{"id":13378,"date":"2020-04-15T15:22:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T22:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/"},"modified":"2024-02-27T14:18:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T22:18:36","slug":"signatures-and-endorsements","status":"publish","type":"dmv_handbook","link":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/","title":{"rendered":"1.135 Signatures and Endorsements (VC \u00a7\u00a7 17, 19, 5751)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>DMV Policy on Signatures<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li> <strong>Accept<\/strong> the usual signature of the registered or legal owner with omissions or additions to the printed name. See signature examples in the Name Statement Requirement section of this chapter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Individual\u2019s<\/strong> usual signature with omissions or additions to the printed name is on documents. Signatures can be:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Handwritten.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A form of script or printing by hand unique to that individual. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/file\/statement-of-facts-reg-256-pdf\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">REG 256 (PDF)<\/a> may be required stating this is the person\u2019s usual signature.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A stamped signature of the individual\u2019s usual signature. A stamped signature <strong>does not<\/strong> have to be countersigned. Acceptance of a stamped signature applies only to DMV documents; other documents may still require an actual signature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Individuals Doing Business As (DBA)<\/strong>\u2014The endorsement for an individual doing business as a company\/business <strong>must <\/strong>include the individual\u2019s signature. <strong>Example:<\/strong> If John Jones dba Jones Cooler Service is shown on the title, the signature as: John Jones, John Jones dba Jones Cooler Service, or John Jones dba Jones Cooler Service by John Jones are all acceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Company and\/or Business Names<\/strong>\u2014The endorsement for a company or business name, including a leasing company, <strong>must<\/strong> include the company\/business name <strong>and<\/strong> an authorized representative\u2019s countersignature or initials. DMV does <strong>not<\/strong> require proof that the person is an authorized representative of the company\/business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Countersignatures<\/strong>\u2014A signature <strong>or<\/strong> initials only as the countersignature for a company or business on any document is acceptable. DMV does <strong>not<\/strong> require proof that the person is an authorized representative of the company\/business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Signature by Mark<\/strong>\u2014A witnessed \u201csignature by mark\u201d is acceptable on a certificate of title from an applicant who cannot write. The witness must print the applicant\u2019s name and sign their name next to the applicant\u2019s mark. For release of ownership, the signatures of <strong>two<\/strong> witnesses <strong>are required<\/strong> next to the mark or on a sworn statement, such as a REG 256.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When an individual <strong>cannot<\/strong> place a mark due to the loss or loss of the use of his\/her hands, verify the person\u2019s identity (identification [ID] card, passport, etc.) and make the certification on the application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Include a REG 256 with the application explaining why the individual\u2019s mark is not present and the form of ID verified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Trusts<\/strong>\u2014Endorsements must show the name of the trust and be countersigned by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>One trustee, if the vehicle is being put into the name of the trust.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All trustees shown on the title, if being transferred out of the name of the trust.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At least one trustee, if no trustees are shown on the title. A REG 256 must accompany the application indicating that the trustee signing was appointed as a trustee.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At least one trustee for a release of a vehicle not registered in a trust. Ownership is determined by the decedent\u2019s will as contained in the trust. Copies of the trust, a REG 256 and bill(s) of sale may be required.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":13291,"menu_order":28,"template":"","dmv_task":[11],"dmv_functional_page_type":[64],"dmv_handbook_category":[880,595],"class_list":["post-13378","dmv_handbook","type-dmv_handbook","status-publish","hentry","dmv_task-educational","dmv_functional_page_type-informational","dmv_handbook_category-general-registration-information","dmv_handbook_category-vehicle-industry-reg-procedures-manual"],"featured_image_src":null,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>1.135 Signatures and Endorsements (VC \u00a7\u00a7 17, 19, 5751) - California DMV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"1.135 Signatures and Endorsements (VC \u00a7\u00a7 17, 19, 5751) - California DMV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DMV Policy on Signatures Individuals Doing Business As (DBA)\u2014The endorsement for an individual doing business as a company\/business must include the individual\u2019s signature. Example: If John Jones dba Jones Cooler Service is shown on the title, the signature as: John Jones, John Jones dba Jones Cooler Service, or John Jones dba Jones Cooler Service by [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"California DMV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CADMV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-27T22:18:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DMV_Logo.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ca_dmv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/\",\"name\":\"1.135 Signatures and Endorsements (VC \u00a7\u00a7 17, 19, 5751) - California DMV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-15T22:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-27T22:18:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chapter 1: General Registration Information\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"1.135 Signatures and Endorsements (VC \u00a7\u00a7 17, 19, 5751)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/\",\"name\":\"California DMV\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#organization\",\"name\":\"State of California Department of Motor Vehicles\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DMV_Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DMV_Logo.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"State of California Department of Motor Vehicles\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CADMV\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ca_dmv\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ca_dmv\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ca-department-of-motor-vehicles\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/CaliforniaDMV\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"1.135 Signatures and Endorsements (VC \u00a7\u00a7 17, 19, 5751) - California DMV","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"1.135 Signatures and Endorsements (VC \u00a7\u00a7 17, 19, 5751) - California DMV","og_description":"DMV Policy on Signatures Individuals Doing Business As (DBA)\u2014The endorsement for an individual doing business as a company\/business must include the individual\u2019s signature. Example: If John Jones dba Jones Cooler Service is shown on the title, the signature as: John Jones, John Jones dba Jones Cooler Service, or John Jones dba Jones Cooler Service by [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/","og_site_name":"California DMV","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CADMV","article_modified_time":"2024-02-27T22:18:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DMV_Logo.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@ca_dmv","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/","name":"1.135 Signatures and Endorsements (VC \u00a7\u00a7 17, 19, 5751) - California DMV","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-04-15T22:22:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-27T22:18:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/signatures-and-endorsements\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual","item":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chapter 1: General Registration Information","item":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/handbook\/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2\/general-registration-information\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"1.135 Signatures and Endorsements (VC \u00a7\u00a7 17, 19, 5751)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/","name":"California DMV","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#organization","name":"State of California Department of Motor Vehicles","url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DMV_Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DMV_Logo.png","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"State of California Department of Motor Vehicles"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CADMV","https:\/\/x.com\/ca_dmv","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ca_dmv\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ca-department-of-motor-vehicles\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/CaliforniaDMV"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_handbook\/13378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_handbook"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/dmv_handbook"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_handbook\/13291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"dmv_task","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_task?post=13378"},{"taxonomy":"dmv_functional_page_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_functional_page_type?post=13378"},{"taxonomy":"dmv_handbook_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dmv_handbook_category?post=13378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}