How to fill out Missouri Form 4205

A two-signature fix for a Missouri problem that surprises people: a date of sale written on the assignment that falls before the date the title itself was issued. Missouri transfers ownership at the moment the certificate is assigned, so a sale dated earlier describes something that legally had not happened yet, and the license office will not process it until both parties agree a new date on this form.

Written against Form 4205 (Rev 06-2014), issued under RSMo 301.210. The way to never need this form is to look at the DATE ISSUED on the front of your own certificate before you write the date of sale on the back. It bites hardest on a duplicate title, because the replacement carries the date it was printed - so a car sold in January on a duplicate issued in March has a sale date three months before its own title exists.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Form 4205 from the dor.mo.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   The vehicle

   Year, make and vehicle identification number, from the face of the certificate.

   Watch out: One line, and it is the only description on the form. Get the identification number right or the license office cannot match it to the title it is holding.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Issue date indicated on face of title

   The date printed in the DATE ISSUED block on the front of the certificate.

   Watch out: On a duplicate, this is the day the replacement was printed - not the day the original was. That difference is the reason most of these forms get filled in.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   The original sale date

   The date already written on the assignment, exactly as it stands.

   Watch out: Do not correct it on the title. This form exists precisely so that the assignment is left alone and the new date travels separately.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   The new sale or purchase date

   A date on or after the title's issue date, agreed between you and the buyer.

   Watch out: It becomes the purchase date on the face of the buyer's new title, and it is also the date the buyer's thirty-day title penalty runs from - so a later date is not always in their interest.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Both signatures

   Seller's signature and buyer's signature, side by side.

   Watch out: Only one buyer and one seller must sign, whatever the number of names on the title. This is one of the few Missouri forms where that is true.

6. 6
   The lienholder fills this in

   The lienholder rules

   Two further signature lines under the first pair, used where a lien is recorded.

   Watch out: Left empty on an unfinanced car. Where there is a lender, they are agreeing to a change in the date their security interest attaches, which is why they sign at all.

7. 7
   The buyer fills this in

   Hand it over with the title

   The form goes in at the same moment the assigned title does.

   Watch out: Not before and not after. The Department's instruction is that it must be submitted at the time the title is submitted by the applicant.

What gets this one rejected

• •A new date still earlier than the title's issue date. The printed instruction beside the box is the whole test: please indicate below a sale or purchase date that was on or after the certificate of ownership (title) issue date.
• •One signature. The form says the seller, buyer, and lienholder(s) if applicable, must sign below - only one buyer and one seller are needed, but both sides have to be there.
• •Sending it in on its own. This form must be submitted at the time the title is submitted by the applicant.
• •Using it to fix a date that is out of order between two assignments. The reverse covers that case separately: the second assignment cannot carry a sale date earlier than the first.
• •Reaching for it after a lost title. Where an original was assigned and then lost, the reverse says the duplicate may be backdated to the date of purchase recorded on the original and no statement will be required.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The new date does not go on the title. Printed on the reverse: the new purchase date shown on the form does not have to be recorded on the back of the title but will be shown as the purchase date on the face of the new title issued.
• •The reason it matters is not bureaucratic. The Department spells out the risk - allowing a purchase date prior to the issue date of the title could create legal problems concerning ownership with regard to insurance settlements, lienholder rights, etc.
• •A bill of sale is not ownership. If the owner of a vehicle issues a bill of sale to the purchaser but sells such vehicle without the title, the purchaser does possess an interest in the vehicle but has no legal ownership rights to the vehicle until such time as the title is assigned.

Every line here was read off Form 4205 (Rev 06-2014) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Missouri Department of Revenue 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 Missouri seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Missouri involves.