An owner whose title is held as an electronic record can ask the department to print one. This is that request, and its second reason box is the one that concerns a seller: vehicle ownership has been transferred. The other two are moving to another state, where the title is required to register in a new state of residence, and Other, which the department must approve. What the form warns about is supply rather than eligibility - all requests will be reviewed and processed as paper supplies allow - so a seller who needs a certificate in hand should start this before agreeing a completion date, not after.
Written against Form 1504 (no revision printed), issued under South Dakota Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, reviewed centrally under the electronic title exceptions in SDCL 32-3-70. Do not confuse this with the lien release. If the reason you have no title is an outstanding loan, printing a certificate does not clear the lien - the lien is still noted, and Form 1501's own notes make plain that the department refuses a lender's paper-title request made for the purpose of selling, because a lien release must be submitted to the county treasurer when a vehicle is sold or traded. This form is for the owner who has no lien to clear and still needs a document: an electronic record left over from a loan that has already been released, or a car being sold out of state.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Form 1504 from the sddor.seamlessdocs.com copy so you get the revision that is current today.
The department's own form carries only four fields in its markup - the Other comments line, the two department-use radio buttons and an electronic signature area - because every other line on it is a printed rule rather than a box. There is no rectangle behind the owner name, the title number or the request reason to place a value inside, and this project never measures a coordinate by hand, so the page shows the form's structure rather than a completed sample. What the reader needs from it is the middle block, and its three reasons are set out field by field above.
| On the form | What to put in it |
|---|---|
| Vehicle Owner(s) | The owner as the record holds them. The request can only come from the owner - the lender's equivalent is Form 1501. |
| Title Number, VIN/HIN | The record being asked for. On a title that has only ever existed electronically, both come from the loan or registration paperwork. |
| Request Reason - one of three | Moving to Another State; Vehicle ownership has been transferred; or Other, with a comments box. |
| Comments | Free text beside the Other tick, which is the only reason on the form that needs the department to agree with you. |
| Owner Name and Signature | Under the Unsworn Declaration - I am requesting that a paper title be printed and mailed for the vehicle listed above - signed on a stated day at a named city and state. |
| Email Address, Phone | So the department can come back on a request it is not going to approve as filed. |
| For Department Use Only | Approved or Denied, a denial reason, an MVD agent signature and the date reviewed. Nothing in this block is the owner's. |
Every line here was read off Form 1504 (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.