Not your form, but you may be handed it. When a Pennsylvania dealer buys a car to resell rather than to keep, Section 1113 lets them notify the department instead of titling it - and this is that notification. The first assignment block on it is signed by the original title holder, which on a trade-in or a straight sale to a dealership means you.
Written against MV-27 (3-25), issued under 75 Pa.C.S. 1113.
Selling to a dealer does not end your involvement with the record. Until the dealer sells the car on and somebody applies for a title, PennDOT's file still shows the vehicle titled in your name - so take the plate off and surrender it exactly as you would in a private sale.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV-27 from the pa.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is all 2 pages of the actual MV-27, rendered from the PDF the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 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 first assignment. Section A, the odometer certification, the acquiring dealer and the seller's self-certification.Page 2 of 2. The third assignment block. Three identical blocks exist so a car can pass along a chain of dealers without a title being issued each time.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
Dealers only
Section A, the vehicle
Original title holder's name, the PA title number, VIN, model year, make and body type.
Watch out: Read the name on that first line before anything else. If it is yours, this is a form you are about to sign, not one you are just watching.
2
You fill this in
First assignment, the odometer
The reading in a row of boxes with no tenths, plus a box for mileage in excess of mechanical limits and one for a reading that is not the actual mileage.
Watch out: The warning printed beside it is federal: failure to complete it or providing a false statement may result in fines and imprisonment. It applies to a trade-in exactly as it applies to a private sale.
3
You fill this in
First assignment, free of encumbrance
A printed certification that the vehicle is free of any encumbrance and that ownership passes to the named dealer.
Watch out: If a lender is still recorded against the car, this sentence is not true yet. Get the lien satisfied before you sign, not after.
4
Dealers only
First assignment, the acquiring dealer
The dealership's name, identification number, street address, city, state and ZIP, written into your assignment block.
Watch out: Check it is filled in before you sign. An assignment to a blank dealer is the same open assignment the Vehicle Code forbids on a certificate.
5
You fill this in
The self-certification
Day, month, year, county and country, then your printed name and signature and a co-seller's if the car was in two names.
Watch out: It is an unsworn declaration under 18 Pa.C.S. 4904, carrying prosecution and a fine of at least $1,000. A dealer's paperwork does not make it less binding on you.
6
Dealers only
The dealer's acquisition line
The acquiring dealer signs to certify they hold the vehicle for resale, and dates the acquisition.
Watch out: That date starts the dealer's seven days to notify PennDOT. Nothing about it moves the record out of your name - only a later title application does that.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Section A, vehicle information
Name of the original title holder, their dealer or business partner identification number if they have one, the PA title number, the VIN, model year, make and body type.
First assignment
A boxed odometer reading with two warning boxes, a certification that the vehicle is free of any encumbrance, the acquiring dealer's name, identification number and address, then a self-certification block with the printed name and signature of the original title holder and of a co-seller.
The acquiring dealer's line
A registered Pennsylvania dealer certifying that they have acquired and hold for resale the vehicle described, with the date of acquisition.
Second and third assignment
The same three blocks again, so the vehicle can move between dealers without a title being issued each time.
What gets this one rejected
•Treating it as a substitute for the certificate. It is a notification of acquisition, not a proof of ownership, and it travels with the assigned title rather than instead of it.
•Using it more than the statute allows. Notification in lieu of applying for a certificate of title may not be used in excess of three consecutive transactions, and a transferee must apply for a certificate no later than six months from the date of the assignment.
•Certifying a car is free of encumbrance when a lender is still on the record. That sentence sits directly above your signature.
•Signing it as a private buyer. Only a registered Pennsylvania dealer can complete the acquiring line.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Whose form it is. A dealer's. The department's own description is a dealer assignment covering a vehicle acquired and held for resale, and the second and third blocks exist only so dealers can pass a car between themselves.
•Why a private seller still meets it. Because the first assignment's seller line reads Printed Name of Original Title Holder. If you trade a car in or sell it to a dealership, the name on that line is yours, and the odometer certification above it is yours too.
•The dealer's own clock. Section 1113(a) gives the dealer seven days from the date of assignment to forward the notification to the department, and requires them to keep a copy for at least a year after any later transfer.
Every line here was read off MV-27 (3-25) itself —
the PDF is here — and off the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
