The Research Office's lookup form, and the only route to the document that settles Rhode Island's oldest argument. Its two ticks split at the 2001 model year: a Title Inquiry at $53.50 per VIN for vehicles 2001 and newer, and a Registration/ID/License Inquiry at $13.50 for RI non-titled vehicles 2000 and older. Down at the foot of the sheet is the box that matters to a seller of an old car - Title Law Letter required, yes or no.
Written against TRLI (Rev 10/2022), issued under RI DMV Research/Title Office; 18 U.S.C. § 2721.
If your car is a 2000 or older and you cannot find the registration, work out which document you actually need before paying. A Title Law Letter says the state never issued a certificate; a duplicate registration says what the record holds. Neither is a title, and on a car that has never been titled the second is what a buyer's TR-1 packet is short of.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TRLI from the dmv.ri.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our TRLI guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual TRLI, 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
The cheaper of the two ticks, and the one an old Rhode Island car needs. The Title Law Letter box near the foot is the point of the exercise - it produces the DMV's written statement that no certificate was ever issued, which is what a buyer who has never met a non-titled car is going to ask for.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Tick one inquiry, and read the fee beside it
Title Inquiry at $53.50 for a vehicle of model year 2001 or newer, or Registration/ID/License Inquiry at $13.50 for a Rhode Island non-titled vehicle of 2000 or older.
Watch out: The model year on the tick is the whole test. A 2001 is a title inquiry; a 2000 is a registration inquiry, and getting it wrong is a forty-dollar mistake before anybody looks anything up.
2
You fill this in
Date the request
One box under the ticks.
Watch out: Date it the day you post it. The Research Office works to a queue and the date is what places you in it.
3
You fill this in
Who is asking
Name, phone number and a full address for the agency, business or individual making the request.
Watch out: An individual is a perfectly good answer here. The block is drafted for insurers and businesses, which is why it says agency first.
4
You fill this in
The reason, and it is mandatory
Two rules explaining why the information is wanted.
Watch out: Say what you actually need - confirming that no Rhode Island title record exists before selling the vehicle is a complete answer. Federal law limits what the DMV may release, so a blank reason stops the request rather than speeding it.
5
You fill this in
The vehicle row
Plate number, year, make and vehicle identification number, on the $13.50 registration line.
Watch out: Fill in every box you can. On a car this old the plate may have changed hands between vehicles over the years, and the identification number is what the Research Office searches on.
6
You fill this in
Owner information
One rule for who the vehicle is registered to.
Watch out: Write it as the registration prints it. If your name has changed since the car was registered, put the registered version here and be ready to show why they differ.
7
You fill this in
Tick Title Law Letter required
Yes or no, near the foot of the sheet.
Watch out: Yes is the answer if the point of the request is to prove there is no certificate. Leaving it unticked gets you a lookup and not the letter, and the fee has already gone.
8
You fill this in
Sign the submission block
Signature, printed name, and licence number with state or photo identification number.
Watch out: It is at the very bottom of the sheet under a thin heading and it is the block people miss. An unsigned request is not processed.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Choose one inquiry
Two ticks across the top. Title Inquiry, $53.50 per VIN, for vehicles 2001 and newer, carrying its own warning that the inquiry cannot be used in lieu of title. Registration/ID/License Inquiry, $13.50 per request, for RI non-titled vehicles 2000 and older, with a note that new buyers must send a copy of the bill of sale.
Date of request
One box under the ticks.
Name of agency, business or individual requesting information
Name, phone number, and a full address across street, city or town, state and ZIP.
Reason for request
Two rules, marked mandatory. Federal law limits who may be given personal information out of a motor vehicle record and the DMV asks why before it looks.
ID / driver's licence information
A $13.50 row: licence number, driver's name and driver's address.
Registration vehicle information
A second $13.50 row with an insurance information tick beside it: plate number, year, make and vehicle identification number.
Owner information
One rule under the vehicle row, for what is known about who the car is registered to.
Title Law Letter required
A yes or no tick near the foot of the sheet - the DMV's written statement that a given vehicle has no Rhode Island title record.
Name of person submitting documents
Signature, printed name, and a licence number with state or a photo identification number.
What gets this one rejected
•Both inquiry ticks marked. The instruction above them is CHOOSE ONE, and the two carry different fees.
•A Title Inquiry requested for a vehicle of model year 2000 or older - the tick's own note limits it to vehicles 2001 and newer.
•A blank reason for request. The form marks it mandatory, and the DMV releases personal information only with the consent of the person it belongs to.
•A buyer requesting information on a non-titled vehicle without a bill of sale - the note under that tick says new buyers must send a copy of the bill of sale.
•Treating a Title Inquiry as proof of ownership. Printed inside the tick: inquiry cannot be used in lieu of title.
•An unsigned submission block at the foot, or one with no identification number beside the printed name.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The Title Law Letter is how you prove there is no title. On a Rhode Island car of model year 2000 or older that was first registered before 1 January 2024, there may genuinely be no certificate in existence. A buyer who has been told every car has a title needs something official saying this one does not, and this is the tick that produces it.
•Two fees, and the cheaper one is the old-car one. $53.50 buys a title inquiry on a 2001-or-newer vehicle - the same figure as a title itself. $13.50 buys the registration inquiry that covers a non-titled 2000-or-older vehicle. Ticking the wrong one costs forty dollars.
•It is a research request, not a transaction. The Research Office at the Cranston headquarters handles it, and the DMV's Titles page says the same office can assist you in documenting the vehicle's information. It is not something a branch counter does while you wait.
•It will not tell you who bought your car. Rhode Island releases personal information out of a motor vehicle record only with the express consent of the person it belongs to. The reason line is read rather than filed.
Every line here was read off TRLI (Rev 10/2022) 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.
