Sell your car in Montana — no tax, no notary, no nonsense
Montana strips a car sale down to about as little paperwork as a state can ask for: no sales tax, no emissions checks, no notary since October 2025, and no release-of-liability form to chase. Sign the title correctly, take your plates, and you're done. Here's the whole playbook — plus a cash offer if you'd rather skip the private-sale circus entirely.
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Montana's title rules are the same in all 56 counties. Billings is the busiest city on the list; if you're there, start with the Billings page.
How to sell a car in Montana
- 01Get the title out of the drawer and read the front. You can't sell a car in Montana until it's titled and registered to you. Montana doesn't hold titles for lenders, so yours is probably at home even if you still owe money, with the lender printed on the front. If a lien shows, you must give your buyer a Montana lien release from that lender: its own release form, the generic MV37A, or a signed letter on its letterhead with the VIN. Title lost or voided? A replacement on MV7 costs $10.30 and can take up to four weeks. You can also skip the classifieds and get an instant cash offer here.
- 02Write in the buyer's name and address yourself. In Montana that's the seller's job, not the buyer's, so do it while you're both standing there. Then the Montana odometer disclosure: a 2011 or newer model shows its mileage until it turns 20, and a 2010 or older model is exempt. Montana titles issued since August 1989 have a printed space for it; if yours doesn't, use MV90A. Ignore the "nine years" line in the MVD's June 2026 seller leaflet. It's the old federal rule, and the statute and the MV90A both say otherwise.
- 03Sign each owner's name separately, and skip the notary. Every name on the front signs on its own line in blue or black ink: "John Smith" and "Mary Smith," never "John and Mary Smith," which means a replacement title. No notary is needed since October 1, 2025. On an older title, leave the notary box empty. One exception: if two owners sign on different days, each signature after the first still needs a notary. Never use white-out or scratch a word out, because that voids the title. Fix a mistake with one clean line that leaves it readable, explained on an MV100 Statement of Fact.
- 04Fill out an MV24 as your own record. The Montana bill of sale is optional: the MVD offers its MV24 "for your convenience," and it can't transfer the car. Only the signed title does that. Fill one out anyway. It names you and the buyer, the car and its VIN, the price and the date, and the buyer carries it as proof of ownership on the drive home.
- 05Pull your plates before the keys change hands. Montana law (MCA 61-3-334) says the seller removes the plates immediately when ownership changes. They belong to you, not the car. Don't accept a promise to bring them back: you may be liable for parking or traffic violations after the sale. The buyer drives home on a $19.50 temporary registration permit that lasts 40 days. A personalized or classic-car plate can stay with the car only if you give it up on an MV100.
- 06File nothing, but keep proof. Montana has no notice of sale and no release of liability, so nothing goes to the Montana MVD, which many people call the Montana DMV. The MVD says in writing that you don't need to tell the county treasurer's motor vehicle office you sold the car, and you can ignore a renewal notice that still arrives. The state won't know about the sale until the buyer registers it, so photograph the signed title before it leaves your hand and keep your MV24. Then cancel your insurance, as the MVD advises.
- 07Give the buyer their 40-day clock. The Montana title transfer finishes at the county treasurer's motor vehicle office in the buyer's own county, within 40 days of the sale. They bring your signed title, the lien release if there was a lien, and an MV1 if the title's application section isn't filled in. The title fee is $12.36 on a car or a truck of one ton or less, plus registration and any county option tax. There's no sales tax. If they miss the 40 days, the $10 late penalty is theirs, not yours.
Checked against the Montana MVD in August 2026.
What Montana requires when you sell
| Notary | Not required. House Bill 165 ended Montana's title-notarization requirement on October 1, 2025, for individuals and businesses alike. Newer titles have no notary section at all, and older titles are accepted with the notary block left blank. A notary still applies in a few narrow cases: a signature made with a mark, a power of attorney, and a second owner who signs on a later day than the first (Montana Secretary of State). |
|---|---|
| The title form | Ownership transfers on the Certificate of Title itself. Every owner listed must sign, the buyer's name and address go on the title, and an odometer disclosure is required for model year 2011 and newer until the vehicle turns 20 years old (2010 and older models are exempt). Use blue or black ink only — white-out or scratched-out entries void the title and force a replacement. |
| Bill of sale | Optional. The MVD offers its own MV24 Bill of Sale "for your convenience," and a generic bill of sale is accepted too. No bill of sale can transfer a Montana title: every registered owner still signs the title itself. Montana has you file nothing after the sale, so keep one as your record. Source: Montana MVD. |
| Lost your title? | File Form MV7 (Certificate of Title Replacement Application) with a $10.30 fee — by mail to the Vehicle Services Bureau in Helena or in person at any county treasurer's motor vehicle office (Yellowstone County Treasurer). |
| Protect yourself after the sale | Montana has no release-of-liability filing — no form, no deadline. The MVD's advice instead: remove your plates before the buyer drives off (a seller who leaves plates on can be on the hook for tickets that follow) and keep a written record of the sale, ideally a photocopy of both sides of the reassigned title. |
| License plates | Plates belong to you, not the vehicle. Take them off before handing over the keys; the buyer purchases new plates when they register at their own county treasurer. |
| Sales tax | None. Montana has no statewide sales tax, so a private-party sale carries zero tax for either side. Buyers pay age-based registration instead — $217/year for vehicles up to 4 years old, $87 for 5–10, $28 for 11-plus (or $87.50 once for permanent registration) — plus a local-option tax of up to 0.7% of depreciated value in most counties (Legislative Fiscal Division). |
| Inspections | Zero. No emissions or smog checks anywhere in the state, and no periodic safety inspections either. A one-time VIN inspection applies only in special titling situations, such as a vehicle arriving from out of state. |
Current as of August 2026 and verified against the Montana MVD's official seller guidance — confirm the details there before you sign anything.
No notary needed here, unlike a handful of states; a replacement title runs $10.30 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; selling when the title is gone; or price the Montana transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by Montana sellers
Do I need to notarize a Montana car title to sell it?
Not for an ordinary sale. Notarization was eliminated on October 1, 2025 under House Bill 165, for both individuals and businesses. If your title is older and still shows a notary block, leave it blank — county treasurers accept it that way. A notary is still needed in a few narrow cases: a seller who signs with a mark, a power of attorney, and a second owner who signs on a later day than the first.
Is there sales tax when I sell my car in Montana?
No. Montana has no statewide sales tax, so neither you nor the buyer owes tax on the sale itself. The buyer pays age-based registration fees at their county treasurer, plus a local-option tax of up to 0.7% of depreciated value in most counties — six counties charge none.
How do I release liability after I sell my car in Montana?
There's no form to file — Montana doesn't have a release-of-liability process at all. Protect yourself the way the MVD recommends: take your plates off before the buyer leaves, and keep a photocopy of both sides of the signed-over title as your record of the sale.
I lost my title. Can I still sell my car?
Usually you'll need a replacement first. File Form MV7 with the $10.30 fee at any county treasurer's motor vehicle office or by mail to Helena, and allow up to four weeks for it to arrive. There's one exception: if the car was last titled in Montana, is currently registered, and you're selling to a Montana resident, you can give the buyer an MV1, an MV24 bill of sale and an MV7 with their fees, and the transfer runs on the state's electronic record instead of the paper title. That bill of sale must be notarized. If you take our cash offer route, we'll walk you through the replacement while the offer stands.