Sell your car in Louisiana — yes, you'll need a notary; here's the rest
Louisiana does one thing almost no other state does: somebody has to watch you sign the title, either a notary or two witnesses, one of whom then swears to it before a notary. Get that appointment right and the rest is surprisingly friendly — the plate stays with you, the buyer handles the tax, and a five-minute online filing flags the state's record the day the car changes hands. Here's the whole thing, checked against OMV's own pages.
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Selling in Baton Rouge? Start with our Baton Rouge page. The notary, plate and notice rules below apply in every parish.
How to sell a car in Louisiana
- 01Get a title issued in your own name. Louisiana won't let you sell a car on a title that was never issued to you. R.S. 32:706(E) makes that an offence, with a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months, or both, and it covers every sale, including one where you take an instant cash offer here instead of listing the car. So a car someone signed over to you that you never titled has to be titled to you first. If you still have a loan, the certificate stays with your lender until it's paid off, and the lien release is the lender's job, on the DPSMV 1901.
- 02Disclose a salvage, water or hail brand in writing. Louisiana has more title brands than most states: salvage, reconstructed, water damaged, hail-damaged and certificate of destruction. If your title carries one, tell the buyer in writing before the deal closes. For a salvage, reconstructed, assembled or certificate of destruction brand, skipping that lets the buyer undo the sale and get the price back, and carries a fine of $500 to $5,000 plus community service. No brand on your title? Skip this step.
- 03Book a notary, or line up two witnesses. Somebody has to watch you sign. R.S. 32:705(B) accepts your signature in front of a notary, or in front of two witnesses who sign too. The witness route still ends at a notary: one of the two must complete the Acknowledgment of Witness, sworn before a notary, and the Louisiana OMV (DMV) rejects the file if that person wasn't one of the two who watched. Check that the notary's Louisiana identification number is on the paper. Without it, the document is rejected outright.
- 04Sign the title assignment while they watch. Don't sign the night before. The law says in the presence of, and it means at the moment. Print your name beside your signature and write the buyer's name and address, the date of sale and the price. With the price on the title, no separate Louisiana bill of sale is needed. Without it, the buyer needs a notarized Bill of Sale of a Movable. If the title has an odometer block, the mileage goes there in whole miles, and adding a separate DPSMV 1606 gets the file sent back. Don't use correction fluid: an altered title needs a notarized affidavit of correction from you both, and a wrong mileage can't be fixed that way.
- 05Take the plate off, and cancel it before the insurance. Your plate can't go to the buyer, who gets new metal plates when they register. Cancel it online, or return it to any OMV office or by mail. Cancel online and you don't send it in; you destroy it. Do this before you drop your insurance: a cancellation notice on a live plate is what triggers fees, and a plate surrendered within ten days of that notice still waives them. A prestige, personalized, mobility-impaired or apportioned plate can move to your next car instead, for a $3.00 transfer fee.
- 06File the notice of transfer within 15 days. Louisiana law requires it. R.S. 47:510(B) gives you fifteen days to file it, on the DPSMV 1697 Notice of Transfer of Vehicle or through the OMV's online notice of vehicle transfer. It flags your record as soon as it lands, so whatever the buyer does with the car later sits on a record that says it's gone. It doesn't transfer ownership. That moves only when the buyer applies for title. Skipping the notice can bring a fine of up to $100, up to 30 days, or both.
- 07Hand over the title; the buyer finishes the transfer. The rest of the Louisiana title transfer is the buyer's. They complete the DPSMV 1799 Vehicle Application and take it with your signed title, a copy of their ID and proof of insurance to an OMV office or public tag agent, or mail it to OMV headquarters. They must register within five days of taking delivery (R.S. 32:707(A)), and tax and fees are due within 40 days of the purchase before penalty and interest start. They pay the $68.50 title fee, $8.00 handling and sales tax at their parish's rate. You collect none of it. With proof of application, they're protected from a no-tag citation for 60 days.
Checked against the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles in August 2026. Every Louisiana form we cover is on our Louisiana forms page.
What Louisiana requires when you sell
| Notary | Required, one way or another. Louisiana is a notary state, but the notary doesn't always watch you sign. R.S. 32:705(B) lets you assign the title to the buyer in front of a notary, or in front of two witnesses who sign too, with any lien properly released. The witness route leads back to a notary: one of the two witnesses must complete the Acknowledgment of Witness, sworn before a notary, and the OMV rejects the file if that person wasn't one of the two who watched you sign. The notary's Louisiana identification number must be on the document, or it's rejected. One narrow third option exists: an authorized officer of a federally insured financial institution may witness the assignment instead, but only if you're present, a lien is being recorded at the time of transfer, and the institution provides its officer designation on letterhead. Giving the car away? An act of donation needs both: two witnesses and a notary. |
|---|---|
| The title form | The buyer applies for title with the Vehicle Application, form DPSMV 1799, attaching the title you assigned before a notary or two witnesses. A separate notarized bill of sale is needed only if the selling price isn't shown on the assignment itself. The form warns the file must be submitted within 40 days of the purchase date to avoid penalty and interest, and the title fee is $68.50 plus an $8.00 handling fee. |
| Bill of sale | Only when the price isn't on the title. A Louisiana vehicle bill of sale is a notarized document, the OMV's Bill of Sale of a Movable, and the OMV asks for one only when the selling price isn't written into the title assignment. Write the price on the title and you can skip it. Our Bill of Sale of a Movable page walks through it. Source: OMV, Bill of Sale of a Movable. |
| Lost your title? | Same form, different box. DPSMV 1799 carries a built-in Duplicate Title Affidavit for a title that's lost, mutilated, or never arrived — sign it, have it notarized (naturally), and pay the standard $68.50 + $8.00. Then sell on the fresh title. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | File a Notice of Vehicle Transfer within 15 days. It isn't optional: R.S. 47:510(B) requires it, and skipping it can bring a fine of up to $100, up to 30 days, or both. File it online through OMV's ExpressLane (plate number, VIN, buyer's name and address, sale date and price) or on the paper DPSMV 1697 Notice of Transfer of Vehicle. The OMV record is flagged with the vehicle's disposition immediately. Note OMV's caveat that ownership isn't legally transferred until the new owner applies for title, which is exactly why you file the day you sell. |
| License plates | Yours, not the car's. Louisiana passenger plates can't pass to the buyer, who gets new metal plates. Pull the plate before the buyer drives off and cancel it: online with OMV's Cancel Plate service, at any OMV office, or by mail. Cancel online and you don't turn it in; just destroy it. Cancel the plate before you cancel the insurance, or the insurance-cancellation fees start running against you. Only a prestige, personalized, mobility-impaired or apportioned plate moves to your next vehicle, for a $3.00 license transfer fee. |
| Sales tax | The buyer's bill, collected when they title and register: sales/use tax on the price less any trade-in and rebate, at the combined rate for the parish where the vehicle is domiciled (OMV links a Parish Tax Table for the local rates). As a private seller you collect nothing and remit nothing. |
| Inspections | The brake tag is on its way out. House Bill 1085, signed June 2, 2026, ends the annual inspection sticker for most personal vehicles on January 1, 2027, replacing it with a $6 QR code tied to the registration — with a no-citation grace period from June 30 through December 31, 2026. The exceptions: East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Livingston, Iberville, and Ascension parishes keep emissions testing under federal law, and commercial vehicles, school buses, and certain farm vehicles are still inspected. |
Fees, form numbers, and the notary rule verified against the Louisiana OMV's used-vehicle title and registration page as of August 2026 — if anything changes after that, the OMV page wins.
Louisiana is one of the few states that wants a notary — see the full list; a replacement title runs $68.50 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; whether you need a bill of sale; or price the Louisiana transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by Louisiana sellers
Do I really need a notary to sell my car in Louisiana?
Yes, one way or another. R.S. 32:705(B) lets you sign the title assignment in front of a notary, or in front of two witnesses who sign too. The witness route still ends at a notary: one of the two witnesses completes the Acknowledgment of Witness, sworn before a notary, and the OMV rejects the file if that person wasn't one of the two who watched you sign. Any lien on the title has to be properly released, and the notary's Louisiana identification number must be on the document. There's one narrow third option: an authorized officer of a federally insured financial institution can witness the signing, but only when you're present, a lien is being recorded at the time of transfer, and the institution documents its officer's designation on letterhead. Plan the sale around the appointment, not the other way around.
How do I protect myself after the buyer drives away?
File OMV's Notice of Vehicle Transfer on ExpressLane the same day. Louisiana law requires it within 15 days (R.S. 47:510(B)), and the paper version is form DPSMV 1697. It's a quick online filing — plate number, VIN, the buyer's name and address, sale date and price — and it flags the OMV record with the car's disposition immediately. OMV is clear that legal ownership only moves when the buyer applies for title, which is precisely why you want your side of the story on the record first.
Who pays the sales tax on a private car sale in Louisiana?
The buyer, when they title and register. It's assessed on the sale price less any trade-in and rebate, at the combined rate based on the parish where the vehicle is domiciled — OMV links a Parish Tax Table for the local numbers. Private sellers don't collect or remit a cent.
Do I need a current brake tag to sell my car in Louisiana?
OMV's used-vehicle transfer checklist is about the notarized title, the application, and the fees — not the windshield sticker. And the sticker itself is retiring: legislation signed June 2, 2026 ends annual inspections for most personal vehicles on January 1, 2027, swapping the brake tag for a $6 QR code tied to the registration. One caveat if your buyer lives in the capital region — East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Livingston, Iberville, and Ascension parishes keep emissions testing under federal law.
Can I gift a car in Louisiana instead of selling it?
Yes, with an act of donation on form DPSMV 1699, the Act of Donation of a Movable. The rule is stricter than for a sale: the OMV accepts it only if it's signed in front of two witnesses and a notary. A sale lets you use one or the other; a donation needs both. DPSMV 1698, the manual gift form, isn't a substitute. It only covers a gift made as part of a deal with a licensed dealer.