The bottom line: To sell a car privately in New Hampshire, sign the assignment on the back of the title and have the buyer sign it too. Every owner named on the title signs, and for a 2011 or newer model the mileage goes in that section. No notary is needed, and a bill of sale is recommended but not required.
The DMV wants no filing from you, so keep a copy of the signed title or bill of sale as your record. Your plates stay with you, and you can move them, with their remaining registration credit, to your next vehicle at your town or city clerk’s office.
A car from model year 1999 or older has no title in New Hampshire. Sell it on the Report of Sale or Transfer of a Non-Titled Motor Vehicle (Form TDMV 22A), with a VIN verification (Form TDMV 19A) or a copy of the old registration.
If the title is lost, apply for a duplicate on Form TDMV 18 for $35 at a DMV office or by mail, and allow 5 to 10 days. If a loan was recorded on the title, include the lender’s lien release (Form TDMV 20A).
An online buyer will quote in minutes, and that number is the one a private sale has to beat before it is worth the trouble.
- Sign the title over to the buyerModel year 1999 and older exempt. Odometer reading: required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles.
- Write a bill of saleFor title-exempt vehicles, model year 1999 and older; recommended otherwise. Form: Report of Sale or Transfer of a Non-Titled Motor Vehicle (Form TDMV 22A)
- Take your plates off the carTransfer the plate and its remaining registration credit to another vehicle at the town or city clerk's office
- Keep your proof of the saleNo state filing is required for titled vehicles. Keep a copy of the signed title or bill of sale as your record.
- Emissions test
- Safety inspection
- Notary on the title
- Notarized bill of sale
- Release-of-liability form
- Replacing a lost title
- $35Takes 5 to 10 calendar days once the DMV receives and verifies your application; can’t be ordered online; Form TDMV 18
- Loan on the car
- The lienholder signs a Release of Lien or Other Encumbrances (Form TDMV 20A) or provides a release on bank letterhead.
- The buyer
- No fixed number of days, since the registration expires when ownership transfers under RSA 261:66, I; a buyer who drives the car home first buys a 20-day temporary registration under RSA 261:57A $100 fine under RSA 261:40 for driving an unregistered vehicle, and the buyer registers at the town or city clerk's office where they live
Automated assistant: general info, not legal advice
Answers come from our state paperwork data and published guides. Confirm anything binding with your state DMV.
Compare Instant Offers
Step-by-Step Process for New Hampshire
Step 1: Prepare Your New Hampshire Paperwork
Documents you’ll need:
- Vehicle title – the New Hampshire certificate, in your name, if the car is new enough to have one
- Photo ID – yours, and a look at the buyer’s before any money moves
- Lien release – if a lender is still named on the front of the title
- Bill of sale – both of you keep a copy
- Your registration certificate – current or expired, and for an older car it is what stands in for a title
If your title is missing:
Only the owner, a lienholder or a licensed New Hampshire dealer can ask for a duplicate. To do it, complete an Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title (Form TDMV 18), include the $35.00 fee and a lien release on Form TDMV 20A if a lien was recorded, then drop it off at a DMV office or mail it to the Bureau of Title.
Your new title arrives in 5 to 10 calendar days once the DMV receives and verifies your application.
If the car was never titled: the DMV cannot issue a duplicate for a car that was never titled in the first place, and its own duplicate form says so on its face. Sell it with a bill of sale instead.
If you still owe money on the car:
The lender’s release is the document that frees the title, and the lienholder signs a Release of Lien or Other Encumbrances (Form TDMV 20A) or provides a release on bank letterhead.
If you owe more than the car is worth, you pay the difference before the title can move.
Step 2: Prepare Your Car
Wash it, clear it out, and put the service history in one folder the buyer can read through.
A VIN check costs little and settles the questions a stranger is going to ask anyway. Buyers who can see the history argue less about the price.
Step 3: Price Your Car
Step 4: Advertise Your Car
Facebook Marketplace reaches New Hampshire buyers who can come and see the car.
Cars.com and Autotrader widen that to buyers in Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont.
New Hampshire charges no general sales tax on a purchase, which is worth saying in the listing.
Peddle and Wheelzy will buy an old or damaged car outright, and Carvana is the one to try for a car under 10 years old in good condition.
-
Offer amount 35% 5/5
-
Process ease 20% 5/5
-
Offer validity 15% 4/5
-
Pickup / drop-off 15% 4/5
-
Payment speed 15% 4/5
- Get a real offer online in 2 minutes
- Suits a car under 10 years old in good condition
- No haggling: its best offer comes upfront
- Pays off your loan when it buys the car
-
Offer amount 30% 5/5
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
-
Pickup speed 20% 4/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 5/5
-
Process ease 15% 5/5
- Buys any car in any condition, running or not
- Free towing, with no fees taken off the offer
- You can cancel before pickup at no cost
- Pays by check on the spot at pickup
-
Offer amount 30% 5/5
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
-
Pickup speed 20% 5/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
-
Process ease 15% 4/5
- Free pickup and towing from anywhere in New Hampshire
- Paid on the spot when the car is collected
- Usually a cashier's check, sometimes cash by area
- No dealer sale fees, title transfer fees or removal fees
Step 5: Meet with Buyers Safely
Meet in daylight, somewhere busy. A bank parking lot is ideal, because the money and the witnesses are in the same building.
Take a photo of the buyer’s license before the test drive and keep it until the title is signed.
Step 6: Handle Payment and Negotiate
Take the money before you sign anything. A cashier’s check is only as good as the bank that confirms it, so confirm it at the counter rather than over a phone number the buyer gives you.
Meeting at the buyer’s own branch solves this in one trip. The teller verifies the funds, you sign, and nobody drives away holding both the car and the payment.
Step 7: Complete the New Hampshire Title Transfer
The assignment is on the reverse of the title. The DMV asks for three things there: the buyer’s name, the buyer’s address, and the odometer reading as it stands that day.
What goes in the assignment:
- Buyer’s full legal name and address
- Date of sale
- Sale price
- The odometer reading
Then both of you sign it and the title goes to the buyer. Statute puts that at the moment the car changes hands, not later.
If you make a mistake on the title, do not reach for correction fluid and do not scribble over an entry. In New Hampshire, a voided assignment or an erasure on the title is explained on a Voided Assignment Letter (Form TDMV 111), signed under penalty of unsworn falsification and submitted with an assignment of title; a printed detail on the title itself, such as a misspelled name or the mileage, is corrected by the town or city clerk on a new title application with the old title and the $35.00 fee.
For a car with no title: the model year decides whether there is a title at all: RSA 261:3 exempts any motor vehicle whose manufacturer's model year is before the year 2000 from the title requirement, except heavy trucks and truck-tractors over 18,000 pounds, so a title-exempt vehicle is sold without a title.
Instead of an assignment you provide Report of Sale or Transfer of a Non-Titled Motor Vehicle (Form TDMV 22A), provided with a Verification of Vehicle Identification (Form TDMV 19A) or a copy of the previous registration or title.
Registration starts at the buyer’s own town or city clerk, and the temporary plate that gets them there comes from the DMV instead.
They take the signed title to the buyer's town or city clerk's office, which prepares the title application and forwards it to the DMV.
Step 8: Handle New Hampshire License Plates and Registration
Take the plates off before the car leaves the driveway. After that, transfer the plate and its remaining registration credit to another vehicle at the town or city clerk's office.
Plates stay with you, and so does the registration certificate. Keep hold of it.
If you do move the plate, the transfer fee varies, set by the town or city clerk that processes the transfer.
The sold car cannot be driven on a roadway on your plate. What the buyer drives away on is a temporary plate of their own, bought from the DMV before they take it anywhere.
Step 9: Cancel Insurance
Cancel last, once the title is signed and the plates are off. Nothing in New Hampshire waits on the buyer, so nothing you do is left hanging.
Tell the insurer the date the car changed hands. Any unused premium is usually refunded from that date.
New Hampshire Sale Checklist
Before the Sale
At the Sale
After the Sale
New Hampshire DMV Resources
State Resources:
Phone Support:
New Hampshire Fees and Costs
| What You Pay | Cost | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate title (if needed) | $35 | Before sale |
| Lien payoff (if applicable) | Loan balance | Before sale |
| Everything else | $0 | Buyer pays |
Compare instant offers before you accept one
Compare instant offers before you accept one
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you sell a car without a title in New Hampshire?
Yes, if the car is old enough. An exempt car has no title to sign, so the sale runs on a report of sale form and the registration instead.
There is a second route worth knowing about. An owner of an exempt car can ask the DMV for a title anyway, using a current or expired New Hampshire registration or a vehicle identification number verification. Some buyers will only deal on those terms, so it is worth offering before you drop the price.
Buyers in New Hampshire typically offer $475 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 55 offers, ranked 33 of 44 states).
Do I need to get the title notarized when I sign it over in New Hampshire?
No. Title notarization is not required, and no New Hampshire title transfer involves a notary.
The only notary anywhere in the title process is for having a finished title posted to someone else, which is not part of a private sale.
Do I need a bill of sale to sell a car in New Hampshire?
For a car with a title, no, but write one anyway. New Hampshire’s rule splits on the car’s age: required for title-exempt vehicles, model year 1999 and older; recommended otherwise.
The reason to write one even when the title does the legal work is the buyer’s drive home: under state law it is unlawful to use the 20-day temporary plate without a bill of sale in the car.
Form: Report of Sale or Transfer of a Non-Titled Motor Vehicle (Form TDMV 22A).
You can also use our free bill of sale generator.
Can the buyer drive the car home after a private sale in New Hampshire?
No. The buyer needs a temporary plate from the DMV first, and New Hampshire sets no fixed number of days, since the registration expires when ownership transfers under RSA 261:66, I; a buyer who drives the car home first buys a 20-day temporary registration under RSA 261:57.
What the buyer brings is your paperwork: the assigned title, or the bill of sale where the car is title exempt. An out-of-state buyer gets an in-transit registration on the same terms.
What do I do with my registration after I sell my car in New Hampshire?
Keep it. The registration expires the moment ownership transfers, and statute tells the seller to hold the expired certificate so the unused part can be credited.
The credit is applied at your own town or city clerk’s office. Bring the old registration and proof that the next car is yours, and pay only the difference if the new fee is higher.
Do New Hampshire license plates transfer to the buyer?
No. They are yours, and the car’s registration ends with the sale rather than passing on.
Once a plate has been moved onto another car, the one you sold cannot legally be driven on your plate, and the buyer needs their own temporary plate before they take it anywhere.
My car was inherited. What additional New Hampshire forms do I need?
Often none. A surviving spouse can sign the title over without getting a new one first, and the signature plus a copy of the death record is treated as a valid transfer.
A surviving joint owner is in the same position where the title joins the two names with “or”.
Anywhere else an executor signs, and the court papers go with the title.
Both my spouse and I are on the New Hampshire title. Do we both need to sign?
Read the front of the title before the buyer arrives, because the conjunction between the two names is about what happens if one owner dies, not about how many signatures a sale takes.
The buyer is from out of state. Does New Hampshire require anything special?
Not from you. Sign the title over, take the plates, and the rest is the buyer’s problem in their own state.
There is one New Hampshire route worth knowing. A non-resident buyer can get a 20-day in-transit registration to drive the car home, and where the car is title exempt they will need a bill of sale with both names, both addresses, both signatures, the VIN and a description.
Do I need to file a release of liability after selling my car in New Hampshire?
No. New Hampshire publishes nothing for a seller to send in.
Form to file: None required.
What ends your exposure is the act itself: statute says an owner who has signed the assignment and handed the car over is not liable as owner for what happens afterwards.
Article Update History
The buyer's registration deadline, the suspended inspection program and the DMV's rule for a spoilt title line are now on this page.
Fees, forms and requirements checked against the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
"yes (model year 1999 and older exempt)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$35" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"the lienholder signs a Release of Lien or Other Encumbrances (Form TDMV 20A) or provides a release on bank letterhead" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"varies, set by the town or city clerk that processes the transfer" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Bill of Sale Notarization Required?
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Report of Sale or Transfer of a Non-Titled Motor Vehicle (Form TDMV 22A)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"required for title-exempt vehicles, model year 1999 and older; recommended otherwise" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"not required (it belongs to the annual state inspection, which is suspended until further notice)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Buyer Registration Deadline After Sale
"no fixed number of days, since the registration expires when ownership transfers under RSA 261:66, I; a buyer who drives the car home first buys a 20-day temporary registration under RSA 261:57" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Buyer Penalty for Missing Registration Deadline
"a $100 fine under RSA 261:40 for driving an unregistered vehicle, and the buyer registers at the town or city clerk's office where they live" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Release of Liability Form Name
"None required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"a voided assignment or an erasure on the title is explained on a Voided Assignment Letter (Form TDMV 111), signed under penalty of unsworn falsification and submitted with an assignment of title; a printed detail on the title itself, such as a misspelled name or the mileage, is corrected by the town or city clerk on a new title application with the old title and the $35.00 fee" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Sell Without Title: Legal Authority
"RSA 261:3 exempts any motor vehicle whose manufacturer's model year is before the year 2000 from the title requirement, except heavy trucks and truck-tractors over 18,000 pounds, so a title-exempt vehicle is sold without a title" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"New Hampshire DMV: (603) 227-4000, or the Bureau of Title and Anti-Theft on (603) 227-4150" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"with you" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Junk Car Value Statistics, Sell Car Advisor
"On this page: 1 figure from 17,628 instant cash offers" Accessed Oct. 19, 2026
Found this useful? Show Sell Car Advisor first when you search on Google.
Add us as a preferred source on Google