How to fill out Montana MV203

The other half of the salvage paperwork: where the MV206 is an application for the certificate, this is the receipt that records the insurer selling, transferring and delivering the wreck to whoever is taking it - with an odometer certification and, where the car moved through a Montana auction, a stamp block for the auction. It carries the same $5.15 fee. It is also the form in this set that still prints Montana's superseded odometer rule, which is worth knowing before you copy anything off it.

Written against MV203 (3/23), issued under MCA 61-3-210 and 61-3-211; fee under MCA 61-3-111. Ignore the nine-year odometer line printed on this form. It is the superseded federal rule and it disagrees with the statute, with the division's current MV90A and with the MV24 - a 2016 vehicle is nine years old in 2025 and still very much required to disclose, because the rule that matters is model year 2011 and under twenty.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV203 from the mvdmt.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MV203 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank MV203 — Montana Salvage Receipt PDF at mvdmt.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in MV203 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual MV203, 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 Salvage Receipt, form MV203. The applicant is Delphine R. Kowalchuk of Lewistown, Fergus County, Montana, with her driver licence number, addresses, email and phone. The vehicle description shows a 2016 Subaru Forester wagon in blue with its vehicle identification number. A six-digit odometer is ticked with a reading of 71,402 read on 07/28/2026. The applicant's printed name and the insurance company representative's printed name are completed, dated the 28th day of July 2026. The out-of-state title fields, the two odometer exception boxes and the Check if COPY box are shaded grey. — Rendered from the division's own PDF and completed for an owner-retained hail total loss - the insurer's representative and the owner on the same page, with no auction in the chain and therefore no stamp in the panel at the foot.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
The applicant, and the county
Legal name, driver licence number, both addresses, and the county of residence in field 4.
Watch out: County is its own numbered field for a reason - it routes the transaction. It is the field people skip because it is out on the right-hand edge.
2
You fill this in
The vehicle, by VIN
The identification number, then year, make, model, body style and colour.
Watch out: One of the three bullets you sign under is that you compared this number with the number on the vehicle. On a hail car that is a two-minute check; on a wreck it can be the only identification left.
3
You fill this in
The odometer certification
Digit count, reading with no tenths, and the date read.
Watch out: Read the vehicle rather than the file. The two exception boxes brand the record permanently, and the form's printed nine-year rule beside them is out of date.
4
You fill this in
The applicant signs - once
One legal signature and a printed name, adopting the certification, the odometer statement and the VIN comparison.
Watch out: Only one signature is required even where two people are taking the car. What is not optional is agreeing to all three bullets above it.
5
The insurance agent fills this in
The insurance company's half
The representative's signature and printed name, with the Dated this day line, and an auction stamp where a Montana auction was involved.
Watch out: The transfer sentence - I hereby do sell, transfer, and deliver - is the insurer's. Without their signature under it, nothing on this page has actually moved the vehicle.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Application for Salvage Certificate	The applicant's business name where relevant, legal name if an individual, identification number and driver licence number.
Addresses	Residential or business address, mailing address, and the county of residence - a numbered field of its own.
Vehicle Description	The VIN, then year, make, model, body style and colour.
Fields 11 to 14	Out-of-state title number, title date, issuing state, and the out-of-state registered owner's name and address.
Certification of Salvage Vehicle by INSURER	That the vehicle meets the definition of a salvage vehicle; the transfer sentence - I hereby do sell, transfer, and deliver the above-referenced vehicle to the applicant listed above; the two-attempts certification where no title is surrendered; and the requirement for a security interest release and a conforming odometer statement.
Certification of Salvage Vehicle by APPLICANT	That the vehicle has been deemed a salvage vehicle by the insurer, and that the applicant purchased it.
Odometer Certification	A five- or six-digit tick, the reading with no tenths, the date read, and the two exception boxes, under the federal warning about fines and imprisonment.
Signature Certification	Three bullets - agreement to the applicable certification, agreement to the odometer certification, and the VIN comparison - over the applicant's legal signature, with a note that only one signature is required.
The insurance company block, and the auction stamp	The insurance representative's signature and printed name, a Dated this day of line, a Check if COPY box, and a panel headed if the vehicle was sold through a Montana auction, place the auction stamp here.

What gets this one rejected

•An applicant signature with no insurer signature where the insurer is transferring the vehicle. The transfer sentence is the insurer's, and it needs the representative's signature under it.
•A missing county of residence. It is field 4 on the form and it decides which county treasurer handles the transaction.
•An odometer reading with tenths. The form says no tenths, exactly as the MV90A does.
•An auction sale with no stamp. Where the vehicle was sold through a Montana auction, the panel exists to be stamped, and the manual requires an auction to stamp its name and licence number in an assignment section to show its involvement.
•A form used for a vehicle fifteen years old or older. The salvage certificate route is for vehicles 14 years old or newer; older total losses are handled by the insurer transferring ownership instead.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•This one prints the old odometer rule. Its insurer certification requires a conforming odometer statement 9 years and newer. That is the pre-2021 federal threshold. MCA 61-3-206(4), the MV90A and the MV24 all say model year 2011 and under twenty years old, and those are the ones to work from.
•Only one applicant signature. The form says so beside the line, which matches the manual's rule for title applications generally.
•The auction does not reassign. The manual: an auto auction does not have to complete the dealer re-assignment section, and is only required to stamp its name and licence number to show its involvement - or use a label that covers no recorded information.
•The fee is the same $5.15. Including the 3% administration fee per MCA 61-3-111, with cheques payable to State of Montana.
•It is a receipt, not a title. Nothing here registers a vehicle. The car moves on a salvage certificate until it is rebuilt, inspected and re-titled.

What it costs

Salvage certificate	$5.15

Every line here was read off MV203 (3/23) 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 MV203

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

The applicant, and the county

The vehicle, by VIN

The odometer certification

The applicant signs - once

The insurance company's half

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

What it costs

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