A car whose identification plate has gone cannot be sold, because nothing on it matches the title. This is how Ohio issues a replacement plate: an owner or the owner's insurer applies, the State Highway Patrol inspects and manufactures, and the customer is called back to have it installed. Page one of the form is the instructions and page two is the application, and the sequence on page one has to be finished before page two is submitted.
Written against BMV 3713 (12/25), issued under Ohio Administrative Code 4501:1-11-01.
This is a long process with three agencies in it - a deputy registrar for the receipt, the State Highway Patrol for the inspection and the plate, and the clerk of courts for the title. Start it before you list the car, not after a buyer has looked at the door jamb.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank BMV 3713 from the dam.assets.ohio.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is all 2 pages of the actual BMV 3713, rendered from the PDF the Ohio Bureau 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
Page 1 of 2. The instructions, printed as part of the form. A receipt from a deputy registrar, an inspection booked with the State Highway Patrol, and the original title in hand at the appointment.Page 2 of 2. The application itself. The insurer's block at the top is greyed because this owner is applying for himself.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The county for the title replacement
State of Ohio, and the county whose clerk of courts will issue the replacement certificate.
Watch out: The BMV forwards your original certificate to that county's clerk, so the county you name here is where you will collect the new title.
2
You fill this in
Owner or insurer
Two boxes: the owner of the motor vehicle, or the owner's insurer - and the insurer's block below is only completed for the second.
Watch out: An insurer applying on a written-off vehicle is a different transaction from an owner applying on a car they intend to keep. Tick the one that is actually true.
3
You fill this in
The vehicle and the original VIN
Make, model, year, the original vehicle identification number and the certificate of title number.
Watch out: Original VIN means the one on the title, which is the whole point - the plate is being replaced so that the car matches the document again.
4
You fill this in
What happened to the plate
Removed, Defaced, Covered, Altered or Destroyed. Check one.
Watch out: Covered is the one people miss. A plate hidden under a repair, a windscreen replacement or a layer of filler is covered rather than destroyed, and the distinction is what the patrol will be looking at.
5
You fill this in
How it happened
By another person without the owner's consent; by accident or other casualty; or by ordinary wear and tear.
Watch out: The middle option carries a clause about the owner's purpose. You are swearing that the damage was not done to conceal or destroy the identity of the vehicle, which is the question the whole inspection exists to answer.
6
You fill this in
Sign, and have it notarised
The applicant signature and date, then the acknowledgement block.
Watch out: Then it is posted to the Title Support Section in Columbus with the original certificate of title and the completed inspection form - and nothing comes back until the patrol has made the plate.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Who is applying
The owner of the motor vehicle, or the owner's insurer - and if the insurer, the insurer's name, telephone number and address.
State and county
The county specified for the title replacement, which is where the certificate will be issued.
The vehicle
Make, model, year, the original VIN and the certificate of title number, then the owner's name, daytime phone number and address, and the replica question.
What happened to the plate
Five choices, check one: Removed, Defaced, Covered, Altered or Destroyed.
How it happened
Three choices, check one: another person without the consent of the owner; accident or other casualty not due to the owner's purpose to conceal or destroy the identity of the vehicle or vehicle part; or ordinary wear and tear.
Applicant signature and date
One line, with the date beside it.
Notary
Sworn to and subscribed in my presence, county, state, seal, signature and commission expiry.
What gets this one rejected
•An application submitted before the inspection. The instructions are explicit that the steps on page one must be completed prior to submitting the application.
•No salvage inspection receipt. The receipt is bought at a deputy registrar location, and it is what the State Highway Patrol needs before an inspection can be scheduled.
•Arriving at the inspection without the original valid certificate of title. The form lists it as one of two documents that must be presented to the patrol.
•The application posted without the title. The line under the heading on page two is unambiguous: the original Certificate of Title must accompany this application.
•Sending it to a title office. This one goes to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Title Support Section, at a post office box in Columbus - it is the exception to everything else on this site about where Ohio title paperwork goes.
•Ticking a cause that is not the cause. The middle option exists specifically to record that the damage was not done for the purpose of concealing or destroying the identity of the vehicle, and that is a statement made under oath.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The BMV routes it, not you. After the application is mailed, the BMV submits it with a copy of the certificate of title and the completed inspection form to the State Highway Patrol, and forwards the original certificate to the clerk of courts in the county specified on the application.
•The patrol makes the plate and installs it. The replacement plate is manufactured by the patrol, sent to the inspection station, and the customer is contacted to schedule an appointment for installation. It is not posted out.
•The new title says so. The clerk issues a replacement title carrying the notation replacement vehicle identification number plate installed.
•Inspections are booked online. The patrol's vehicle inspection gateway lists the stations and takes appointments; the form warns that being late for one means being rescheduled.
Every line here was read off BMV 3713 (12/25) itself —
the PDF is here — and off the Ohio Bureau 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.
