How to fill out Montana MV206

When a Montana vehicle less than fifteen years old is totalled, the title is surrendered and a salvage certificate takes its place. Usually the insurer files this, but the form carries a second certification block headed by owner - because a Montana owner who keeps the wreck after settling with the insurer, or who buys somebody else's owner-retained wreck, applies on the same page. The fee is $5.15, and the document that comes back is what the car is sold on until somebody rebuilds it and gets it inspected back onto the road.

Written against MV206 (2/26), issued under MCA 61-3-210 and 61-3-211, surrender of certificate of title and issuance of a salvage certificate. Do not treat a salvage certificate as a title with a stamp on it. It is what replaces the title, and the vehicle cannot be registered or driven on it. If the plan is to repair the car and sell it running, the sequence is salvage certificate, rebuild, VIN inspection, and only then a rebuilt title - and a buyer who is told otherwise finds out at a county counter.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV206 from the mvdmt.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MV206 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   The applicant

   Name or business name with an identification number, business and mailing addresses with counties, email and phone.

   Watch out: An owner-retained applicant puts their own name here. The block is headed business name because the insurer is the usual filer, not because a private owner cannot use it.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   The vehicle, VIN first

   Identification number, year, make, model, body style and colour.

   Watch out: Compare the number against the car before writing it. The certification you sign says you did, and on a wrecked vehicle the dash plate is sometimes the only one left readable.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   The title number, date and issuing state

   Completed where the insurer does not surrender the certificate of ownership, along with the out-of-state owner's details.

   Watch out: If you are the owner and you have the title, attach it and tick Title Attached - these fields exist for the case where nobody can produce one.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Title Attached, or Two Attempts

   One tick. The second certifies two documented attempts to obtain the certificate from the titled and registered owner.

   Watch out: Two Attempts is an insurer's certification about somebody else's paperwork. An owner applying about their own car has the title or does not, and the honest answer is the first box.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Sign the certification that is true

   The owner block or the insurer block, then the signature certification, date, legal signature and printed name.

   Watch out: Signing both certifications says two contradictory things about who deemed the vehicle salvage and who retained it. Pick the one that describes what actually happened.

What gets this one rejected

• •A vehicle fifteen years old or older. The header says less than 15 years, and the manual routes an older total loss down a different path - the insurer transfers ownership on a dealer assignment or takes a title only.
• •The owner block and the insurer block both completed. They are alternative certifications; the form asks you to choose one and sign the certification that is true.
• •No conforming odometer statement on a 2011-or-later vehicle. Both certification blocks list it among the documents that must be submitted.
• •A Two Attempts tick with no attempts made. It certifies two attempts to obtain a certificate of ownership from the current titled and registered owner under MCA 61-3-211(3) - it is a statement of fact under MCA 45-7-203, not a convenience.
• •A VIN copied from the title without checking the car. The certification says the VIN on the face of the application has been compared with the VIN affixed to the vehicle and they agree.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Fourteen and fifteen are the two ages. The manual splits them: salvage certificate issuance covers motor vehicles 14 years old or newer; transfer by insurance company covers vehicles 15 years old or older. Age is calendar year of acquisition minus model year.
• •Owner-retained is a real category. The manual has a section called Owner Keeps, and MV205 is how the insurer reports it - which is what makes this form available to an owner rather than only to an insurer.
• •Rebuilding is a separate journey. Re-titling salvage and rebuilt vehicles has its own chapter and its own VIN inspection requirements; a salvage certificate is not a title and does not put a car back on the road.
• •The brands are printed on the face. Montana's own list includes Salvage, Rebuilt, Hail Damage, Junk, Crushed and Owner Retained, and it carries brands forward from other states' titles.
• •Hail alone has its own tick. On the MV205 there is a box for a vehicle that has sustained hail damage only - a Montana category, in a state where a single storm totals cars by the hundred.

What it costs

Every line here was read off MV206 (2/26) 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.