How to fill out New Hampshire TDMV 18

The form for a certificate that has been stolen, lost, destroyed or never received - and the one title form in New Hampshire that a seller fills in themselves, signs themselves and posts themselves. It is also the only place the Division publishes the whole vehicle description block a New Hampshire title record carries, numbered 1 to 22, which makes it a useful reading of what Concord actually holds about your car.

Written against TDMV 18 (Rev 2/26), issued under RSA 261:12 and RSA 261:20. Box 5 asks for the odometer's actual mileage on an application for a piece of paper, which is easy to fill in carelessly. It is not a throwaway: the Division's route to fixing a mileage already recorded is a signed statement from the person who originally misstated the odometer reading, and if that person is you, you are correcting your own form. Read the dashboard before you write in that box.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TDMV 18 from the dmv.nh.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our TDMV 18 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank TDMV 18 — Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title PDF at dmv.nh.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in TDMV 18 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual TDMV 18, 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

The New Hampshire Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title, form TDMV 18, filled in as an annotated sample. The LOST box is ticked at the top. Box 1 names Marguerite T. Beauchemin with a date of birth in box 2, and the mailing address block gives a street in Berlin with the city, state and ZIP. Boxes 4 to 15 describe a 2014 Jeep Wrangler Sport with its vehicle identification number, odometer reading, body type, colour, year of manufacture, model year, cylinders, gross weight and axles. Box 17 reads N slash A for the first lien holder. Box 19 carries the owner's signature and box 20 the date signed. — Everything from box 4 to box 15 is copied off the vehicle rather than remembered, and the two entries that catch people are at opposite ends. **Box 5 wants a real odometer reading**, and **box 17 wants the letters N/A rather than an empty line** when there is no lienholder.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Tick why
Stolen, lost, destroyed or never received.
Watch out: Never received is a real category and it is worth using honestly. A title that went astray in the post between Concord and you is a different enquiry from one you mislaid.
2
You fill this in
Boxes 1 and 2, the owners
Names last, first, middle, and dates of birth.
Watch out: As they appear on the certificate. If the name on the title is a maiden name, this form is not where you change it - there is a separate record change request for that.
3
You fill this in
The mailing address
Street or box number, city or town, state and ZIP.
Watch out: Read the warning under it first: this request will permanently change your address on all DMV records - registration, driver licence, title. It is not a one-off delivery instruction.
4
You fill this in
Box 4, the vehicle identification number
The full number.
Watch out: Off the car or off the registration certificate, not from memory. A wrong character here produces a no-record answer rather than a duplicate.
5
You fill this in
Box 5, the odometer
Actual mileage.
Watch out: Read it today. This figure goes onto the record, and correcting it afterwards requires a signed statement from whoever got it wrong.
6
You fill this in
Boxes 6 to 15, the description
Make, model, body type, colours, year of manufacture, model year, cylinders, gross weight, axles.
Watch out: Year of manufacture and model year are two boxes because they are two facts, and on a car built late in the year they differ.
7
You fill this in
Box 17, the lienholder
The first lien holder's name, or N/A.
Watch out: If a lienholder is named on the original title, attach a release on TDMV 20A or on bank letterhead - even if the loan was settled years ago.
8
You fill this in
Boxes 19 and 20, sign and date
Every owner named in box 1 signs, and the date goes alongside.
Watch out: Read the penalty above the line before signing: a material false statement in an application for a certificate of title is a class B felony for a natural person.
9
You fill this in
Box 22, only if a dealer is collecting it
The authorization for mailing tick box, with the dealer's name, number and address.
Watch out: Leave it alone on a private sale. Without it the duplicate goes to the first listed owner, which is what you want.
10
You fill this in
$35.00 and an envelope
Cheque or money order payable to STATE OF NH - DMV, dropped at a DMV office or posted to the Title bureau at 23 Hazen Drive.
Watch out: Not cash in the post. And keep a copy of what you sent - five to ten calendar days is the Division's own estimate and it starts when they receive it, not when you post it.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The reason	Four boxes at the top: stolen, lost, destroyed, never received.
Driver licence or government ID	Two lines, one for the current owner and one for the current co-owner, above the numbered blocks.
1 and 2, owners and dates of birth	Owner's names last, first, middle, and the dates of birth alongside.
Mailing address	Street or box number, then city or town, state and ZIP - captioned 'must give current mailing address', because this is where the duplicate is posted.
3, legal residence	Only if it differs from the mailing address.
4 to 15, the vehicle	Vehicle identification number, odometer actual mileage, make, model name or number, body type, colours, year of manufacture, model year, number of cylinders, gross weight, axles and the title number.
17 and 18, liens	First lien holder's name - and the form's own instruction is that if there is none you write N/A rather than leaving it blank - with its address underneath.
19 and 20, signature and date	Owner's signature or lienholder, and the date signed. If the vehicle is jointly owned, both owners sign.
22, authorization for mailing	A tick box and a dealer name, number and address, authorising the duplicate to be posted to a New Hampshire licensed dealer instead of to the owner.
The agent certification	For a corporation, partnership or other association, the person signing box 19 certifies they are authorised to sign on behalf of the owner - signed under penalty of unsworn falsification pursuant to RSA 641:3.

What gets this one rejected

•One signature on a jointly owned vehicle. The Division states it twice - on the form and on its website - that if two people are listed as owners on a title, both owners must sign the application for a duplicate.
•A missing lien release where the original title named a lienholder, even if the loan was paid off years ago.
•A blank at box 17. The instruction is to write N/A if there is none.
•An application for a vehicle of model year 1999 or older. The form says it plainly: if the vehicle model year is 1999 or older, the vehicle is Exempt and a Title may not be issued.
•An application from somebody who is not the current owner, the lienholder or a New Hampshire licensed dealer - those three are the only people who may request one.
•A stale mailing address. The form warns that this request will permanently change your address on all DMV records, so an address written here to catch the post has consequences for your licence and registration too.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•The fee is printed on the form rather than left to a schedule. Per application $35.00, RSA 261:20, with the cheque made payable to STATE OF NH - DMV. That figure is newer than it looks: RSA 261:20 carried a lower one until 1 January 2026, so an older copy of this form and a great deal of older advice are both quoting a fee that no longer exists.
•Five to ten days, not thirty to fifty. The Division says a duplicate will be produced and mailed to the vehicle's owner within five to ten calendar days once the application is received and verified. That is much faster than a new title, which takes 30 to 50.
•The old certificate dies. Once a duplicate title is produced, the original title is no longer valid. If the original turns up afterwards it is waste paper, and signing it over is signing over nothing.
•Where to send it. Dropped off at most DMV offices, or posted to NH Dept. of Safety, DMV - Title, 23 Hazen Drive, Concord NH 03305.
•Two owners, one envelope. Both sign, and the duplicate title will be mailed to the first listed owner - not to whoever posted the form.

Every line here was read off TDMV 18 (Rev 2/26) 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.

Back to all New Hampshire seller paperwork, or what selling a car in New Hampshire involves.

How to fill out New Hampshire TDMV 18

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Tick why

Boxes 1 and 2, the owners

The mailing address

Box 4, the vehicle identification number

Box 5, the odometer

Boxes 6 to 15, the description

Box 17, the lienholder

Boxes 19 and 20, sign and date

Box 22, only if a dealer is collecting it

$35.00 and an envelope

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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