How to fill out Rhode Island Cancellation Affidavit
The single most important piece of paper a Rhode Island seller signs, and the one that has nothing to do with the buyer. The registration expired the moment ownership transferred; this is what tells the DMV, which is what stops the town's excise bill and closes the insurance verification file. It goes in a branch drop box or by certified mail with the plates, because the DMV no longer takes cancelled plates over a counter.
Written against Cancellation Affidavit (Rev 04/10/2023), issued under R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-4-1 and § 31-47.
The plates are not the buyer's and never were. Section 31-4-1 expires the registration on transfer and tells the owner to remove the registration plates from the vehicle - so they come off before the car leaves your street, whatever the buyer has been told about driving home on them.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Cancellation Affidavit from the dmv.ri.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our Cancellation Affidavit guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual Cancellation Affidavit, rendered from the PDF the Rhode Island 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
Three ticks at the top decide how it reaches the Plate Office, and only two of them still work for plates. The count and the reason on the middle row are what turn this from a form into a cancellation - and the photocopy of your licence or registration that the DMV asks for does not appear as a box anywhere on the sheet, so it is the thing people forget to put in the envelope.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Pick how it is getting there
DMV Drop Box, By Mail or In Person - three ticks across the head of the sheet.
Watch out: In Person is on the form and is no longer the DMV's practice for plates; its cancellation page says it no longer accepts canceled plates in person. Drop box during branch hours, or certified mail to the Plate Office.
2
You fill this in
Owner information
Name or lessee name, licence or CID number, physical address, phone and email.
Watch out: Use the name and address the registration carries. The Plate Office is matching this sheet to a registration record, not to your current post.
3
You fill this in
Plate or registration number and expiration date
Two boxes on the vehicle row.
Watch out: The expiration date is printed on the registration certificate. If you have already handed the certificate to the buyer by mistake, the plate number alone will do - but photograph the certificate before it goes.
4
You fill this in
Year, make and model
Three boxes identifying the car the plates came off.
Watch out: No identification number is asked for here. This form is about the registration rather than the vehicle, which is why it is the plate number that does the work.
5
You fill this in
Number of plates returned, and the reason
A count and a free-text reason on the same row.
Watch out: Two is the usual answer for a Rhode Island passenger car. Write the reason as a fact with a date - vehicle sold to a private buyer on 14 August 2026 - because that date is what the town will be asked to accept.
6
You fill this in
Sign and print, both owners
Signature, printed name and date, with a second row for a co-owner or co-lessee.
Watch out: The affirmation above the rules cancels the plates as of the date listed. Date it the date of the sale rather than the date you got round to posting it, and keep a copy showing that you did.
7
You fill this in
Add the photocopy the form does not ask for
A photocopy of the owner's photo identification, or a copy of the vehicle registration, in the envelope with the plates.
Watch out: There is no box for this anywhere on the sheet - it is on the DMV's page instead, with the consequence attached: plates returned without this documentation will not be cancelled.
8
You fill this in
Enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope for the TR-3
The cancellation receipt is only posted back if you provide one.
Watch out: It is the document that ends an excise argument two years later. Without the envelope, there is no receipt and no proof except your own copy of this affidavit.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Method of submission
Three ticks at the head of the sheet: DMV Drop Box, By Mail, or In Person.
Owner information
Owner or lessee name, licence or CID number, physical address, phone and email.
Vehicle information
Plate or registration number, the registration's expiration date, and the vehicle's year, make and model.
Number of plates returned, and why
Two boxes on one row - a count, and a free-text reason the plates are being returned.
Signature(s)
A printed affirmation - I hereby affirm that I wish to cancel the aforementioned plates for the above listed vehicle as of the date listed - then first and second owner or lessee signature, printed name and date.
Information of person presenting this affidavit
Completed only where somebody other than the vehicle owner is handing it in: name, licence number, licence state, residential address, signature and date.
What gets this one rejected
•Plates handed in at a counter. The DMV states it twice on its own page - it no longer accepts canceled plates in person, and you should not make a reservation to cancel your registration.
•Plates posted or dropped without identification. Be sure to include a photocopy of the owner's photo identification OR a copy of the vehicle registration; plates returned without this documentation will not be cancelled.
•An expectation of a receipt with no envelope. To receive a receipt (Form TR-3), a postage paid self-addressed envelope is required - if this is not included, the receipt of cancellation will not be sent.
•Plates returned to a AAA branch. The DMV's instruction is not to return cancelled plates to any DMV or AAA Branch.
•One signature where the registration names two owners or lessees - the sheet gives both a row.
•A blank reason for return. It is the box that tells the Plate Office whether this is a sale, a scrapping or a move out of state.
•Using this form for lost or stolen plates without saying so. Lost plates go on the Affidavit for Cancellation of Registration for Lost Plates; stolen plates need a copy of a police report with a letter requesting cancellation.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The online route is faster and needs no plates at all. The DMV built an online cancellation and asks you to keep the confirmation email as proof of cancellation for tax purposes. Once cancelled that way the plates may be destroyed and discarded - the metal never goes anywhere.
•Why the DMV cares, in its own words. All Rhode Island vehicle registrations are subject to excise taxes with the City or Town the vehicle is registered in or garaged at, and under the Motor Vehicle Reparations Act all registered vehicles are required to maintain financial security for the duration of the registration. To avoid excise taxes and insurance revocation fines, registrations must be cancelled at the conclusion of the vehicle's use.
•Keep the receipt for the town, not for the DMV. The DMV's own reason for the TR-3 is worth quoting: keep the cancellation receipt to avoid future excise tax claims if your city or town neglects to remove your vehicle from their records.
•Cancel before you cancel the insurance. Rhode Island runs an Insurance Verification Program against live registrations. Dropping the policy first opens a gap on a registration that is still on the DMV's books; cancelling the registration first closes the file before the insurer reports anything.
Every line here was read off Cancellation Affidavit (Rev 04/10/2023) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Rhode Island 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.
