Dismantler’s Handbook of Registration Procedures

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Section 4 of 11

Evidence of Ownership Documents

4.020 Application for Duplicate Title

An Application for Duplicate Title (REG 227) is used to transfer ownership when the California title is lost, stolen, mutilated, or illegible. A mutilated or illegible title must be submitted with the application. The REG 227 must be properly completed and endorsed for transfer. If the legal owner/lienholder of record is releasing interest, the signature must be notarized (VC §5752).

A California notary’s stamp must include the notary’s name, the commission number, and expiration date, the county and state in which the commission was granted, and the state seal. An out-of-state notary’s stamp is acceptable. (Other states might not require the same information as California.)

Notarization may be:

  • Next to the legal owner’s/lienholder’s release signature on the REG 227, or
  • On a separate sheet of paper attached to the REG 227, or
  • On any other document submitted in place of the release signature on the REG 227 that shows satisfaction of the lien, such as a Lien Satisfied (REG 166).

EXCEPTION: An insurance company (or its agent) is exempt from the notarized signature requirement on transfers of total loss salvage vehicles to the insurance company when a lienholder is indicated on the department’s record and an acceptable lien satisfied document from the lienholder is submitted by the insurance company (or its agent).