Not the seller's form, but the answer to the question every Tennessee seller gets asked at the kerb: how does the buyer drive it home when the plate is going in your boot. Thirty days of legal operation for $10, applied for in person at a county clerk, with one further thirty-day permit available if the original problem has not been resolved.
Written against RV-F1314401 (Rev 3-24), issued under Tenn. Code Ann. 55-3-118(b).
This belongs to the buyer, and it is worth knowing about only so you can answer them without inventing something. A seller who lets the plate go with the car to solve the same problem has created a different one.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank RV-F1314401 from the tn.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual RV-F1314401, 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
Completed the way the buyer completes it, so a seller can see at a glance that none of it is theirs. The three unticked reasons are greyed - a casual and isolated sale is one specific box, and it is the one a private purchase falls into.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
The buyer fills this in
Whose form this is
The applicant is the person who now owns the vehicle and cannot yet register it. The seller appears only as the name of the seller.
Watch out: If a seller finds themselves filling this in, something has gone wrong upstream - most often a plate that was left on the car and now needs cancelling instead.
2
The buyer fills this in
Block A, applicant and vehicle
Identification types, name and address, then vehicle identification number, make, model, colour, year and purchase date.
Watch out: The purchase date should match the date of sale in the assignment. A permit dated before the sale is a question the clerk asks out loud.
3
The buyer fills this in
Used, from an individual
Two ticks and the seller's name, which is what makes this a private purchase rather than a dealer one.
Watch out: Auction is a third option and it is not a synonym for a private sale. Ticking it changes what documents the clerk expects to see.
4
The buyer fills this in
Block B, one reason
Casual and isolated sale is the private-purchase box, and it needs a notarised bill of sale or a properly reassigned title with it.
Watch out: A properly reassigned title is the ordinary answer - it is the certificate the seller has just signed. The notarised bill of sale is the alternative for a title still sitting with a lienholder.
5
The buyer fills this in
Details
A short explanation of why the vehicle cannot be registered yet and what is being done about it.
Watch out: Where the car is going and which clerk it is going to answers the clerk's real question, which is whether this is a journey with an end.
6
The buyer fills this in
Sign it at the counter
The certification statement, a signature and a date, with $10 and identification.
Watch out: In person, with the identification in hand. The clerk is checking the documents and the record before the permit is issued, and a posted application is simply returned.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
A. Applicant and vehicle information
Types of identification provided, name, phone, street address, city, state and ZIP; then vehicle identification number, make, model, colour, model year and purchase date.
New or used, and where it came from
Two ticks for new or used, and three for dealer, individual or auction, plus the name of the seller.
Previous permits
One line asking for all other temporary tags from dealers and temporary operation permits the applicant has had for this vehicle.
B. Reason for requesting
Four options. Title not available for timely registration, which needs a dealer's invoice or a notarised bill of sale and, where a lienholder holds the title, the lienor's name and address. Casual and isolated sale, needing a notarised bill of sale or a properly reassigned title. Out-of-state resident or transport. Or other, with details.
Details
A block for the explanation, which the form asks for on three of the four options.
C. Applicant certification
The true-and-correct statement, then the signature and date.
What gets this one rejected
•Applying by post. The instruction is that application must be made in person through the county clerk's office.
•No supporting document. Each of the four reasons names what has to come with it, and the casual sale option wants either a notarised bill of sale or the assigned title itself.
•A salvage vehicle. The Department's note is unambiguous: temporary operation permits cannot be issued on salvage vehicles.
•A vehicle carrying a stop or reject code. The form warns that certain vehicles having stop or reject codes may not be eligible.
•Leaving the previous-permits line blank when there has been one. The second permit is discretionary and the clerk is deciding on the history.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Thirty days, and one more if the problem persists. The purpose paragraph gives thirty days, and allows one additional permit of thirty days where the owner has been unable to resolve the original issue.
•Ten dollars, plus county fees. The instruction line prices it at $10.00 plus any applicable county fees, and asks for proper identification - one photo identification with a distinguishing number, or two other forms.
Every line here was read off RV-F1314401 (Rev 3-24) 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.
