How to fill out Montana MV11

Not your form, and worth knowing whose it is. This is how a secured party that has already taken a vehicle back gets a Montana title in its own name so it can sell the car - the paperwork behind the repossession, not the repossession itself. It is here because sellers search for it: people who have fallen behind on a loan want to know what is coming, and people buying a repossessed car want to know what the seller is holding. The one number in it that matters to an owner is five: once the department receives repossession documents, the titled owner is notified and has five days from the date of notification to contact the secured party before the repossession title issues.

Written against MV11 (10/19), issued under MCA 61-3-221, involuntary transfer, with the applicant indemnifying the Chief of the Vehicle Services Bureau. If a repossession notice has reached you as the titled owner, the five days run from the date of notification and not from the date the car disappeared. That window is for contacting the secured party, and it closes whether or not you have found the paperwork.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV11 from the mvdmt.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MV11 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank MV11 — Application for Repossession of a Vehicle PDF at mvdmt.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in MV11 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual MV11, rendered from the PDF the Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicle Division, Vehicle Services Bureau 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 completed Montana MV11 Application for Repossession of a Vehicle. The applicant is Big Sky Timberline Credit Union of Great Falls, Montana, which entered into a security agreement with Wendell A. Hochstetler of Miles City. The vehicle block describes a 2013 Toyota 4Runner SR5, sport utility, half ton, with its licence plate number, colour, vehicle identification number and Montana title number. The repossession is dated the 9th day of February 2027 and the application the 12th day of February 2027, signed by Ardith J. Pomeroy for the credit union with its identification number, email and phone. — Rendered from the division's own PDF and completed entirely in the lender's hand - every field on this form belongs to the secured party. It is shown here so an owner can see exactly what is being certified about them, including the continuous-possession statement and the indemnity of the Bureau Chief.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
The lienholder fills this in
The applicant
The person, firm, company or corporation making the application, and where it resides.
Watch out: This is the party that will end up on the new Montana title. If the name here is a servicer rather than the lender on your loan, the security agreement it names should explain why.
2
The lienholder fills this in
The security agreement and the debtor
Who the agreement was entered into with, and their address.
Watch out: That name is the titled owner the department will notify. An address the lender has not updated is how a five-day notice reaches nobody.
3
The lienholder fills this in
The vehicle, including the title number
Year, make, style, ton, plate, colour, VIN and title number.
Watch out: The plate is listed because it is still assigned to the registered owner. A repossession does not transfer plates any more than a sale does.
4
The lienholder fills this in
The date of lawful repossession
The day, month and year the vehicle was taken, followed by the certification of continuous and undisputed possession since.
Watch out: This date is the anchor for everything that follows. If it is wrong, the possession certification signed underneath it is wrong too.
5
The lienholder fills this in
The signature, and the indemnity beneath it
Printed name, legal signature, identification number, email and phone, under MCA 45-7-203.
Watch out: The signature also adopts the indemnity of the Chief of the Vehicle Services Bureau and an agreement to defend any resulting suit at the applicant's own expense. That is the price of a title issued on one party's word.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The applicant and their address	The person, firm, company or corporation making the application, and where it resides.
The security agreement	Who the agreement was entered into with, and their address - the debtor whose vehicle this was.
The vehicle block	Year, make, style, ton, licence plate number, colour, identification number and title number, in two rows.
The date of repossession	On the ... day of ... , 20 ... I lawfully repossessed the vehicle. The word doing the work is lawfully, and everything after it depends on it.
The continuous possession certification	That the applicant has been in continuous and undisputed possession of the vehicle from the date of repossession to the present time.
The purpose statement	That the application is made for the purpose of establishing ownership in order to obtain a certificate of title under MCA 61-3-221, and to release the security interest filed against the vehicle.
The indemnity	The applicant indemnifies the Chief of the Vehicle Services Bureau and all persons acting for the Chief from any and all liability incurred by transferring the title, and agrees to defend any suit at their own expense.
Dated this, and the signature block	A second date, the applicant's identification number, email, phone, legal signature and printed name, all under MCA 45-7-203.
The fee list at the head of the form	$12.36 for automobiles, vans, SUVs, trucks, buses and logging trucks weighing one ton or less; $10.30 for all other vehicles; a temporary registration permit fee of $20.09 for an in-state purchaser if applicable; and the note that fees include the 3% administration fee.

What gets this one rejected

•An owner filing it. Only the party holding the security agreement can make this application - it establishes the secured party's ownership, not anybody else's.
•A gap in possession. The certification is continuous and undisputed possession from the date of repossession to the present, and a vehicle handed back and taken again is a different set of facts.
•The two dates confused. One is the day of the repossession; the other is the day the application is signed. Filling both with today's date says the car was taken this morning.
•A missing title number where one exists. The department is transferring an existing record, and the title number is how it finds it.
•An unsigned indemnity. The signature adopts the indemnity of the Bureau Chief along with everything else on the page; there is no version of this form without it.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Five days of notice, first. The manual: once repossession documents are received by the department, the titled owner is notified, and the titled owner has 5 days from the date of notification to contact the secured party. If they do not respond, the repossession title is issued after the 5-day period.
•It is an involuntary transfer. MCA 61-3-221 governs, and the department must be satisfied that the transfer is regular and in compliance with all formalities required by law before issuing a new title.
•A lender may have another route entirely. Where the borrower simply never applied for a title, MCA 61-3-220(4) lets the secured party pay the fees and force one on an MV81A instead - no repossession involved.
•The electronic notice does the same job. Because Montana is not a title-holding state, a lender on the electronic record receives a notice form it can use either to release its interest or to apply for a repossession title.
•The fees are the ordinary title fees. One ton or less is $12.36 and everything else $10.30 - the same figures as any other change of ownership, plus a temporary permit if the vehicle is to be driven.

What it costs

Title, automobiles, vans, SUVs, trucks, buses and logging trucks of one ton or less	$12.36
Title, all other vehicles	$10.30
Temporary registration permit, in-state purchaser, if applicable	$20.09

Every line here was read off MV11 (10/19) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicle Division, Vehicle Services Bureau 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 Montana seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Montana involves.

How to fill out Montana MV11

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

The applicant

The security agreement and the debtor

The vehicle, including the title number

The date of lawful repossession

The signature, and the indemnity beneath it

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

What it costs

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