How to fill out Texas VTR-34

Replaces a Texas title that is lost, stolen or mutilated. Texas calls it a certified copy rather than a duplicate, and it does not sit alongside the original - it replaces the original and any certified copy issued before it.

Top of the blank Texas VTR-34, Application for a Certified Copy of Title, as the agency publishes it

Step 1 · the form itself Blank VTR-34 — Application for a Certified Copy of Title PDF at txdmv.gov · new tab View the blank VTR-34

Part of our filled-in example of Texas VTR-34, Application for a Certified Copy of Title, showing the filled-in entries

Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in VTR-34 guide PDF · 2 pages · 630 KB · new tab See our filled-in example

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VTR-34 from the txdmv.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VTR-34 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Written against VTR-34 (Rev 10/24), issued under Texas Transportation Code 501.134. Issuing a certified copy cancels the original title and any earlier certified copy. If the original turns up afterwards it is waste paper - do not sign it over to a buyer.

Last updated August 22, 2026.

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual VTR-34, 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-34 filled in: all five application checklist boxes ticked, VIN 1FTEW1EF9GFA47215 for a 2016 Ford F-150, plate PXR-4482, the title and document number line left blank, recipient Dale W. Fontenot at a San Antonio address with email and phone, one identification row completed as a Texas driver licence with a number and an expiry date, and the certification signed, printed and dated 6 July 2026. — The actual VTR-34. Note what is deliberately empty: the title or document number, which the form tells you to leave blank if you do not have it, and the three spare identification rows, which exist for jointly owned vehicles and agents. Five checklist boxes at the top are ticked because each one is a requirement the form asks you to acknowledge, not an option.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
The application checklist
Five boxes at the head of the form, covering the fee, photo identification, original signatures, a release of lien where the record shows one, and signature authority for an entity or a power of attorney.
Watch out: The instruction above them reads check each box to acknowledge the following requirements are met. Ticking one you have not actually satisfied is how an application comes back weeks later.
2
You fill this in
Vehicle information
VIN, year, make, body style and model, plus the title or document number and the Texas plate number.
Watch out: Both of those last two are printed as if unknown, leave blank. The title number usually vanished with the title, and that is not a problem.
3
You fill this in
Recipient information
Whoever the certified copy will be given or mailed to - name, mailing address, email and phone.
Watch out: If the recipient is not the applicant and is collecting in person, their own photo identification has to be produced at the counter and written on page 1.
4
You fill this in
Government issued identification
Four rows, each taking a type, the issuing state or country, an identification number and an expiry date, with a photocopy of each attached.
Watch out: The department accepts identification for up to 12 months after expiry - and a jointly owned vehicle needs a row and a copy for every recorded owner, not just the one posting the form.
5
You fill this in
Certification, signature and date
You certify you are the recorded owner, lienholder or verified agent and that the original title has been lost, destroyed or mutilated.
Watch out: Original ink, black or blue. The fee is $2.00 by mail or $5.45 in person, and the mailed version has to be a cheque or money order - the form rules out cash, cards and temporary cheques and says the fee is non-refundable.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Who may sign it	The owner or lienholder on the department's record, or an authorised agent of theirs. Nobody else.
The application checklist	Five tick boxes at the head of the form, each one a requirement rather than a suggestion. Work down them before you post anything.
The fee	$2.00 by mail or $5.45 in person. Mailed fees must be a personal cheque, cashier's cheque or money order payable to the TxDMV - not cash, not a card, not a temporary cheque, and not refundable.
Photo identification	A copy for each recorded owner and any agent. All IDs must be valid, or expired by no more than 12 months. Photocopies, faxes and scans are acceptable for the ID itself, employee IDs, business cards and powers of attorney.
Signatures	Original, in black or blue ink. A jointly owned vehicle needs an original signature from each owner, or a power of attorney for each.
Release of lien	An original signed release where the department's record still shows a lienholder - and the form is emphatic that this applies even if the loan was paid in full years ago. Photocopies, scans, faxes and emails are all listed as not acceptable. The department removes the lien from the record on the strength of it.
Signature authority	Where an entity is applying, or anyone is using a power of attorney, an acceptable form of signature authority goes with it - the form points to its own Entity Applicant and Using Powers of Attorney sections for what counts.

What gets this one rejected

•Sending it to the county. This one goes to a TxDMV Regional Service Center, in person or by post - not to the county tax assessor-collector's office where everything else is filed.
•Expecting your paperwork back. The note is blunt: no documents submitted to a Regional Service Center will be returned.
•One signature on a jointly owned vehicle.
•An ID more than twelve months expired.
•Cash in an envelope, or a card number written on the form.
•A scanned or emailed release of lien. Photocopies are fine for a photo ID, an employee ID, a business card or a power of attorney - and not for the lien release.

Every line here was read off VTR-34 (Rev 10/24) 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

Dallas County's branches send you elsewhere for this one: our page names the TxDMV offices near Dallas that issue replacement titles, starting with Duncanville.

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

How to fill out Texas VTR-34

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

The application checklist

Vehicle information

Recipient information

Government issued identification

Certification, signature and date

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Forms that go with this one

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