Buys the state’s own record of a vehicle. A Texas title history costs $5.75 and comes from TxDMV rather than from a commercial vehicle history site - which makes this the cheapest authoritative answer to what the title on your own car has actually done.
Written against VTR-275 (Rev. 8/2018), issued under 18 U.S.C. 2721 (Driver Privacy Protection Act) and Texas Transportation Code 730.007.
This is the state record, not a commercial history report. It will tell you what Texas holds about the title - brands, issue dates, the chain of ownership on record - and it will not tell you about accidents or service history, because the state does not hold that.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VTR-275 from the txdmv.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VTR-275 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual VTR-275, 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
The real VTR-275, filled in by an owner requesting the history of his own truck. Page 2’s permitted-use initials are left blank on purpose - an owner does not need one, and the form says so.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Applicant information
Your name, address, email and phone, plus a business name if you are requesting as one.
Watch out: Use the name that matches the photo ID you are about to copy. A mismatch stops the request.
2
You fill this in
Photo ID details
The issuing entity and type, the number and the expiry date - and a photocopy in the envelope.
Watch out: Current means unexpired. An out-of-date licence fails on the expiry box you just filled in.
3
You fill this in
Which vehicle
Plate, year, make, VIN and title document number.
Watch out: The VIN does the work. The plate alone can be ambiguous once a plate has moved between vehicles, which in Texas it often has.
4
You fill this in
Which record
One of six tick boxes, each with its price printed beside it.
Watch out: Certified costs a dollar more and is only worth it if somebody official is going to want the certification - a court, usually.
5
You fill this in
Sign and date
Signature, printed name and date, certifying the statements are true for the described vehicle.
Watch out: If the car is not yours, stop and read page 2 before you sign - the permitted use you initial there is the legal basis for the whole request.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Applicant information
Name, business name if there is one, address, email and phone.
Government issued photo ID
The issuing entity and type, the ID number and its expiry. A photocopy of the ID goes in with the form.
Search information
The Texas plate, year, make, VIN and title document number - as much as you have.
Records request
Six tick boxes with their prices against them: title history, certified title history, title and registration verification, certified verification for court use, duplicate registration receipt, or Other.
Signature
Your signature, printed name and date, certifying the statements are true for the described vehicle.
Permitted use (page 2)
If you are not the owner or lienholder, a list of permitted uses under the privacy law, one of which you initial.
What gets this one rejected
•No photocopy of your ID. The form requires your signature and a copy of your current government issued photo ID together - one without the other is not a request.
•Cash in the envelope. Personal check, money order or cashier’s check made payable to TxDMV. Do not mail cash, and fees are not refundable.
•Not initialling a permitted use when you are a stranger to the vehicle. If you are not the owner or lienholder and have no written authorisation, page 2 has to be initialled.
•Ticking Other without attaching anything. The form asks you to attach documentation explaining the request, and says you will be contacted with the fee total.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The prices are printed on the form. Title history $5.75. Certified title history $6.75. Title and registration verification of a current or expired record $2.30. Certified verification for court use $3.30. Duplicate registration receipt for the current period $2.00.
•The privacy law is the reason for the whole page. The form opens by saying the Driver Privacy Protection Act restricts access to personal information on title and registration records. That is why the ID copy and the permitted-use list exist, and it is the same law that makes a public plate-to-owner lookup impossible.
•You can walk it in. The alternative to posting it to Austin is a TxDMV Regional Service Center, which the form names as an option.
•Owner or lienholder skips page 2. The permitted-use initials are for everyone else. If the car is yours, page 1 and your ID are the whole job.
Every line here was read off VTR-275 (Rev. 8/2018) 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.
