How to fill out North Carolina MVR-63

One page, eleven blanks, and a single sentence of authority: it appoints somebody to sign a certificate of title in your name, place and stead in whatever manner necessary to effect the transfer. It also carries the restriction that sends most people who need it away again — it may not be used when the title is held by a lienholder.

Written against MVR-63 (Rev 04/26), issued under N.C. General Statute 20-39. Check who holds the title before you fill this in. If NCDMV or a lender holds it electronically — which is normal while a loan is running — the MVR-63 is the wrong document and the right one is not available to you.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MVR-63 from the ncdot.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MVR-63 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Buyer, seller or legal owner

   Your own name on the first blank, under the three bracketed words.

   Watch out: Whoever is named here is the one giving the authority away. On a sale that is the registered owner, whatever the other two words say.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   The vehicle

   Year, make, body style, series and the vehicle identification number.

   Watch out: The VIN is the boundary of the authority. Without it the document authorises somebody to sign a title covering nothing in particular.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Attorney

   The full name of the person you are appointing, on the long blank under the printed heading.

   Watch out: A person, not a business, unless a dealership is handling the sale. The text ratifies and confirms whatever action the attorney takes, which is a lot of trust to hand to a job title.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Full signature of owner

   The line under the day and month, signed in front of the notary.

   Watch out: The day and month are written into the sentence above rather than into a date box, which people miss — the form reads this eleventh day of August.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   The notary block

   Date, county, state, the names of the principals, the notary's signature and printed name, seal and commission expiry.

   Watch out: A notary abroad is possible — a US consulate or a foreign notary whose acknowledgment North Carolina will accept — but check with the licence plate agency before you post anything across an ocean.

What gets this one rejected

• •Using it where a lender holds the title. The restriction is printed in the body of the form and repeated in the footnote, and the secure alternative is not a document the public can download.
• •A blank attorney line. An open power of attorney is worse than a blank assignment, because it covers duplicates and new certificates as well.
• •An unnotarised signature. The acknowledgment is the whole of the form's authority.
• •A vehicle described loosely. The authority is limited to the vehicle described above, so a missing VIN narrows it to nothing.
• •Signing it as the buyer to let a dealer complete the seller's assignment. The three words at the top are alternatives — one of them describes you.
• •Expecting it to survive the transaction. It authorises the transfer of a specific title, not the management of your affairs.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The word irrevocably is in the text. Does hereby authorize and irrevocably appoint. That is stronger language than most vehicle powers of attorney carry, and it is another reason to name a person rather than a company.
• •It is not the form for a hospital bed generally. This authorises one thing on one vehicle. A general or durable power of attorney drawn up by a solicitor does other work, and NCDMV's Title Manual sets out separately when each of them may be used.

Every line here was read off MVR-63 (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.

Back to all North Carolina seller paperwork, or what selling a car in North Carolina involves.