Arkansas Vehicle Power of Attorney: DFA Form, Notarization, and Filing

An Arkansas vehicle power of attorney is a Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) form that lets you authorize another person to handle title, registration, or sale paperwork for a specific vehicle on your behalf. You fill out the DFA’s Power of Attorney for Vehicle Transactions, sign it in front of a notary, and give the original to your agent to take to a revenue office with the other transaction documents. Because the form is tied to the vehicle rather than to your affairs generally, its authority ends with that transaction.

What the DFA Form Must Contain

The form is published on the DFA’s Motor Vehicle Forms page and has to be filled out before your agent walks into a revenue office.¹ Arkansas administrative rules dictate the specific fields it has to carry.²

As the owner (the regulation calls you the “transferor”), you must provide:

Your full legal name and current physical address, plus the same for your agent.
The vehicle’s make, model, year, body type, and complete Vehicle Identification Number.
The odometer reading at the time of transfer, excluding tenths, with a certification that the reading reflects the actual mileage or a disclosure of a known discrepancy.
The date of transfer.

The odometer certification is federally required and not optional. If you know the odometer has rolled past its mechanical limit, say so on the form. If the reading simply isn’t reliable, state that it shouldn’t be relied on. False odometer information can carry fines or imprisonment.²

Describe the scope of authority clearly. A grant can cover applying for a title, registering the vehicle, completing a sale, or picking up a duplicate title. A business can cover all of its vehicles or just one. Check the VIN against the existing title before signing; a single wrong character gets the form rejected at the counter.

Signing and Notarization

Arkansas requires you to sign the POA, and both you and your agent must print your names on it.² Under the Uniform Power of Attorney Act as adopted in Arkansas, your signature is presumed genuine when acknowledged before a notary.³ The DFA treats notarization as a practical requirement. An unnotarized form will not be accepted.

The notary has to sign in blue or black ink and affix a seal clear enough to photocopy. The seal must show the notary’s name, the county where the bond is filed, the words “notary public” and “Arkansas,” and the commission expiration date.⁴ Missing or illegible seal elements get the form kicked back.

One practical note: although a POA technically remains valid until revoked, counter staff may scrutinize one signed months earlier. Notarizing close to the date of the planned revenue office visit avoids questions.

Taking the POA to a Revenue Office

Your agent brings the original, executed POA to a local DFA revenue office, not a photocopy. For a standard title transfer, the agent also needs the existing certificate of title properly assigned by the seller, a completed title application, proof of liability insurance, and payment for taxes and fees. Staff will compare the VIN, your signature, and the notary’s seal against the supporting documents. Any mismatch stops the transaction.

If you’re mailing the form to your agent from out of state, plan around the original-document requirement.

Fees and the 60-Day Deadline

Arkansas charges a $10 title fee for every new certificate of title. Registration fees vary by weight class and run from $7 for larger motorcycles up to $30 for heavier passenger cars, with a $0.50 lien filing fee when a lienholder is recorded.⁵ A buyer also owes Arkansas sales tax at 6.5% of the purchase price plus any local taxes.⁶ Your agent should arrive ready to pay the full amount.

Timing is the easier thing to miss. A buyer in Arkansas must register the vehicle within 60 days of purchase, or within 60 days of a prior lienholder releasing the lien. The vehicle cannot legally be driven on public roads past that window without valid registration, and the title application has to be filed at the same time as registration.⁷ A valid POA doesn’t extend that clock.

What Your Agent Is Legally Responsible For

Accepting a vehicle POA is not a casual favor. Arkansas Code 28-68-114 requires every agent to act in the principal’s best interest, act in good faith, and stay within the scope of authority on the form.⁸

Unless the POA says otherwise, the agent must also act loyally and avoid conflicts of interest, use the same care and competence a similarly situated person would use, and keep records of every receipt, payment, and transaction made on your behalf. If the agent is selling the vehicle for you, that means hanging on to the bill of sale, the title application, tax receipts, and a record of the sale price. An agent chosen specifically for professional expertise, such as a dealer or broker, is held to a higher standard reflecting that expertise.⁸ An agent who breaches these duties can be personally liable for the losses.

Naming Coagents or a Backup

You can name two or more people as coagents on the form. Unless the POA says otherwise, each can act independently, so they do not need to appear at the revenue office together.⁹

You can also name a successor agent who steps in if the original agent resigns, dies, becomes incapacitated, or declines to serve. The successor has the same authority but cannot act until every predecessor is unavailable. This is a useful safeguard if you’re overseas or otherwise can’t quickly execute a new POA when your first choice falls through.⁹

Ending the POA

A vehicle POA has no built-in expiration date, but it does end. Under Arkansas Code 28-68-110, authority terminates when:¹⁰

You die.
You revoke it. No particular form is required, but putting the revocation in writing and notifying the agent and any third parties who may have relied on the POA is the safest approach.
The purpose is accomplished. Once the vehicle is titled and registered, the POA for that transaction is spent.
The agent dies, becomes incapacitated, or resigns and no successor is named.
You and the agent divorce or legally separate, unless the POA specifically says otherwise.

The statute also protects third parties who act in good faith without knowing the POA has ended. If your agent completes a transaction at the DFA after you’ve revoked the form but before the DFA learns of the revocation, that transaction still binds you. Written notice to the DFA matters for that reason; revocation isn’t automatic to anyone who hasn’t been told.

Executing a new power of attorney doesn’t cancel an older one on its own. The new document has to state that it revokes all prior powers of attorney, or identify the earlier POA it replaces. Otherwise both remain in effect.¹⁰

1
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Motor Vehicle Forms
2
Arkansas Code of Rules. 4 CAR 10-110 – Power of Attorney to Review Title Documents
3
Justia. Arkansas Code 28-68-105 – Execution of Power of Attorney
4
Justia. Arkansas Code 21-14-107 – Signature – Seal
5
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Motor Vehicle Registration Fee Schedule
6
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. State Sales and Use Tax Rates
7
FindLaw. Arkansas Code 27-14-903 – Application for Registration and Certificate of Title by Transferee
8
Justia. Arkansas Code 28-68-114 – Agents Duties
9
FindLaw. Arkansas Code 28-68-111 – Coagents and Successor Agents
10
Justia. Arkansas Code 28-68-110 – Termination of Power of Attorney or Agents Authority