Sell your car in Nebraska — no notary, no inspection, just sign it clean
Nebraska runs car paperwork through its County Treasurer offices, and the rules are friendlier than most states': no notary, no inspections, a $10 title application that belongs to your buyer. The one place the state gets genuinely strict is the title document itself — one stray pen mark and you're buying a duplicate before the sale can close. Here's the whole playbook, checked against the DMV's own instructions.
Prefer a callback? Leave your number ↓
Offers powered by our buying partner — ★ 4.7 Trustpilot (205,000+ reviews) · ★ 4.5 Google (8,900+)
Pick your metro
Omaha is the busiest of these markets, and our Omaha page covers selling a car there. Selling a car in Nebraska takes the same paperwork in all 93 counties.
How to sell a car in Nebraska
- 01Get a printed title: liens stay electronic here. Since November 2010, Nebraska doesn't print a title while a lien is noted on it; the DMV keeps it as an electronic record until the loan is paid. If your lender isn't in the state's electronic lien program, it signs a notarized Nebraska lien release, files it with a county treasurer, and only then does the DMV print and mail the certificate. Lost the title, or already marked it in the wrong place? A Nebraska duplicate title on RV-707a costs $14 from any county.
- 02Sign the front of the title with the buyer beside you. A Nebraska title transfer happens on the lower half of the front of the certificate, where the Seller's, Purchaser's and odometer sections sit. The buyer's name, address and signature go in the Purchaser's section at the time of purchase. If you sign with that block empty, it's an open title: a Class III misdemeanor to hold, and the county, the DMV or police will confiscate it. Every name printed on the face signs the Seller's section, and spouses can't sign for each other there. Write the date of sale. No notary. Read the whole face first: a signature in the wrong place or any alteration mutilates the title, and there's no correction form, only the $14 duplicate.
- 03Mileage goes on the title; no separate sheet. On a 2011 or newer model, write whole miles in the Odometer Certification section and mark Actual, Not Actual or Exceeds Mechanical Limits. That applies until the car is more than 20 years old. A 2010 or older car is exempt: leave the section blank, because writing a reading there counts as an alteration. Nebraska refuses a separate mileage sheet except in five cases; the one sellers meet is a deceased owner's car whose title can't be found (Odometer Disclosure Statement).
- 04Complete Form 6 and a Nebraska bill of sale. The Department of Revenue's Form 6 tells a private seller to fill one out for every sale, keep a signed copy and give the buyer two. You don't collect any tax. The DMV also requires you to give the buyer a bill of sale or a completed Form 6 at the time of sale. You don't have to use the DMV's own Bill of Sale: it's a courtesy form, and its notary block is optional.
- 05Keep your plates; the buyer drives home without any. Your registration ends the moment ownership transfers, so take the plates off and keep the registration certificate and decals. There's no in-transit decal for a private sale. The buyer may drive the car with no plates for up to 30 days, carrying the bill of sale as proof of ownership plus proof of insurance, or use plates from a car they owned before.
- 06Your buyer takes Form 6 to a county treasurer within 30 days. They bring your signed title, the two Form 6 copies or the bill of sale, original proof of insurance and an RV-707 Application for Certificate of Title, which is theirs to sign, not yours. They pay the $10 title fee ($7 more if a lender is noted) and the Nebraska car sales tax: 5.5% state plus the local rate, and $1 per new tire, with penalty and interest after 30 days. A car on a Nebraska title needs no sheriff's VIN inspection, and there's no Nebraska emissions test. Reselling it without titling it in their own name first is a Class IV felony for them.
- 07Trade the plates for a refund within 60 days. Nebraska has no notice of sale and no release-of-liability form. The refund is the closest it comes to being told the car is gone. Take the Application for Refund, the plates, the registration and the decals to the county treasurer in the county where the car is registered, within 60 days of the sale. You get back the unused months of registration fee, motor vehicle tax and motor vehicle fee. Each month you wait is one you can't claim, and after day 60 you get nothing. Cancel the insurance only after the plates are in, and keep your copy of the odometer statement for five years, with your signed Form 6.
If you'd rather not sell privately, you can get an instant cash offer here. Checked against the Nebraska DMV in August 2026.
What Nebraska requires when you sell
| Notary | None. Nebraska's transfer instructions call for signatures, not stamps: every name on the Certificate of Title must sign the seller's section, the odometer certification must be completed on a 2011 or newer model, and you hand the buyer a bill of sale or a completed Form 6. Some counties encourage a notarized bill of sale as extra protection — encourage, not require. |
|---|---|
| The title form | There is no separate assignment form — ownership transfers on the Certificate of Title itself. The buyer then files an Application for Certificate of Title at any County Treasurer's office, pays the $10.00 titling fee, and has 30 days from purchase to do it. Their errand, not yours. |
| Bill of sale | Required. The Nebraska DMV says you must give the buyer a bill of sale or a completed Form 6 at the time of sale (Nebraska DMV, transfer of ownership). It doesn't have to be the DMV's own form, which is a courtesy rather than the mandatory document, and it needs no notary. It also rides in the car as your buyer's proof of ownership on the unplated drive home. How to fill in the DMV's vehicle bill of sale. |
| One stray mark ruins it | Nebraska treats a signature in the wrong place — or "an alteration of any kind" — as mutilating the title. A mutilated title can't transfer; the seller has to buy a duplicate before the sale proceeds. Sign slowly, in the correct blanks, ideally with the buyer watching. |
| Lost your title? | A duplicate costs $14.00 via the Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title, filed at any County Treasurer's office in the state. Every name on the face of the title signs the application, with one homely exception: co-owning spouses may sign for each other as agent. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | Nebraska has no notice-of-sale filing — no form, no deadline, nothing to mail. The practical protection is the refund process: within 60 days of the sale, submit an Application for Refund with your plates, registration, and validation decals to the County Treasurer. You recover the unused portion of your registration fees and motor vehicle taxes — and create an official record that the vehicle left your hands. |
| License plates | They stay with you, not the car — take them off before the buyer drives away. Surrendering them with the refund application, in the county where the vehicle was registered, is what unlocks the money back. |
| Sales tax | Entirely the buyer's job: state and local sales/use tax plus the tire fee, paid directly to the County Treasurer within 30 days of purchase using Department of Revenue Form 6 — private sellers aren't authorized to collect it. Miss the window and the treasurer adds interest and a $5.00 penalty, again to the buyer. Your part is Form 6 itself: its instructions tell a private seller to complete one for every sale, keep a signed copy and give the buyer two. |
| Inspections | No periodic safety inspections, no emissions testing, nothing to pass for an ordinary in-state sale. VIN inspections ($10.00, performed by the County Sheriff) apply only to vehicles arriving from out of state, assembled vehicles, salvage vehicles being inspected for a Previously Salvaged title, and assigned-ID applications. |
Fees and rules verified against the Nebraska DMV's transfer-of-ownership instructions as of August 2026 — check there before relying on anything that may have changed since.
No notary needed here, unlike a handful of states; a replacement title runs $14 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; whether you need a bill of sale; or price the Nebraska transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by Nebraska sellers
Do I need a notary to sell my car in Nebraska?
No. The DMV's transfer instructions require signatures from every name on the Certificate of Title, the odometer certification on a 2011 or newer model, and a bill of sale or Form 6 handed to the buyer — no notary on the title or the bill of sale. Some counties, Sarpy among them, encourage a notarized bill of sale for both parties' protection, but that's a suggestion, not a rule. The stamp only shows up at the edges: a junked car sold on the Parts Vehicle Bill of Sale, and the affidavit that transfers a deceased owner's car, both need notarized signatures.
What happens if I sign the wrong line or scribble on my Nebraska title?
The state calls that mutilation — a signature in the wrong place or an alteration of any kind voids the document — and a mutilated title can't transfer ownership. The fix is a $14.00 duplicate from any County Treasurer's office, signed by every name on the title's face (spouses who co-own can sign for each other). Annoying, recoverable, and entirely avoidable by signing carefully.
Who pays the sales tax when I sell my car privately in Nebraska?
The buyer, directly to the County Treasurer within 30 days of purchase, using Department of Revenue Form 6 — plus the tire fee. After 30 days the treasurer collects interest and a $5.00 penalty on top. You aren't authorized to collect a cent of it. Your part is the form: Form 6's instructions tell a private seller to complete one for every sale, keep a signed copy and give the buyer two.
Nebraska has no notice-of-sale form — how do I protect myself after selling?
Through the plates. They belong to you, so remove them at the sale, then submit an Application for Refund with the plates, registration, and validation decals to your County Treasurer within 60 days. That returns the unused share of your registration fees and motor vehicle taxes — and puts an official date on the vehicle leaving your possession, which is the paper trail you want if the buyer never retitles it.