The document a Wisconsin municipality hands over when it sells a vehicle it impounded, and the only paperwork the buyer will ever get in place of a title from the previous owner. If you have bought a car at a village auction and are now trying to sell it, this is the sheet that has to reach WisDOT - and the original, because photocopies are refused.
Written against MV2419 (12/2020), issued under s. 342.40 and s. 341.65, Wis. Stats..
If you are the private buyer at the far end of one of these, treat the original certificate the way you would treat a title. There is no replacement for it, and every route to a Wisconsin title on that vehicle runs through the piece of paper the municipality handed you.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV2419 from the wisconsindot.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual MV2419, rendered from the PDF the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Division 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 three transfer boxes down the left are the whole decision: regular sale, junk or salvage, and each sends the form somewhere different. The paragraph between them is the one a private buyer should read twice - a 2011 or newer vehicle also needs an MV2488, which cannot be downloaded. Municipality and purchaser invented for the sample.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
Somebody else fills this in
Vehicle Year, Make, Model and Selling Price
Four boxes across the top, completed by the municipality selling the vehicle.
Watch out: The selling price here is what the auction fetched, and it is the figure the buyer's sales tax will be worked from.
2
Somebody else fills this in
Vehicle Identification Number
Seventeen cells at the top right.
Watch out: Check it against the car before you leave the yard. There is no title to cross-reference it against, and this form is the only record.
3
Somebody else fills this in
Vehicle Acquired Pursuant to
Two ticks: abandoned vehicle under s. 342.40, or unregistered vehicle under s. 341.65.
Watch out: They are different statutory routes with different notice requirements behind them. A form with neither ticked has no authority on its face.
4
Somebody else fills this in
Name of Municipality and Authorized Agent
Who sold it, and the officer certifying that the statutes were complied with.
Watch out: Get a telephone number that reaches a person. If WisDOT queries the certificate months later, this is the only route back to the seller.
5
Somebody else fills this in
Signature of Authorized Agent
The certification that the municipality complied with the statutes and disposed of the vehicle to the purchaser identified.
Watch out: Unsigned, the form is worth nothing at all. Check for it before the money changes hands, not afterwards.
6
Somebody else fills this in
Vehicle Transferred as
Regular sale, junk, or salvage with inspection required - three boxes with three different futures.
Watch out: If it is ticked junk, the vehicle can never be retitled. That is not a formality and it is not reversible, whatever condition the car is in.
7
The buyer fills this in
Purchaser Name and address
The right-hand column, for whoever bought the vehicle at the sale.
Watch out: Make sure it is your legal name as it will appear on the title application. A correction here is much harder than a correction on an ordinary certificate.
8
The buyer fills this in
What you do with it afterwards
The purchaser submits the original to WisDOT with an MV1, plus an MV2488 if the vehicle is model year 2011 or newer.
Watch out: Photocopies are not acceptable, in the form's own words, twice. Post the original and keep a scan for yourself.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Vehicle Year / Make / Model / Selling Price
Four boxes across the top, with the price the municipality sold it for.
Vehicle Identification Number
A seventeen-cell comb at the top right.
Vehicle Acquired Pursuant to - ABANDONED VEHICLE s. 342.40
The first of two ticks, for a vehicle impounded and disposed of under the abandonment statute.
Vehicle Acquired Pursuant to - UNREGISTERED VEHICLE s. 341.65
The second, for the unregistered-vehicle route.
Name of Municipality and Authorized Agent
Who is selling it, and the officer signing for them.
Agency Telephone Number
The municipality's number, in the left column.
Signature of Authorized Agent
The certification: that the municipality has complied with the statutes on abandoned and unregistered vehicles and has disposed of the vehicle to the purchaser identified.
Vehicle Transferred as - Regular Sale
Give the completed form to the purchaser; the seller may wish to keep a photocopy.
Vehicle Transferred as - Junk
The vehicle can never be retitled, under s. 342.34(3), and the form goes to WisDOT rather than to the buyer.
Vehicle Transferred as - Salvage, Inspection Required
Less than seven model years old and damaged more than 70% of its market value, under s. 340.10(55g).
Purchaser Name, Address, City, State, ZIP Code, Telephone
The right-hand column, for whoever bought it at the sale.
What gets this one rejected
•A photocopy. The form says it twice: the purchaser must submit the original MV2419 to the DMV, photocopies are not acceptable.
•A 2011-or-newer vehicle with no MV2488. The form requires the seller to complete a Vehicle Transfer and Odometer Mileage Statement alongside it, and that form is secure stock ordered on a DT1435.
•No disposal route ticked. Regular sale, junk and salvage send the form to three different places and mean three different things about the vehicle's future.
•A municipality's agent who has not signed. The certification is the entire authority for the transfer.
•Using it as a bill of sale between private people. It only works where a municipality or county disposed of the vehicle under s. 342.40 or s. 341.65.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Junk here is as final as it is anywhere. The tick reads: vehicle can never be retitled, s. 342.34(3) Wis. Stats. Ticking it ends the vehicle's life on the record.
•Salvage has a definition and a threshold. Less than seven model years old and damaged more than 70% of its market value, and the form cites s. 340.10(55g) for it.
•The odometer requirement is the same as everywhere else. Model year 2011 or newer means a mileage disclosure, on an MV2488 because there is no title to write it on.
•The municipality keeps a copy, the buyer keeps the original. On a regular sale the form says: give completed form to purchaser; seller may wish to keep a photocopy. On a junk disposal it goes to WisDOT instead.
•It is addressed to Madison, not to a county. P.O. Box 7949, Madison WI 53707-7949, printed across the top of the sheet.
