How to fill out New Jersey DO-22

A certified search of what the Commission's record actually says about a vehicle: who is on the title, and whether a lien is still recorded against it. For a seller it answers the one question that can quietly kill a sale two days before completion - is there still a lender on this car - and it produces the certified record that stands in for a lost registration when you apply for a duplicate title.

Written against DO-22 (R2/26), issued under N.J.S.A. 39:2-3.4(c), the New Jersey Drivers' Privacy Protection Act. This is a record search, not a title. What comes back tells you what Trenton believes about your car - which is occasionally not what you believe about it.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank DO-22 from the nj.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Your name and a current address

   Section A. The warning above the block is that mail from the NJMVC is not forwarded, so an address you have just moved out of loses the result entirely.

   Watch out: Whatever you put here is where the certified record is posted. Three weeks later is a long time to discover a typo.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Applicant type

   Individual or business, against government or law enforcement entity. A private seller is the first of those.

   Watch out: Leaving it blank pushes the request into the queue that asks for a government identification card, which you will not have.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Your driver licence number, with a photocopy

   The number in the box, and a photocopy of the licence itself in the envelope. A passport, birth certificate or any valid state or federally issued ID also works.

   Watch out: Photocopy the side with the photograph. This is the only proof the Commission has that the person asking about the record is entitled to it.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   My own record, and Title or Lien

   Left-hand column for your own vehicle. Then tick Title for the ownership record, or Lien for what is recorded against it.

   Watch out: For the question a seller is really asking - is anything still charged on this car - tick Lien.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   VIN, model year and make

   All three, because the form says all fields must be completed.

   Watch out: Take the VIN off the registration or the windscreen plate rather than an old insurance document, which is where transcription errors live.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Section C - skip it

   Required only when requesting another person's record. An owner searching their own vehicle initials none of the ten permitted uses.

   Watch out: Initialling something here anyway does not make the request stronger; it makes it a request under a use you cannot document.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   The fee

   $15, by cheque or money order payable to New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, one per record. No cash.

   Watch out: Two vehicles means two forms and two cheques. One cheque covering both is how a request comes back unprocessed.

8. 8
   You fill this in

   Read section D before you post it

   The privacy act terms. Obtaining or disclosing a motor vehicle record for a use the Act does not permit is a fourth-degree crime with civil liability attached.

   Watch out: This matters most if somebody has asked you to run a search for them. The request is in your name and the liability follows it.

What gets this one rejected

• •Sending one form for two vehicles. A separate form is required for each record requested.
• •Sending one cheque for several searches. The instruction asks for a separate cheque for each record request, at $15 per search, and says not to send cash.
• •Printing only the first page. The form is three pages and the Commission's lien page says in bold that both pages must be completed - print it double-sided or as two sheets.
• •Forgetting the photocopy of your identification. It is listed in section A and the request does not move without it.
• •Asking about somebody else's car with section C blank. That is the section the privacy act requires, and an unexplained request into another person's record is what section D makes an offence.
• •Using it to get a duplicate title. The note beside the Title box says so directly, and points at the Universal Title Application instead.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Allow a month. The turnaround time printed at the top is approximately 3-4 weeks. That is the reason to do this before you list a car rather than after somebody has put a deposit down.
• •Your own record is the easy case. Choosing my own record and enclosing a copy of your own ID needs no section C at all. The ten permitted uses exist for requests into other people's records.
• •It is the fallback proof of ownership. The Commission accepts a certified record title search as proof of ownership where a registration and insurance card have both gone - which is exactly the corner a seller is in when the paperwork went with a house move.

Every line here was read off DO-22 (R2/26) 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.