How to fill out Tennessee RV-F1312101

Not your form, and the reason it matters is what it lets somebody else do with your car. A repossession, a garage keeper's lien or an abandoned vehicle can be sold on without the registered owner ever signing anything: the lienholder swears to this instead, and a new certificate is issued to their buyer. If a car of yours has been towed, stored or repossessed, this is the document moving underneath it.

Written against RV-F1312101 (Rev 6/26), issued under Tenn. Code Ann. 55-3-121. If you are the owner and you have just found out about this, the address the notice went to is the one on the Department's record. Keeping that address current is not paperwork hygiene; it is the only warning the system gives you.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank RV-F1312101 from the tn.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank RV-F1312101 — Certification of Sales Under Special Conditions PDF at tn.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual RV-F1312101, rendered from the PDF the Tennessee Department of Revenue 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

Tennessee form RV-F1312101 filled in by a lienholder: the Repossession box is ticked, Cumberland Gap Credit Union of Knoxville swears to an indebtedness owed by Rayford T. Sisk, describes a 2018 Kia Sorento LX, vehicle identification number 5XYPG4A31JG384102, foreclosed and sold on 16 May 2026 to Dellwood Auto Recovery LLC of Powell for 6,300 dollars in certified funds, states that no other liens exist, explains that the borrower did not surrender the certificate of title, and is signed by a collections manager on 19 May 2026. — Completed by the credit union rather than by an owner, because the point of the form is that the owner never signed anything. Two of the three type boxes are greyed - a repossession, a garage keeper's lien and an abandoned vehicle each carry a different list of attachments.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
The lienholder fills this in
Which of the three
Repossession, garage keepers lien or abandoned vehicle, ticked at the head of the form.
Watch out: For an owner reading this, the tick tells you which notice you should have received and what the sale had to be advertised in.
2
The lienholder fills this in
The lienholder's oath
County, date, and the lienholder's name and address, followed by the name and address of the person who owed the money.
Watch out: That address is where the notice went. If it is an old one of yours, the fix is the Department's address-change process, and it is worth doing the day you move.
3
The lienholder fills this in
The vehicle
Make, vehicle identification number, model, body type and year model.
Watch out: The vehicle identification number is what ties the certification to the record. A wrong one produces a title for a car that does not exist and a record that still shows yours.
4
The lienholder fills this in
The foreclosure sentence and the purchaser
Who bought it, at what address, for how much, and how the consideration was paid.
Watch out: The price is on the record afterwards. If it is far below what the vehicle was worth, that figure is where a conversation with the lienholder starts.
5
The lienholder fills this in
The attachments
The lettered list matching the box ticked: lien instrument, notice of sale, newspaper advertisement, itemised statement of charges, work order or the substitute record.
Watch out: The itemised statement is the one an owner should ask to see. It is the arithmetic behind the debt the car was sold to satisfy.
6
The lienholder fills this in
Why the title could not be filed
One line explaining why a transferred certificate from the former owner cannot possibly be filed, then the signature, title and date.
Watch out: Under penalties of perjury, and signed by a named person in a named role. It is a statement somebody has put their name to, which is what makes it worth reading closely.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Check type	Three boxes at the head: Repossession, Garage Keepers Lien, Abandoned Vehicle.
The oath	County, date, and the name and address of the lienholder, who makes oath in due form of law that they were the lawful owner and holder of an indebtedness owed by a named person at a named address.
The vehicle	Make, vehicle identification number, model, body type and year model.
The foreclosure sentence	Default having been made, the undersigned foreclosed the lien in the manner provided by law and by the terms of the lien instrument and sold the vehicle described to a named purchaser at a named address, for a stated consideration, paid as follows.
The attachments paragraph	Three lettered lists. Repossession wants a true copy of the lien instrument and of the notice of sale, unless the lien is noted on the title. Garage keepers wants proof of delivery of the notice of sale, one newspaper advertisement, an itemised statement of charges, and a signed work order or written authorisation for the storage or repairs - or, where none exists, a written record of the good-faith attempt to obtain consent and confirmation of delivery. Abandoned vehicle wants proof of delivery of the notice, one newspaper advertisement and an itemised statement.
The warranty and the remaining liens	A statement that all necessary legal provisions were complied with and the purchaser has good title, subject to whatever other liens are inserted.
Why no title is attached	One line: a transferred certificate of title from the former owner cannot possibly be filed because.
Signature block	Signature of lienholder, title and date, under the perjury sentence.

What gets this one rejected

•None of the three types ticked. Each one carries a different attachment list and the clerk cannot check the envelope without knowing which applies.
•No newspaper advertisement on a garage keeper's or abandoned vehicle sale. Both lists name one advertisement, and both name proof of delivery of the notice of sale.
•A repossession with neither a copy of the lien instrument nor a lien noted on the title. The exemption is only for a lien already showing on the certificate.
•No itemised statement of charges. Two of the three types ask for one, and it is what makes the sale price checkable.
•The final line left blank. The form asks the lienholder to state, in writing, why the former owner's title cannot possibly be filed.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•It is a substitute for your signature, not a request for it. The whole design of the form is that the registered owner is not available and is not going to sign. What protects the owner is the notice, the advertisement and the sworn statement, not a chance to object at the counter.
•The garage keeper's route was widened, not softened. Where a signed work order cannot be produced, the form now accepts a written record of the good-faith attempt to obtain consent - naming the person, the date, the time and the person who tried - plus verifiable proof that the notice reached the last known registered owner's address.

Every line here was read off RV-F1312101 (Rev 6/26) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Tennessee Department of Revenue 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 Tennessee seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Tennessee involves.

How to fill out Tennessee RV-F1312101

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Which of the three

The lienholder's oath

The vehicle

The foreclosure sentence and the purchaser

The attachments

Why the title could not be filed

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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