How to fill out South Dakota Form 1205

A bonded South Dakota title carries a disclaimer on its face saying that the vehicle may be subject to an undisclosed interest, and that disclaimer follows the car until somebody files this form. Two things end it and the form prints both as ticks: three years have expired since the bonded certificate was received and no claim has been made or is pending, or the most recent prior title has been found and is being surrendered. Selling a bonded-title vehicle with the disclaimer still on it is entirely legal - but it is a discount you are choosing to accept, and if the three years are already up the release costs a form and a title fee.

Written against Form 1205 (no revision printed), issued under South Dakota Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, releasing a bond filed under SDCL 32-3-64.1. Time the release against the sale rather than after it. Once the vehicle is assigned to a buyer, the person entitled to apply for the release is the holder of the certificate - which is no longer you - and your buyer inherits a title with a disclaimer on it and a bond in your name. If the three years are up, file this and apply for the clean title before you advertise. If they are not, price the car honestly with the disclaimer on it and say so, because the buyer will see it the moment they turn the certificate over.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Form 1205 from the sddor.seamlessdocs.com copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our Form 1205 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank Form 1205 — Bonded Title Release Form PDF at sddor.seamlessdocs.com · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in Form 1205 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual Form 1205, rendered from the PDF the South Dakota Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division 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

A completed South Dakota Bonded Title Release Form, Form 1205. The applicant block names Marlene D. Tschetter of Brookings, South Dakota in Brookings County with a driver's licence number, phone and email. The release request names the applicant and carries a bond number. The second reason is ticked - three years have expired from receipt of the bonded certificate of title and no claim has been made or is pending. The unsworn declaration is executed at Brookings, South Dakota with the first printed-name line completed and the second left blank. — Filled in on the three-year route, which is how most bonded titles are cleared. The second printed-name and signature pair is left empty because this vehicle is titled in one name; a jointly titled car uses both lines.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Applicant details and county
The current holder of the bonded certificate, with the county whose treasurer will take the form.
Watch out: The applicant has to be the holder of the certificate. Release the bond before you assign the title, not after.
2
You fill this in
Your name in the request sentence
Written into the form's own sentence requesting release of the bond and removal of the notices that the vehicle may be subject to an undisclosed interest.
Watch out: That phrase is the disclaimer printed on the face of the title. Removing it is the entire purpose of the form.
3
You fill this in
The bond number
From the surety bond filed when the bonded title was issued.
Watch out: If the bond paperwork is lost, the surety company that wrote it holds the number. The department is releasing a specific instrument and cannot do it from the VIN alone.
4
You fill this in
One of the two reasons
Either the prior title has been found and is being surrendered, or three years have passed with no claim made or pending.
Watch out: The first route is faster and the second is automatic. Neither works if somebody has already made a claim on the bond.
5
You fill this in
The declaration, and what goes with it
Day, place, printed names and signatures - filed together with the Certificate of Bonded Title, a title application and the fees.
Watch out: This form on its own changes nothing. The clean certificate comes from the title application it travels with.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Applicant Information	Name, address, city, state, zip code, driver's licence or social security or federal employer identification number, county, phone and email.
I (We)	The requester's name, written into the sentence asking to release the bond and remove the notices that the vehicle may be subject to an undisclosed interest.
Bond Number	The number of the surety bond filed with the department when the bonded title was issued.
Reason one - the prior title has been found	Three years have not expired from the receipt of the bonded certificate of title, but the most recent prior title has been located and is being submitted with this form.
Reason two - three years, no claim	Three years have expired from the receipt of the bonded certificate of title, no claim has been made on the bond and none is pending.
Unsworn Declaration	Executed on a stated day at a named place, with two printed-name and signature pairs, and the acknowledgement that the Certificate of Bonded Title and applicable fees accompany the form.

What gets this one rejected

•Filing it before three years without the prior title. The two reasons are alternatives, and the first one requires the located certificate to be submitted with the form.
•Filing it without the bonded certificate. The declaration states that the form goes in along with the Certificate of Bonded Title and the applicable fees.
•A pending claim on the bond. The statute lets the department release the bond only if it has not been notified of the pendency of an action to recover on it.
•A missing bond number. The department is releasing a specific instrument, and the number is how it finds it.
•Sending it to Pierre. Unlike the request, the release goes to the county treasurer's office with the title application and fees.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Three years, from the issuance of the bond. SDCL 32-3-64.1: at the end of three years after the issuance of the bond, the holder of the certificate of title may apply for the release of the bond if no claim has been made on it.
•Or sooner, if the real title turns up. If the currently valid certificate of title is surrendered to the department, the department may release the bond prior to the end of the three-year period.
•A new title has to be applied for. The department's own instruction pairs this form with an Application for Motor Vehicle and Boat Title & Registration and any applicable fees, at the local county treasurer's office.
•The department can pull a bonded title back. The statute lets it recall a certificate of title with a bond filed under this section if it finds the application or the affidavit contained a false statement.
•Two signature lines, for two owners. The declaration block prints two printed-name and signature pairs, for a vehicle titled in more than one name.

Every line here was read off Form 1205 (no revision printed) itself — the PDF is here — and off the South Dakota Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division 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 South Dakota seller paperwork, or what selling a car in South Dakota involves.

How to fill out South Dakota Form 1205

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Applicant details and county

Your name in the request sentence

The bond number

One of the two reasons

The declaration, and what goes with it

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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