CA DMV Power of Attorney: Form REG 260 vs. REG 262

The CA DMV power of attorney Form REG 260 is a limited authorization that lets you appoint someone else to sign vehicle or vessel title and registration paperwork on your behalf. It applies only to DMV transactions. It does not give your representative any broader authority over your finances, property, or personal affairs, and it comes with strict limits on what that person can actually sign.

When You’d Use Form REG 260

The typical trigger is a title transfer where you can’t get to a field office yourself. You sign the REG 260 in advance, name an “attorney-in-fact,” and that person appears at the counter to complete the transaction.¹

Other common uses: applying for a duplicate title when the original is lost, releasing a lien on a paid-off vehicle, or handling registration for a family member who lives out of state. The form covers vessels as well, so boat owners use the same REG 260 for title work on watercraft registered through the DMV.

What Your Attorney-in-Fact Cannot Do

This is where transactions fail at the counter. The REG 260 has hard limits, and the clerk will turn your representative away if they try to sign something outside its scope. Per the DMV’s procedures manual, a power of attorney cannot be used to:¹

Disclose odometer mileage. Federal and state law require the actual owner to certify the reading, so your representative can’t do this for you.
Sign a Statement of Facts (REG 256), because that form requires the owner’s personal knowledge. The one exception is certifying the disposition of an original title on a duplicate title application (REG 227).
Reassign the authority to someone else. Your attorney-in-fact can’t hand your power off to a third party.
Be used by executors or administrators of a deceased owner’s estate to delegate their authority.

The odometer restriction is the one that catches people. If you’re selling a vehicle and won’t be present, you personally fill in the mileage on the title or REG 262 before your representative takes the paperwork in.

How to Fill Out the Form

The REG 260 is short, but the DMV rejects it if identifying details are wrong or missing. A valid POA must include the vehicle identification number, the 17-character VIN stamped on your dashboard near the windshield or on the driver’s side door jamb.¹ For vessels, the equivalent is the hull identification number (HIN), a 12-character code on commercially manufactured boats built after August 1984.

You also need the full legal name and current address of the vehicle owner as they appear on DMV records, the full name and address of the person you’re appointing, and a description of the specific authority you’re granting. Keep that scope narrow. “Transfer title on the above vehicle” reads better and protects you more than a vague grant of “all DMV-related authority.”

The principal (the owner) must sign. The DMV accepts photocopies and faxed copies of a signed REG 260, which matters if you’re out of state and need to send the form to your representative.¹ The form is a downloadable PDF on the DMV website.

Do You Even Need REG 260, or Will REG 262 Do?

The REG 262 (Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment Form) has a built-in power of attorney section. If you’re completing a transfer, Section 5 of the REG 262 covers the same ground as a REG 260, and you may not need a separate form at all.²

One critical difference decides it: the REG 262 is a secure document, and the DMV does not accept photocopies or faxed copies of it. If the paperwork has to travel by mail, fax, or electronic transmission to reach your representative, use the standalone REG 260 because copies of that form are accepted.¹

Co-Owned Vehicles: When You Actually Need a POA

Whether one owner can sign alone depends on how the title is worded. California Vehicle Code Section 4150.5 sets out three structures:³

Names joined by “or” — either co-owner can transfer the vehicle alone. The title is treated as joint tenancy, and each owner is deemed to have given the other full authority to dispose of the vehicle.
Names joined by “and” — both co-owners, or their personal representatives, must sign. Neither can act alone.
Names joined by “and/or” — treated like “or” for transfer purposes.

The POA becomes necessary when the title reads “and” and one co-owner isn’t available. The absent co-owner signs a REG 260 authorizing someone to sign the title for them. Without it, the DMV won’t process the transfer because every required signature must be there.⁴

Trusts and Business Entities

A trustee holding a vehicle in trust can use a POA to delegate a specific duty, such as transferring a particular vehicle. The DMV accepts only a restricted POA from a trustee, limited to a specific trust asset or specific transaction. A trustee cannot use a blanket POA to hand over all administrative duties.¹

When a business entity is the attorney-in-fact, the countersignature has to include the business name and show who is signing for it. The DMV’s example format is: “Jim Smith by Uome Loan Company by John Brown as POA.” The individual signing must be an authorized representative of the business, and the chain of authority has to be clear on the signature line.¹

Notarization

Not every POA transaction has to be notarized, but title transfers and duplicate title applications typically do, especially when ownership is changing. A notary public verifies the signer’s identity against government-issued ID, records the signature in an official journal, and attaches a California certificate of acknowledgment.⁵

California caps notary fees at $15 per signature for acknowledgments.⁶ A buyer and seller needing notarized signatures would run $30. Mobile notaries can add a trip fee on top of the per-signature maximum. If notarization is required and you submit the paperwork without it, the whole package gets rejected, so confirm the requirement before you mail anything.

Ending or Revoking the Authority

The REG 260 has no printed expiration date, and the DMV’s procedures manual doesn’t specify one. In practice, the form is tied to a specific vehicle and transaction, and once your attorney-in-fact completes it, the POA has nothing left to authorize.

If your plans change before the transaction closes, revoke the POA by notifying your attorney-in-fact in writing and telling the DMV the authorization is no longer valid. Retrieving or destroying signed copies is the cleanest approach. Because the REG 260 cannot be used to reassign authority to another person, you don’t have to worry about the form being passed down a chain without your knowledge.¹

1
California Department of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual – 1.125 Signature by Power of Attorney (POA)
2
California Department of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual – 5.075 Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment Form (REG 262)
3
Justia Law. California Vehicle Code 4150-4166 – Original Registration
4
California Department of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual – Co-Owners
5
California Secretary of State. Acknowledgments
6
California Legislative Information. California Government Code Section 8211