Nine boxes that let somebody else walk out of a DMV counter holding your title. Wisconsin will not hand a certificate to anyone but the owner without written permission, and it will not take a half-finished note: incomplete forms will be collected and destroyed without exception, in the department's own words on the face of the sheet.
Written against MV2932 (4/2016), issued under Ch. 342, Wis. Stats..
Read the three name lines carefully before you write in them. The first is the owner, the second is the person collecting, and the third is a dealership - and they sit close enough together on the page that they get filled in one row out.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV2932 from the wisconsindot.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual MV2932, 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
Three name lines and only two of them are used here - the dealership line stays empty on a private arrangement. The signature box at the foot carries both the signature and the date, which is why they sit at opposite ends of the same rule. Names invented for the sample.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Title, or Replacement Title
Two ticks at the top and one of them is yours: an ordinary certificate, or one applied for on an MV2119.
Watch out: If you filed a replacement and it has not been printed yet, this form does not speed that up. It only decides who may collect it once it exists.
2
You fill this in
Owner Name
The first of the three name lines, and it is you.
Watch out: The three lines are close together. Fill this one from the title rather than from memory, and check you are on the right rule before you write.
3
You fill this in
Name of person picking up title
Whoever is going to the counter on your behalf.
Watch out: Write the name exactly as it appears on the identification they will produce. A shortened first name is enough to send the title into the post instead.
4
You fill this in
Name of dealership picking up title
For a dealer representative collecting for a customer. Blank on a private arrangement.
Watch out: Do not put a person's name here because the line above is full. The two lines mean different things to the clerk reading them.
5
You fill this in
Year, Make and Vehicle Identification Number
One row, three boxes, identifying the vehicle whose certificate is being released.
Watch out: The VIN is what the counter matches on. Year and make alone will not identify a record.
6
You fill this in
Owner Signature and Date
Your signature at the left of the rule and the date at the right, in mm/dd/yyyy.
Watch out: Sign it before it leaves you, obviously - but also send a photograph of the completed form to whoever is collecting, so they know what they are carrying.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Check One - Title
The first of two ticks, for an ordinary certificate being collected.
Check One - Replacement Title
The second, where an MV2119 has been filed and the replacement is what is being picked up.
Owner Name
You, as the owner on the record. The first of three name lines, and the one people fill in second by mistake.
Name of person picking up title
Whoever is going to the counter. They will be asked for acceptable proof of identity when they get there.
Name of dealership picking up title
For a dealer representative collecting on behalf of a customer, which is the other half of what this form is for.
Year / Make / Vehicle Identification Number
Three boxes on one row identifying the vehicle whose title is being released.
Owner Signature and Date
One signature rule, with the date at its right-hand end. No notary and no witness.
What gets this one rejected
•Any box left empty. The instruction is printed in bold italic on the form: incomplete forms will be collected and destroyed without exception.
•Sending somebody without identification. If proof of identity is not produced, the title will be mailed to the owner on record instead.
•Using it to authorise a sale. This releases a document over a counter; it does not give anybody power to sign the assignment on your behalf.
•Using it where the lender holds the title. Nothing on this form reaches a lien holder's copy - that is a conversation with the lender.
•Filling in both the person and the dealership lines without meaning to. They are two different routes and the department reads whichever is completed.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Wisconsin will not release a title to a stranger. The opening sentence is the whole rationale: permission is required for the department to hand a title to someone other than the owner, or to hand a title to a dealer representative for his or her customer.
•It is not a power of attorney. Wisconsin's vehicle power of attorney is the MV2690, and that one is not published for download at all. This form releases a document and nothing more.
•The MV2119 has a version of this built in. The Permission to Mail Title Certification block inside Section E of the replacement title application redirects a replacement by post, which is often simpler than sending somebody to a counter.
•It has no mailing address on it. Because it is handed over at the counter with the identification, not posted in advance.
•A Spanish version exists. MV2932s, published alongside the English form.
