Sell your car in Alabama — the paperwork is printed on the title
Alabama keeps a private car sale short on paperwork: no notary, no emissions test, no safety inspection, and no separate seller's form — the assignment you sign is printed right on the certificate of title. The whole game is signing it exactly right, pulling your plate, and keeping a bill of sale. Here's every rule, checked against ALDOR's own pages.
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The title, plate and tax rules on this page apply statewide; what changes from county to county is the licensing office, its local fees and the local sales tax rate. Birmingham is Alabama's busiest market for car sellers, so if you're there, start with selling a car in Birmingham.
How to sell a car in Alabama
- 01Check the 35-year title line. Alabama issues no title for a car more than 35 model years old. Through 2026 that means the 1990 model year and older, and the cutoff moves up a year every January 1; for those cars the bill of sale carries the sale. If a newer car's title is lost, order the $15 replacement (the MVT 12-1) through the Department's public title portal or any designated agent before you advertise. Allow ten to fifteen days.
- 02Read the front before you write on the back. Two owners joined by "and", or by no word at all, must both sign. Joined by "or" or "and/or", one signature is enough. If a lender is listed, find out who holds the certificate and what it takes to release it. When the lienholder is physically holding the title, the MVT 8-4 secure power of attorney lets the sale go ahead.
- 03Sign the back once: no notary, no white-out. In the assignment block on the back of the title, write the buyer's name and address, the mileage in whole miles off the dashboard and the date, then sign and print your name. No lender on the buyer's side? Write NONE on the lienholder line. Alabama dropped both the notary and the witness on title documents on April 8, 2021. The separate MVT 5-5 odometer statement is only for when that block can't be used. Get a digit wrong and stop there: Alabama rejects any title with white-out or a strike-through, and the fix is an MVT 5-7 affidavit.
- 04Write a bill of sale for the county. The law demands one only for cars too old to title, but the county licensing office uses it to charge your buyer the 2% state casual sales tax, and it proves the date the car stopped being yours. An Alabama bill of sale needs both names and full addresses, the date, a full vehicle description, the price and both signatures. How to write one.
- 05Pull your plate unless it's a vintage plate. In Alabama the plate belongs to you, not the car. Move it to your next car for a $1.25 state transfer fee, or turn it in at your county licensing office. The buyer drives away on their own plate or on none. The plate that does stay is a vintage vehicle plate, which follows the car when it is sold.
- 06Your buyer brings the car itself to the county licensing office. The Alabama title transfer is the buyer's job, within 20 days. They bring your signed title, the bill of sale, proof of Alabama insurance and the car itself to the licensing office in the county where they live. The office inspects the car and prints the MVT 5-1E title application at the counter, so you never sign one. They pay the $15 title fee, a $1.50 agent commission, whatever the county adds, and the sales tax. After 20 calendar days they owe a $15 penalty plus interest.
- 07End the registration too: it didn't move with the title. Alabama has no notice of sale, no release of liability and no deadline to report the sale, so the registration stays live in your name until the plate is surrendered. Take the plate off the registration before you cancel your insurance. If an insurance verification notice still arrives for the car you sold, give the county licensing official your bill of sale and surrender the plate. Ignore it for 30 days and the registration is suspended: $200 to lift the first time, $400 after that. If the plate went with the car, ask for a registration revocation (MV 32-7A-5).
Prefer not to advertise the car? You can get an instant cash offer here instead. Checked against the Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division (the office most people search as the Alabama DMV) in August 2026.
What Alabama requires when you sell
| Notary | None. ALDOR's FAQ says it flat out: Alabama does not require a title assignment to be notarized. The one thing the state is picky about is the signature itself — sign exactly as your name appears on the face of the title, middle initial and all. |
|---|---|
| The title form | There isn't a separate one — the seller's assignment is printed on the certificate of title itself. You complete it and hand the title over; the buyer then applies for their new title through a Designated Agent (the county license plate issuing official, a licensed Alabama dealer, or an Alabama bank or credit union). The state application fee is $15.00 plus a $1.50 designated-agent commission, and some counties add local fees on top. |
| Bill of sale | Required by Alabama law only for a car too old to title (more than 35 model years; through 2026, the 1990 model year and older), where it stands in for the title. On a titled car the county licensing office still wants one to collect the buyer's 2% casual sales tax, and it is your proof of the sale date. Rule 810-5-1-.246 lists eleven items, including both names and full addresses, the date of sale, the full vehicle description, the price and both signatures (the Department's rule). How to write a car bill of sale. |
| Lost your title? | A replacement costs $15, non-refundable. The titled owner (or recorded lienholder) applies online through ALDOR's Public Title Portal or through any designated agent in the state, which prepares the MVT 12-1 application from the title system at the counter; there is no form to download. Allow ten to fifteen days. One requirement: the vehicle must currently be titled in Alabama. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | Alabama has no release-of-liability filing, no notice of sale and no deadline for private sellers, so the registration stays live in your name until the plate is surrendered. Your protection is practical: a signed, dated bill of sale, and the plate off the car and then moved to your next vehicle or turned in at your county licensing office. If ALDOR later sends a Mandatory Liability Insurance verification notice for a car you already sold, give the county licensing official that bill of sale and surrender the plate. Ignore the notice for 30 days and the registration is suspended, which costs $200 to lift the first time and $400 after that. |
| License plates | The plate leaves with you, not the car — ALDOR requires the registrant to remove it upon sale or disposal. Moving it to your next vehicle costs a $1.25 state transfer fee; a number of counties add local issuance fees. |
| Sales tax | Entirely the buyer's bill. Private-party purchases owe Alabama's casual sales tax — 2% state on automotive vehicles plus county and city rates — collected by the county licensing official when the buyer titles and registers. You collect nothing and remit nothing. |
| Inspections | No emissions testing anywhere in Alabama, and no periodic safety inspection program either. The only look-over is administrative: the county licensing official inspects the vehicle and ownership documents when ownership changes (plus a rebuilt-vehicle inspection if the car has been through salvage), and the buyer has 20 calendar days from purchase to register without penalty or interest. |
Every fee and rule above was checked against ALDOR's official title FAQ as of August 2026 — if anything changes after that, the state's page wins.
No notary needed here, unlike a handful of states; a replacement title runs $15 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; selling with a loan still on it; or price the Alabama transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by Alabama sellers
Does Alabama require a notary to sell a car?
No. ALDOR's own FAQ says the state does not require the assignment of a title to be notarized. What trips people up instead is the signature: sign the assignment exactly as your name is printed on the face of the title, or the buyer's title application can bounce at the counter.
Is there a release-of-liability form in Alabama?
No. Alabama has no release of liability, no notice of sale and no deadline for telling anyone the car has gone, so the registration stays live in your name until the plate is surrendered. Keep a signed, dated bill of sale, take the plate off before the car leaves, and move it to your next car or turn it in at your county licensing office. If an insurance verification notice arrives for the car you sold, give the county licensing official your bill of sale and surrender the plate. Ignore it for 30 days and the registration is suspended; lifting that costs $200 the first time and $400 after.
Who pays sales tax on a private car sale in Alabama?
The buyer, when they title and register. Alabama's casual sales tax — 2% state on automotive vehicles plus local county and city rates — is collected by the county licensing official at registration. As the seller, you handle no tax at all.
I lost the title. Can I still sell my car in Alabama?
Get a replacement first. It's $15, non-refundable, and you apply through ALDOR's online Public Title Portal or at any designated agent, which prepares the MVT 12-1 application at the counter; there is no form to download. Allow ten to fifteen days. The one catch is that the vehicle must currently be titled in Alabama; once the new title arrives, you sell normally.
My car is too old to have an Alabama title. How do I sell it?
With a bill of sale. Alabama issues no title for a car more than 35 model years old; through 2026 that means the 1990 model year and older, and the cutoff moves up one year every January 1. The bill of sale has to meet Rule 810-5-1-.246 (both names and full addresses, the date of sale, the full vehicle description, the price and both signatures), and your buyer's county licensing official inspects the car and the paperwork before registering it. If the car wears a vintage vehicle plate, leave it on: that plate follows the car when it's sold.