How to fill out New Jersey BA-49

The buyer's form, and the reason it belongs on a seller's site is that it is the one they will arrive without. New Jersey will not put the title through without it, and a buyer who has to go home for a policy number is a buyer who will phone you about it. Its own footer prints the code BA-49E; the Commission calls it BA-49 everywhere else.

Written against BA-49 (R10/25), issued under N.J.S.A. 39:3-4, with the commercial declarations under N.J.A.C. 13:60. The Commission publishes this as BA-49, and the form's own footer prints BA-49E. They are the same page; ask for it by the number on the website and you will be handed the right one.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank BA-49 from the nj.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank BA-49 — Application for Vehicle Registration PDF at nj.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual BA-49, rendered from the PDF the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission 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 Jersey BA-49 vehicle registration application filled in by the buyer: Anselm P. Okonkwo of Bloomfield in Essex County, an Initial transaction, VIN JF2SJADC7GH998371, an insurance company and policy number, the three yes-or-no questions all answered No, and the owner signature dated 18 August 2026. — The actual BA-49, completed the way a private buyer completes it. Everything grey is a block that belongs to somebody else's transaction - the co-owner rows, the whole lessee section for a lease of a year or more, and the commercial registration boxes at the foot.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
The buyer fills this in
Name and address of the new owner
The buyer's name, street address, phone, city, state, zip - and the county, which is its own box and is not optional.
Watch out: Write clearly. The form's first line of instruction is that an application that cannot be read will be rejected, and this is the block where that happens.
2
The buyer fills this in
Driver licence number, gender, eye colour, date of birth
The New Jersey licence number or corpcode, then three descriptive boxes the Commission uses to match the applicant to its own record.
Watch out: Eye colour catches people out on a vehicle form. It is there because the registration is tied to a person, not to the car.
3
The buyer fills this in
Transaction type
Initial for a car just bought. The other six are Renewal, Duplicate, Transfer, Replacement Plates, Code Change and Increase or Decrease in registration weight.
Watch out: Transfer here means moving an existing registration, which is a different thing from the title transfer. Buying a car from a private seller is an Initial.
4
The buyer fills this in
Plate number and prefix
Left empty on a first registration - the plates are issued at the counter. Filled in only where plates are being moved from another vehicle in the same name.
Watch out: The seller's plates never go here. They can be transferred to another vehicle, but not to another owner.
5
The buyer fills this in
Vehicle identification number
Straight off the assigned certificate.
Watch out: This and the title application have to agree with each other and with the car. Three places, one number.
6
The buyer fills this in
Insurance company and policy number
A New Jersey policy, in force, on this vehicle. The line under it is in capitals for a reason: liability cover in the minimum amount required by law, from a company authorised to write it in New Jersey.
Watch out: This is the single most common reason a buyer gets sent home. Tell them to sort cover before the appointment, not after they have the plates.
7
The buyer fills this in
The five questions
Rental use; commercial use as the form defines it; a revoked or suspended registration privilege in any state; a federal tax identification number for a trade or company name; an agricultural certificate number.
Watch out: Question three asks about any state, not just New Jersey. A suspension left behind somewhere else will surface here.
8
The buyer fills this in
Signature and date
The applicant certifies the statements on the application are correct. A commercial applicant also declares knowledge of and compliance with the federal motor carrier safety regulations adopted in N.J.A.C. 13:60.
Watch out: Misstatements may result in suspension of registration or driving privileges - that is the form's own warning, printed under the signature line.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Applicant information	Name of owner, street address with apartment or floor, phone number, city, state, zip and county, the owner's New Jersey driver licence number or corpcode, gender, eye colour and full date of birth - then the same set again for a co-owner.
Transaction type	Seven boxes: Initial, Renewal, Duplicate, Transfer, Replacement Plates, Code Change, and Increase or Decrease in registration weight. A buyer registering a car they have just bought is an Initial.
Vehicle information	Plate number and prefix, the vehicle identification number, and then the two boxes that actually matter: insurance company and policy number, under a line in capitals saying the vehicle must be covered by liability insurance in the minimum amount required by law with a company authorised to write liability insurance in New Jersey.
Lessee information	A whole block completed only where the vehicle is being leased for a period of one year or more: the lessee's name, address, county, licence number, date of birth, the date the lease was signed and its term in months.
The five questions	Whether the vehicle will be used as a rental; whether it will be used for commercial purposes, which the form defines as a motor vehicle used or designed to transport persons or property; whether the applicant's registration privilege is revoked or suspended in any state, and if so where and for what; a federal tax identification number if it is registered under a trade or company name; and an agricultural certificate number.
The inspection notes	Three paragraphs in capitals covering which vehicles are subject to inspection at a state authorised inspection facility or a licensed private inspection facility, the annual smoke opacity inspection for heavy diesel, and the self-inspection regulations for diesel vehicles between 8,501 and 17,999 pounds.
Commercial registration only	Requested registration code, requested registration weight, and number of passengers.
Signature	Owner or lessee signature and date, co-owner signature and date, above a line in which the applicant certifies the statements are correct and, for a commercial vehicle, declares knowledge of and compliance with the federal motor carrier safety regulations adopted in N.J.A.C. 13:60.

What gets this one rejected

•Illegible handwriting. The instruction at the top of the form is one sentence long: please write clearly or your application will be rejected.
•An insurance policy that is not New Jersey coverage. The form requires a company authorised to write liability insurance in New Jersey, in the minimum amount required by law.
•Trying to change a trade or company name on it. The note in the margin says a trade or company name change cannot be made at a motor vehicle agency.
•Answering the commercial question carelessly. Ticking yes pulls in the registration code, weight and passenger boxes and a declaration about the federal motor carrier safety regulations; ticking no when the vehicle really is commercial is a false certification.
•Turning up without an appointment. The line under the title tells the applicant to make one online before coming into an agency.
•Leaving the county blank. It is a separate box from the city, and it is used.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•It is the buyer's, but you should read it once. Everything on it that could stall the transfer is information they have to bring rather than information you supply - insurance company, policy number, licence number, county. Sending that list to a buyer the night before is the cheapest thing you can do for your own sale.
•A leased vehicle changes the shape of the form. The lessee block only exists for a lease of one year or more, and it wants the date the lease was signed and the term in months. If a car is coming off a lease, that is a different transaction from a private sale and the leasing company holds the title.
•Inspection is a registration matter, not a sale matter. The notes on this page are about which vehicles must pass inspection and how often. Nothing about them stops you selling a car in New Jersey - they land on whoever registers it next.

Every line here was read off BA-49 (R10/25) itself — the PDF is here — and off the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission 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 Jersey seller paperwork, or what selling a car in New Jersey involves.

How to fill out New Jersey BA-49

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Name and address of the new owner

Driver licence number, gender, eye colour, date of birth

Transaction type

Plate number and prefix

Vehicle identification number

Insurance company and policy number

The five questions

Signature and date

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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