How to fill out South Dakota Form 1002

One form covers six different disasters, and its declaration lists them: the original title has been either lost, stolen, destroyed, mutilated, illegible or was never received. That last one matters more in South Dakota than elsewhere, because a title that was printed and posted can go missing between Pierre and a rural mailbox - and the department waives the fee if you notice quickly enough. It is also the only repair South Dakota publishes for a spoiled assignment: there is no correction affidavit for a certificate, so a title signed in the wrong place is a duplicate application, $10 plus the $2 technology fee, filed by the recorded owner.

Written against Form 1002 (no revision printed), issued under South Dakota Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, applied for under SDCL 32-3-29. The declaration at the foot is the part people sign without reading, and it is the part that matters if a sale is already under way. You are declaring that you have not transferred the vehicle to another owner - or, if you have, that you are applying for the duplicate on behalf of the new owner. A seller who has already handed over an assigned certificate and then applies for a duplicate in their own name is making a false declaration under penalty of perjury on a document that will produce a second negotiable title for the same car. If the assignment was spoiled, get the spoiled certificate back and attach it.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Form 1002 from the sddor.seamlessdocs.com copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our Form 1002 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank Form 1002 — Duplicate Title Application PDF at sddor.seamlessdocs.com · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in Form 1002 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual Form 1002, 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 Duplicate Title Application, Form 1002. The odometer block shows a reading of 108,472 miles with neither exception ticked. The vehicle block identifies a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox LT by title number, vehicle identification number, year, make, model and weight. The owner block names Marlene D. Tschetter of Brookings, South Dakota with a driver's licence number. The special mailing block and both lienholder blocks are shaded grey, and the unsworn declaration is dated at Brookings, South Dakota with the printed name completed and the signature line blank. — Filled in for a lost certificate on a car with no lien on it, which is the commonest version of this application. Both lienholder blocks and the printed-title reason list are washed grey because they only apply where a lien exists; the special mailing block is grey because the duplicate is going to the owner's own address.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
The odometer reading, and its unit
The current reading in whole units, with miles or kilometres ticked, and one of the two exception boxes only if it applies.
Watch out: Required for a 2011-or-newer vehicle or anything at or under 16,000 lb gross weight - so on most cars, not just the recent ones.
2
You fill this in
Title number, VIN and the vehicle
The title number, VIN or HIN, year, make, model and weight, identifying the record being replaced.
Watch out: If the title number is gone with the title, an old registration renewal notice usually carries it. So does the county treasurer's record, which is why any county can take this.
3
You fill this in
Your name, exactly as the title reads
The name as it appears on the title, with a South Dakota driver's licence or social security number beside it.
Watch out: A name that has changed since the title was issued is signed the old way. The duplicate will be issued as the record reads, and the new name goes on at the next transaction.
4
You fill this in
Address, and the special mailing block if needed
Where the duplicate goes. The second block exists for a duplicate that has to be sent to someone other than the owner.
Watch out: The fee waiver for a title lost in the post depends on the replacement being sent to the same address the original went to - so changing it here can cost you the $10.
5
The lienholder fills this in
The lienholder block, only where a lien exists
A reason for a printed title, then the lienholder's signature, name, identification and address.
Watch out: Lender signatures are only required for an existing lien that was a paper title or an approved printed-title request. A paid-off lien needs a release attached, not a signature here.
6
You fill this in
The unsworn declaration
Day, place, printed name and signature - and on an AND title, every owner signs.
Watch out: Read the sentence you are signing. It declares that the vehicle has not been transferred to another owner, which is a live question if a sale is already half-done.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Odometer reading is ___, miles or kilometers	The current reading, with a unit tick. The instruction at the head of the form sets the test: odometer readings are required on vehicles 2011 or newer and on vehicles with a GVW of 16,000 lbs. or less.
Declared actual mileage unless one of the following is checked	Two ticks beneath it - stated mileage exceeds the odometer's mechanical limits, or stated mileage is not the actual mileage, with the printed warning of an odometer discrepancy.
Title Number, VIN/HIN, Year, Make, Model, Weight	The vehicle block. The title number is what the department searches on, so it is worth digging out of an old registration if the certificate is gone.
Name (as it appears on the title), SSN/SDDL	The recorded owner, in the name the record holds. The manual is specific: where the name has changed, the applicant should sign using the name that was used on the original title.
Owner Address, City, State, Zip Code	The address the duplicate goes to unless the special mailing block below is used.
Special Mailing Name and Address	For a duplicate that must go somewhere other than the owner. The department's own instruction: if the duplicate title is to be mailed to someone other than the owner, the mailing instructions must be indicated on the form.
Lienholder Information, and one of five reasons	A block that only bites where a lien exists: moving to another state, an insurance claim or total loss, a court order, a name change or an owner being added or deleted, or Other, which must be approved by the Motor Vehicle Division.
Lienholder Signature, Name, ID, Address	Two lender blocks. The note above them limits when they are needed - lender signatures are only required for an existing lien that was a paper title, or an approved request for a printed title.
Unsworn Declaration	Signed on a stated day at a named place, printed name and signature, under the declaration that you have not transferred the vehicle to another owner - or, if it has been transferred, that you are applying on behalf of the new owner.

What gets this one rejected

•An application while the original is held by a lienholder or is an electronic title. The manual states that duplicate title applications will not be accepted by the county treasurer or the Division in those two cases.
•A mutilated certificate left at home. Where the title has been spoiled rather than lost, the mutilated certificate of title must be attached to the application.
•One signature on an AND title. If the title has been issued with names joined by "and", all owners must sign the application.
•A signature in a new married name over a record in the old one. Sign as the record reads, or sign both, or attach an affidavit stating that you are one and the same person.
•An odometer reading left off a 2011-or-newer vehicle. The instruction at the head of the form requires it, and the current reading must be completed on the application if applicable.
•An application from someone who is not the recorded owner. Only the recorded owner or a duly authorised agent holding power of attorney can apply, and a copy of the power of attorney must be attached.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Any county will take it. The manual's first line on duplicates: the duplicate title application can be turned in to any county treasurer. That is unusual - lien notations, by contrast, must be made in the titled owner's county of record.
•$10, plus the $2 technology fee. The form says so itself: completed applications along with a $10 fee plus $2 tech fee must be submitted to your county treasurer's office.
•Ninety days, and the fee can be waived. If the original never arrived in the post, the county treasurer can waive the duplicate fee where the application for replacement is made within ninety days of the date the original title was issued and it is going to the same address.
•A lien can be released or added in the same trip. If the existing lien has been paid in full, a signed lien release must be submitted; a new lien can be noted at the time of application, with the loan contract and a $12 lien notation fee.
•It issues in the old name, not the new one. In the event of a name change due to marriage, divorce or a court order, the duplicate title will be issued as the original title record reads. The name is changed on the next transaction, not this one.
•A trust signs through its trustees. Where the title is listed only in the name of a trust, the application must be signed by the trustee or trustees, with the appointing portion of the trust and its signature page attached.

Every line here was read off Form 1002 (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 1002

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

The odometer reading, and its unit

Title number, VIN and the vehicle

Your name, exactly as the title reads

Address, and the special mailing block if needed

The lienholder block, only where a lien exists

The unsworn declaration

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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