How to fill out Texas VTR-271

Appoints somebody to handle the transfer for you. It grants full power and authority to purchase, transfer and assign legal title to one named vehicle - and it comes with full power of substitution, which is broader than most people expect.

Top of the blank Texas VTR-271, Limited Power of Attorney for Eligible Motor Vehicle Transactions, as the agency publishes it

Step 1 · the form itself Blank VTR-271 — Limited Power of Attorney for Eligible Motor Vehicle Transactions PDF at txdmv.gov · new tab View the blank VTR-271

Part of our filled-in example of Texas VTR-271, Limited Power of Attorney for Eligible Motor Vehicle Transactions, showing the filled-in entries

Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in VTR-271 guide PDF · 2 pages · 560 KB · new tab See our filled-in example

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VTR-271 from the txdmv.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VTR-271 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Written against VTR-271 (Rev 11/20), issued under Texas Transportation Code 501.0721. This is a broad authority over one vehicle, signed under a felony certification. Read the grant paragraph before you sign, not after.

Last updated August 22, 2026.

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual VTR-271, 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-271 limited power of attorney filled in: VIN 1FTEW1EF9GFA47215 for a 2016 Ford F-150, Texas plate PXR-4482, the title and document number line left blank, grantor Dale W. Fontenot of San Antonio in Bexar County, grantee Curtis R. Fontenot of San Antonio, and the grantor's signature, printed name and the date 14 August 2026 under the certification. — The actual VTR-271. Two fields catch people out: the county line, which Texas asks for on this form and on few others, and the title or document number, which is marked if unknown, leave blank. Only the grantor signs - the grantee's signature belongs on whatever application they go on to file.

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 one vehicle this authority covers.
Watch out: One vehicle, one form. This is a limited power of attorney and the grant paragraph is written around the motor vehicle described above.
2
You fill this in
Plate and title number
The licence plate state and number if the vehicle has them, and the title or document number where you know it.
Watch out: Both are qualified on the form itself - if any for the plate, if unknown, leave blank for the title number.
3
You fill this in
Grantor information
You: first, middle and last name, suffix, address, city, county, state and zip.
Watch out: County, not just city. The certification paragraph refers to the grantor of the county and state as listed above, so a blank county line breaks the sentence you are signing.
4
You fill this in
Grantee information
The person you are appointing, with the same block of details including their county.
Watch out: Read the grant before you fill this in. It hands over full power and authority to purchase, transfer and assign the legal title, with full power of substitution - which the form defines as the right to put somebody else in their place.
5
You fill this in
Certification, signature and date
The grantor signs, prints the same name and dates it, under the third-degree-felony certification.
Watch out: There is a hard limit on this form: it cannot be used in a dealer transaction to complete a title assignment on a vehicle subject to federal odometer disclosure. That job needs the secure Form VTR-271-A instead.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Vehicle information	VIN, year, make, body style, model, plate state and number, and the title or document number where known.
Grantor information	You. Name, address, city, county, state and zip - Texas asks for county on this one.
Grantee information	The person you are appointing, with the same block of details.
Certification and signature	Under the same third-degree-felony header the rest of the Texas forms carry.

What gets this one rejected

•Anything other than black or blue ink. The form says so in its first paragraph, along with original signatures required and no alterations allowed.
•An alteration of any kind. Not initialled, not tidied - the form does not allow them.
•Using it where federal odometer disclosure applies in a dealer transaction. That needs the secure Power of Attorney for Transfer of Ownership (Form VTR-271-A) instead, and this form names it.
•Filing it without ID. Where it is used to apply for title, initial registration or a certified copy, both grantor and grantee must attach a photocopy of their photo identification.
•An incomplete section. All sections must be properly completed for the document to be accepted.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•What full power of substitution means. The form explains it rather than leaving you to guess: whoever is given this power of attorney may delegate it by putting another person in their place under a substitute power of attorney. Appoint somebody you would trust to appoint somebody else.

Every line here was read off VTR-271 (Rev 11/20) 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

Handing the sale to someone because orders are moving you out of Joint Base San Antonio? Our San Antonio page weighs shipping, storing or selling the car on PCS orders.

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

How to fill out Texas VTR-271

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Vehicle information

Plate and title number

Grantor information

Grantee information

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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