The nearest thing North Carolina has to a release of liability, and it is voluntary. You swear that on a given date you sold or traded the vehicle, that the title was assigned and delivered to the purchaser, and that there are no outstanding liens — and you ask the Division to cancel the computer record showing the car in your name.
Written against MVR-46F (Rev 04/26), issued under N.C. General Statute 20-110.
This affidavit cancels a record; it does not undo a sale or transfer ownership. If the buyer never files their own application, the vehicle does not become theirs because you filed this — but the Division does learn that it stopped being yours, and that is the point.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MVR-46F from the ncdot.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MVR-46F guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual MVR-46F, rendered from the PDF the North Carolina 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 actual MVR-46F at revision 04/26. Note the date at the very top: it is the date of the sale, not the date you are filling the form in, and the two dates here are deliberately different — this one was sworn a fortnight after the car changed hands, which is when most people notice it is still on their record.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The date of sale
Month, day and year in the first sentence, before anything else on the form.
Watch out: The day the vehicle changed hands, which is the same date you wrote in the delivery box on the back of the title. Not the day you are signing this.
2
You fill this in
The vehicle
The row directly under the date of sale: year, make, body style, then the VIN.
Watch out: Body style is the Division's abbreviation, the same one that went on the buyer's MVR-1. Copy it rather than describing the car.
3
You fill this in
Name and address of the purchaser
Who you sold or traded it to, and where they live.
Watch out: Take it off their driver licence at the point of sale and keep a note. Weeks later, an address from a text message is not something you want to be swearing to.
4
You fill this in
North Carolina title number
Inside the sentence certifying that the title was assigned and delivered to the purchaser.
Watch out: Photograph the face of the certificate before you hand it over. That one picture is the difference between filing this form easily and not being able to fill it in at all.
5
You fill this in
The lien statement
Either there are no outstanding liens on this vehicle, or lien cancellation for recorded lien is attached.
Watch out: If a lien was cleared just before the sale, the cancellation goes in the envelope. The Division will not cancel a record that still shows a live security interest.
6
You fill this in
Signature of the owner
On the line described as signature of owner or owners reflecting on computer.
Watch out: Every owner the record shows has to sign. If the car was in two names, one signature is half an affidavit.
7
You fill this in
The notary block
Date, county, state, the names of the principals, and the notary's signature, printed name, seal and expiry.
Watch out: Then post it to the mail service centre address at the top of the form, or take it to a licence plate agency. Either route works and neither has a deadline attached.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The date of sale
In the opening sentence: I do hereby certify that on — month, day, year — I did sell/trade a. It is the first thing on the form.
The vehicle
Year, make, body style and vehicle identification number across one row.
To whom
Name and address of the person you sold or traded it to.
The title number
North Carolina title number, inside the sentence that says it was assigned and delivered to the purchaser.
The two lien statements
Tick boxes: there are no outstanding liens on this vehicle, or lien cancellation for recorded lien is attached.
The request
I request that the computer record showing this vehicle in my name be cancelled — printed, one line, the whole purpose of the form.
Signature
Signature of the owner or owners reflecting on computer, which is the Division's phrase for whoever the record currently shows.
The acknowledgment
Date, county and state, then sworn to and subscribed before me this day by, the names of the principals, and the notary's signature, printed name, seal and commission expiry.
The statutory note
Printed at the foot: G.S. 20-110 — the Division may rescind and cancel the registration and certificate of title of a vehicle when presented with this form properly completed and notarized.
What gets this one rejected
•An unsworn copy. The form says sworn to and subscribed, and NCDMV's own page repeats that it will need to be notarised before it is sent in.
•Neither lien box ticked. One of the two statements has to be made.
•A lien cancellation referred to but not attached.
•A signature from somebody the record does not show as an owner. The line asks for the owner or owners reflecting on computer.
•A missing title number. It is what lets the Division find the record you want cancelled.
•A missing date of sale. The first sentence of the affidavit is built around it.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•There is no deadline, because there is no requirement. North Carolina imposes no notice of sale on a seller. Nothing here is late. That also means nothing here happens unless you do it.
•Two ways to file it. The instruction at the foot of the form: after it is completed it can be mailed to the Raleigh address printed at the top, or submitted to a local licence plate agency.
Every line here was read off MVR-46F (Rev 04/26) itself —
the PDF is here — and off the North Carolina 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.
