How to fill out Texas VTR-130-SOF

The route for a vehicle you own but cannot prove you own - no title, and no way to get the last owner to sign. It is a two-part process, and the two parts go to two different places: the TxDMV first, your county second.

Top of the blank Texas VTR-130-SOF, Bonded Title Application or Tax Collector Hearing Statement of Fact, as the agency publishes it

Step 1 · the form itself Blank VTR-130-SOF — Bonded Title Application or Tax Collector Hearing Statement of Fact PDF at txdmv.gov · new tab View the blank VTR-130-SOF

Top of our filled-in example of Texas VTR-130-SOF, Bonded Title Application or Tax Collector Hearing Statement of Fact

Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in VTR-130-SOF guide PDF · 2 pages · 580 KB · new tab See our filled-in example

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VTR-130-SOF from the txdmv.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VTR-130-SOF guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Written against VTR-130-SOF (Rev 11/24), issued under Texas Transportation Code 501.053. Two offices, two stages, and a year-long window on the notice in between. Start it well before you want to sell the car, and exhaust the certified copy of title first, which is a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the wait.

Last updated August 22, 2026.

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual VTR-130-SOF, rendered from the PDF the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles 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 Texas VTR-130-SOF filled in: a 2016 Ford F-150 with VIN 1FTEW1EF9GFA47215, obtained from a named private seller in March 2019 at 71905 miles for 9,400 dollars, applicant Dale W. Fontenot of San Antonio with email and phone, a written explanation of why no title was ever delivered, all eleven application questions answered in the Yes or No column, and the certification signed, printed and dated. — The actual VTR-130-SOF, page one. Every one of the eleven questions carries an answer, because the heading above them says an answer must be provided to ALL questions - a blank line is a returned application. The explanation box is the part a Regional Service Center representative actually reads, and it is worth writing properly.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Vehicle information
VIN, year, make, body style and model for the vehicle you cannot prove you own.
Watch out: You are certifying further down that a physical inspection of the vehicle identification number was made and corresponds to the VIN you have written here. Read it off the car, not off an old advert.
2
You fill this in
How you came by it
Who you purchased or obtained the vehicle from, the odometer reading with no tenths, the purchase date and the purchase price.
Watch out: These four are the spine of the claim. A purchase price with nothing behind it invites the question of what evidence of ownership - a bill of sale, a cancelled cheque - you are attaching.
3
You fill this in
Applicant information
Your name printed as it appears on your photo identification, the address, and an email and phone number.
Watch out: Both the email and the phone number are marked required if submitting this form by mail. They are how the Regional Service Center comes back to you, and a blank there stalls the file.
4
You fill this in
Application explanation
A free-text box asking for your explanation for requesting a bonded title or tax assessor-collector hearing.
Watch out: Plain chronology beats indignation. What you bought, when, from whom, what you were given, and what you have tried since - that is the account a representative can act on.
5
You fill this in
The eleven questions
Yes or no on Texas residence, military posting, whether the vehicle has been titled in Texas, whether it is nonrepairable or salvage, legal possession, legal control, US manufacture, whether it is assembled, whether it is complete, and whether it is 25 or more years old.
Watch out: Several answers pull in another document. A salvage vehicle needs a Rebuilt Vehicle Statement on Form VTR-61; an assembled one needs that plus an ASE inspection on Form VTR-64 or VTR-852; a vehicle 25 or more years old needs its current value written on the same line.
6
You fill this in
Certification, signature and date
You certify the VIN was physically inspected and that everything else on the form is true, then sign, print and date.
Watch out: This is the end of part one, not the end of the process. Part one goes to a TxDMV Regional Service Center with a $15.00 processing fee; part two goes to your county afterwards with the Notice of Determination and, if you are bonding, the original bond.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Vehicle information	VIN, year, make, body style, model - then who you bought or obtained it from, the odometer reading with no tenths, the purchase date and the purchase price.
Applicant information	Names printed as they appear on photo identification, address, and an email and phone number - both of which the form marks as required if you are submitting by post.
Application explanation	A free-text box asking for your explanation for requesting a bonded title or tax assessor-collector hearing. This is the part a clerk actually reads.
The application questions	Eleven numbered yes/no questions, and the form says an answer must be provided to all of them. Do you live in Texas. Are you military personnel stationed in Texas. Has the vehicle been titled in Texas. Is it nonrepairable. Is it salvage - and if yes, a Rebuilt Vehicle Statement (VTR-61) is required. Are you in legal possession. Are you in legal control. Was it manufactured for sale in the United States. Is it an assembled vehicle. Is it complete. Is it 25 or more years old.
Part 1, what goes to the TxDMV	Both pages of this form, a $15.00 processing fee, any evidence of ownership you have, an original release of lien if the vehicle carries one less than ten years old, and a VIN inspection on Form VTR-68-A if there is no Texas record.
Part 2, what goes to the county	After the TxDMV processes it you take a Form 130-U, both pages of this form again, the Notice of Determination (VTR-130-ND) with all its enclosures, the original bond, a release of lien, evidence of ownership, proof of insurance and photo ID to the county tax assessor-collector.

What gets this one rejected

•Sending it to the county first. Part 1 goes to a TxDMV Regional Service Center; the county only sees it after the department has issued a Notice of Determination.
•Leaving a question blank. The header over them says an answer must be provided to ALL questions.
•Cash in the envelope. The $15.00 fee is a cheque or money order payable to the TxDMV, temporary cheques are not accepted, and it is non-refundable.
•An expired photo ID. Each person signing must attach a copy of a current government-issued ID, and current means expired by no more than twelve months.
•A vague explanation. Bought it off a man is not an account of how you came by a vehicle.
•Filing it when a certified copy of title would do. If the title merely went missing and you are the recorded owner, the certified copy is faster and far cheaper.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•How the vehicle gets valued. The department uses its Standard Presumptive Value calculator. If that returns nothing it uses a national reference guide, and only if it still cannot determine a value do you pay for an appraisal - from a licensed dealer or insurance adjuster, on a Motor Vehicle Appraisal form (VTR-125), with the appraiser's licence number and original signature.
•What the bond actually costs. TxDMV states the amount plainly: it is equal to one and a half times the value of the vehicle. Not the value - half as much again. The Notice of Determination tells you the figure, and you have one year from the date of that notice to buy the bond before a new notice and a new bond are required.

Every line here was read off VTR-130-SOF (Rev 11/24) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Forms that go with this one

No title and no way to reach the last owner? Our page answers who does the VIN inspection bonded titles often need in Austin, and how appointments work.

Back to all Texas seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Texas involves.

How to fill out Texas VTR-130-SOF

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Vehicle information

How you came by it

Applicant information

Application explanation

The eleven questions

Certification, signature and date

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

Forms that go with this one

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