What you file when the assignment on the back of the certificate has been crossed out, written over or erased. New Hampshire allows exactly one assignment between non-dealers, so a spoiled entry is not a false start - it is a certificate that now needs a signed explanation behind it. Eight tick-box reasons, an 'other' line, and a signature under penalty of unsworn falsification.
Written against TDMV 111 (Rev 3/22), issued under Saf-C 1903.03 and RSA 641:3.
The penalty printed at the foot of this letter is the same one that appears on a title application: a person who, with fraudulent intent, makes a material false statement or conceals a material fact in an application for a certificate of title or in any proof or statement in writing in connection with it is guilty of a class B felony. It is a one-page letter about a crossing-out, and it is signed under a felony warning.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TDMV 111 from the dmv.nh.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our TDMV 111 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual TDMV 111, rendered from the PDF the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles 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
One ticked box out of eight, and the eight are worth reading even if none of them fits. They are the Bureau's own list of the ways a New Hampshire assignment goes wrong, and five of the eight are things that happen in the ten minutes a seller spends writing on the back of a certificate.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Date and your printed name
The two boxes at the top of the letter.
Watch out: The date is the date you are writing the letter, not the date of the spoiled assignment.
2
You fill this in
Year, make and identification number
Enough to tie the letter to the certificate.
Watch out: Copy the identification number off the front of the certificate rather than off the assignment you have just made a mess of.
3
You fill this in
Tick the reason
One of the eight, or Other with an explanation.
Watch out: If two of them are true, use Other and say so in a sentence. A letter with two boxes ticked invites a question you will have to answer by post.
4
You fill this in
Explain, if you ticked Other
The explanation line, plus the two full-width rules at the foot if you need them.
Watch out: Plain and short. The Bureau is deciding whether to accept a certificate with a crossing-out on it, not reading a narrative.
5
You fill this in
Sign
Every owner named on the certificate signs, under penalty of unsworn falsification.
Watch out: Original ink, as always in New Hampshire - no facsimile and no stamp.
6
You fill this in
Get hold of TDMV 17A
The assignment form the note on this letter says must be completed and submitted with it.
Watch out: You cannot download it. A town or city clerk or a New Hampshire licensed dealer has them, and it is worth asking for it in the same visit that produced the problem.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Date, and printed name of seller
Two boxes at the head of the letter.
Year, make and vehicle identification number
The car the spoiled assignment is on.
Eight reasons
The name was misspelled; the wrong name was given or entered in error; the original deal was cancelled; the address was incorrect; the incorrect odometer reading was given, or an odometer disclosure block checked in error; the wrong lienholder was given; lienholder listed in error; other, with an explanation line.
Signature of seller(s)
Signed under penalty of unsworn falsification pursuant to RSA 641:3.
Two continuation lines
Full-width rules at the foot for anything the explanation needs.
What gets this one rejected
•A letter with no reason ticked and nothing written on the other line.
•A letter sent on its own. The note printed on the form says an assignment of title, form TDMV 17A, shall be completed and submitted with this letter.
•One signature where the certificate names two owners - the signature line is plural.
•An unsigned letter, which is the whole document. There is nothing else on the page that carries weight.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It is one of two jobs TDMV 17A does. Saf-C 1903.03 says the assignment of title form is completed either when all dealer assignment space on the back of the existing title has been used, or to correct a voided assignment. The second of those is this situation.
•The Division does not publish TDMV 17A. It is named in the rules, at revision 10/15, and referenced on the face of this letter, but it is not on the forms index. Ask a town or city clerk or a licensed dealer for it.
•Dealers do it differently. The note on the form says dealers will use the available assignment spaces on the back of the title or certificate of origin. The single-assignment limit is on non-dealers.
•What it is not. This is not a way to undo a completed sale. 'The original deal was cancelled' is one of the eight reasons, and the letter records that fact - it does not by itself put the vehicle back in your name.
Every line here was read off TDMV 111 (Rev 3/22) itself — the PDF is here — and off the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
