How to fill out Washington 420-549

A landowner's form, signed by a police officer or an authorised inspector, and the end of the road for a vehicle that has been abandoned on somebody's property. For a seller it is the other side of a mirror: it is the document that turns your abandoned car into somebody else's property, and it is also the route out for a landowner who has ended up with a vehicle nobody has claimed.

Written against 420-549 (R/5/20), issued under RCW 46.55.010 and RCW 46.55.230. If you are the person whose car is sitting on somebody else's land, the fifteen days are real and they start when the form is posted to the address on your vehicle record. That is one more reason to keep the address on that record current, and one more reason to file a Report of Sale on the day you part with a vehicle rather than the week after.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 420-549 from the dol.wa.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   The vehicle verifier fills this in

   The three-of-four test

   At least three years old, extensively damaged, apparently inoperable, and worth only its scrap value. Three of the four have to be true.

   Watch out: This is read before anything is filled in. A vehicle that fails the test is not a junk vehicle, and the rest of the form has nothing to attach to.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   The landowner and the location

   Name, telephone, and the street address where the vehicle actually is - with a separate mailing address if that differs.

   Watch out: The location is where the inspector will go. A description like behind the barn is not an address, and the inspection does not happen.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Public property, and the requesting agency

   A yes-or-no tick, with a line for the agency if the vehicle is on public land.

   Watch out: A vehicle on public property is somebody else's process entirely. Ticking yes here hands the form to the agency with jurisdiction.

4. 4
   The vehicle verifier fills this in

   The vehicle band

   Plate number and state, year, make and the identification number.

   Watch out: Where the plate is gone the identification number carries the whole record. An inspector who cannot find one will say so, and the vehicle takes a different route.

5. 5
   The vehicle verifier fills this in

   Registered and legal owner

   Both blocks, completed from the record - and the word none where no owner can be found.

   Watch out: Blank and none are not the same answer. Blank looks like an incomplete form; none is a finding.

6. 6
   The vehicle verifier fills this in

   The lettered parts list

   Twenty-two ticks from engine and transmission to trunk lid and rear window.

   Watch out: This is the evidence for the damage limb of the test. An inspector ticking two boxes on an otherwise complete car has not established anything.

7. 7
   The vehicle verifier fills this in

   The inspector's certification

   Name, badge or personnel number, agency, and the signature certifying the vehicle qualifies as a junk vehicle.

   Watch out: It is signed by law enforcement or an authorised inspector. A landowner signing it has produced a document the department will not accept.

8. 8
   You fill this in

   The landowner's fifteen-day declaration

   One of two ticks on page two - either that copies were posted to both owners more than fifteen days ago and nobody redeemed the vehicle, or that no owner could be found.

   Watch out: Sign this before the fifteen days have run and the affidavit of sale beneath it is worthless, however carefully the rest was completed.

9. 9
   You fill this in

   The affidavit of sale

   Purchaser's name and address, the landowner's signature, and a notary or agent block.

   Watch out: This is the section that becomes an ownership document, so it is the one that has to be notarised. The rest of the form is a report; this part is a title.

What gets this one rejected

• •A vehicle meeting only two of the four conditions. Three is the threshold and the form states it before anything else.
• •A landowner completing the inspector's half. The certification is signed by a law enforcement officer or an authorised junk vehicle inspector, and nobody else.
• •Signing the affidavit of sale before the fifteen days have run. The clock starts on the day the form was mailed to the owners.
• •An unnotarised affidavit of sale. The instruction is explicit: sign the affidavit of sale below for use as an ownership document and have it notarized.
• •Leaving the registered or legal owner blocks empty. Where no owner is found the instruction is to enter none rather than to skip the block.
• •Assuming a junked vehicle can simply be driven afterwards. If it is to be operated again, the form and the vehicle go to the state patrol for inspection and a separate inspection form goes with the title application.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Who may request an inspection. The legal owner, or the person with possession or control of the property, or the public official with jurisdiction over it.
• •Notice is by post, to both owners. A copy of the entire form goes to the registered and the legal owner, and the fifteen days run from the posting.
• •Costs can be recovered from the vehicle's owner. The form states it plainly: you are entitled to recover all costs of the removal of the junk vehicle from the vehicle owner.
• •The affidavit of sale is an ownership document. Once notarised it can be used to retitle or sell the vehicle, which is what makes this a two-page form rather than a one-page report.
• •Disposal is recorded separately. The last block on page two records the wrecker or disposal business, its unified business identifier, and the date of delivery - a paper trail that ends the vehicle's life on the record.

Every line here was read off 420-549 (R/5/20) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Washington State Department of Licensing pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

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