How to fill out Wisconsin MV2119

Twenty dollars and two pages to replace a Wisconsin title that is lost, stolen or mutilated - and the form that tells most Wisconsin sellers with a loan that they are not allowed to use it. Since 30 July 2012 a title with a lien on it is posted to the lender, and the owner is not eligible to apply for a replacement until the loan is cleared.

Written against MV2119 (2/2025), issued under s. 342.13, Wis. Stats.. Check who holds your title before you fill anything in. WisDOT runs a lien holder search on its own site, and it answers the only question that decides whether this form is yours to use.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV2119 from the wisconsindot.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Owner Legal Name

   Across the comb at the top of Section A, exactly as WisDOT holds it.

   Watch out: The replacement prints the names in the department's record whatever you write here. If the record is wrong, the fix is the MV1020, not this form.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Opt Out regarding open records laws

   One tick that keeps your name and address out of bulk record requests of ten or more.

   Watch out: Businesses are not eligible for the opt-out. It is worth ticking on a car you are about to advertise.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Driver licence number, or social security number, or FEIN

   One of the three, combed across the page. All three are marked Required because at least one has to be present.

   Watch out: The comb is fourteen cells wide because that is the length of a Wisconsin licence number, and the form leaves no room for anything longer. A FEIN goes in its own block further right.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   The OR / AND tick beside the co-owner

   Which word joins the two names on the record.

   Watch out: It is not a preference. It decides whether one signature or two will be needed on the replacement when you come to sign it over.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Vehicle Identification Number and Plate Number

   Seventeen cells and eight cells. The instructions call both necessary to process the application.

   Watch out: If the title is genuinely lost, both numbers are on the registration certificate, and the plate number is on the car.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Vehicle is kept in County

   County, and then city, village or town, with a tick to say which.

   Watch out: This has to match the record rather than where you are living this month. A mismatch here is a query letter, not a rejection.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Section D, the fee

   $20 pre-printed, plus $10 per loan being added, plus $5 if you walk it in.

   Watch out: It is waived for a surviving family member applying on a decedent's vehicle - but the application still has to be filed, as the MV2300's own instructions say.

8. 8
   You fill this in

   Section E, Vehicle OWNER Certification

   Your signature, certifying the title is lost, stolen or mutilated and is not currently held by the lien holder.

   Watch out: That last clause is the one people sign past. If a lender does hold it, this certification is not true and the application is not yours to make.

9. 9
   You fill this in

   Permission to Mail Title Certification

   A name and address inside Section E for sending the replacement somewhere other than your own address.

   Watch out: Useful if you are selling from out of state. Leave it blank and the title goes to the address WisDOT holds, which may not be where you are.

10. 10
    The lienholder fills this in

    Section F, Vehicle LIEN HOLDER Certification

    The lender's half of the form, for a lien filed on or after 30 July 2012.

    Watch out: Not yours to fill in, and not theirs either if the title was issued to them electronically - in that case the form is no use to anybody and they go to their service provider.

What gets this one rejected

• •An owner applying where a lender holds the title. The instructions are explicit: vehicle owners are not eligible to apply for a replacement title until that time.
• •A lien holder with an electronic title using this form. They cannot - the form says they must contact their service provider instead.
• •Using it to transfer ownership. The application prints its own redirect: if this is a Transfer of Ownership, please use form MV1.
• •An unsigned application, or a cheque that is not enclosed. The form ends with a STOP box asking about both.
• •A name that does not match the record. The replacement is printed with the names WisDOT currently holds, whatever is typed on the sheet.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Wisconsin is a title-to-lien-holder state, and has been since 2012. Any title with a loan listed as of 30 July 2012 goes to the lender. What arrives at your address is a Confirmation of Ownership, which is not a certificate and cannot be signed over.
• •Unpaid child support diverts a title the same way. If you are on the Department of Children and Families docket, the instructions say the title is delivered to their office where there is no other lien, and you get a Confirmation of Ownership.
• •Sign the replacement and hand it over - even if the original turns up. WisDOT's seller page: sign the replacement and give it to the buyer, even if you find the original. If you find the original title after applying for a replacement, you should destroy it.
• •A replacement carries a notation. s. 342.13(1) requires the replacement to identify itself as one, and to say that it may be subject to the rights of a person under the original certificate.
• •You do not need one to junk a car. If the title is lost and the vehicle is going for scrap, WisDOT says you don't need a replacement title to junk the vehicle.
• •Somebody else can collect it. The Permission to Mail Title Certification block inside Section E redirects the replacement to another name and address; the MV2932 does the same job over a counter.

Every line here was read off MV2119 (2/2025) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Division 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.

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