists for the fourth.
•The seventy-two-hour tail. The mailing duty lands on the business - this form must be mailed by the used motor vehicle parts dealers or scrap metal processor to the Department of Revenue within seventy-two (72) hours of the completed transaction - so your part ends at the signature. Keep your copy; it is the record that the car left your life as scrap, with a date on it.

Every line here was read off 78-031 (11/19) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Mississippi Department of Revenue, Motor 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 Mississippi seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Mississippi involves.

How to fill out Mississippi 78-031

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

The true ownership box

Read the never-again sentence aloud

Vehicle and mileage

Your identity, licence number included

The business's half and your copy

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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