California REG 172 Moving Permit: Five-Day Deadline and Filing

To file a California Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability, use the DMV’s online tool at dmv.ca.gov within five calendar days of handing over the vehicle. The filing is free, updates your record within one business day, and shifts responsibility for tickets, tolls, and tow bills to the new owner as of the sale date you enter.1California DMV. Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability

The Five-Day Deadline

Vehicle Code Section 5900 gives you five calendar days from the moment you deliver the vehicle to notify the DMV.2California Legislative Information. California Code VEH – Section 5900 The clock starts when the keys change hands, not when you sign the bill of sale or when the buyer’s check clears. Sell on a Friday evening and wait until the following Friday to file, and you have already missed the window.

Missing the deadline is where most sellers get burned. Until the NRL is on file, DMV records still show you as the owner. Parking tickets, red-light camera citations, toll violations, and tow bills can land on your doorstep months after you handed over the vehicle. Once the notice is processed, Section 5602 stops treating you as the owner for civil or criminal liability tied to parking, abandoning, or operating the vehicle.3California Legislative Information. California Code Vehicle Code 5602

When You Need to File

Any transfer of both ownership and physical possession triggers the requirement. That covers private-party sales, dealer trade-ins, gifts to family, and charitable donations. The statute reaches anyone who sells or transfers a title interest and delivers possession of the vehicle to someone else.2California Legislative Information. California Code VEH – Section 5900

If you were not the registered owner but had physical possession of the vehicle when it was transferred, the notification duty falls on you instead.2California Legislative Information. California Code VEH – Section 5900

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Gather every piece of information before you open the online tool or pick up the paper form. A blank or wrong field can keep the DMV from updating the record, and your liability protection goes with it.1California DMV. Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability

  • License plate number, entered exactly as it appears, without spaces or special characters. For personalized plates, leave out any symbols.
  • The last five digits of the VIN, pulled from your registration card or the metal plate on the driver-side door jamb. Cross-check against the title to catch transposition errors.
  • The odometer reading at the moment you handed over the vehicle. Section 5900(b) requires the actual mileage indicated by the odometer at the time of transfer, and if you know the odometer is wrong, report the true mileage instead.2California Legislative Information. California Code VEH – Section 5900
  • The actual date you surrendered possession, not the date you fill out the form.
  • The buyer’s full legal name, spelled exactly as it appears on their driver’s license. For a business buyer, put the business name in the last name field and continue into the first name field if needed.
  • The buyer’s street address, city, state, and ZIP.
  • The vehicle make and model year, which the online tool asks for as part of the vehicle description.
  • Your own name and address as the seller.

If you genuinely do not have the buyer’s name or address, the online tool accepts “unknown” in those fields. Real buyer details give stronger protection, though, because a complete record is easier to defend if a dispute ever ends up in court.

Filing Online

The online route is the fastest. Open the DMV’s NRL application page, enter the license plate and last five VIN digits, and the system pulls up the matching vehicle record. Fill in the sale date, odometer reading, and buyer information, then submit.1California DMV. Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability

The system generates a confirmation screen. Print it or save it as a PDF right away. That confirmation is your proof of timely filing and the document you will point to if a citation shows up weeks later referencing your old plate. The DMV does not send a separate acknowledgment letter afterward.

Filing by Mail

You can also complete the paper form and mail it in. Pick up a copy at any DMV field office or download it from dmv.ca.gov. Fill in the same information listed above, in blue or black ink, printing clearly.

Paper carries two risks the online option does not. Your record will not update until the DMV receives and processes the form, which can take weeks. And if the envelope goes missing, you have no filing confirmation. Send it by certified mail with a return receipt so you have dated proof it went out inside the five-day window, and keep a photocopy of the completed form.

There is no fee for filing the NRL through either method.4CA.gov. Release of Liability

What Changes After You File

Once the DMV processes the notice, the vehicle record is flagged to show your ownership interest ended on the sale date. Registration renewal notices for that vehicle stop coming to you.4CA.gov. Release of Liability You will not receive a new title, a revised registration card, or any other DMV document confirming the change. Your only proof is the online confirmation or the copy of the mailed form you kept.

Under Section 5602, once you have made a genuine sale, delivered the vehicle, and either properly endorsed the title or filed the notice under Section 5900, you are no longer treated as the vehicle’s owner for civil or criminal liability tied to parking, abandoning, or operating it.3California Legislative Information. California Code Vehicle Code 5602 If the buyer racks up parking tickets, gets caught by a red-light camera, or abandons the car on the shoulder, none of that traces back to you.

If Tickets Still Arrive After You File

Former owners often receive a parking ticket or toll invoice dated after the sale, especially when the buyer has not yet registered the vehicle in their own name. Contact the issuing agency, send a copy of your NRL confirmation showing the filing date, and request dismissal.

If the matter goes to court, the judge decides whether you actually complied with the statute and qualify for the Section 5602 exemption.1California DMV. Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability Without the confirmation, you are arguing the transfer happened with nothing to back you up.

The NRL Does Not Transfer the Title

Filing the NRL releases you from liability, but it does not move the title into the buyer’s name. Those are two separate processes. The buyer still has to submit the signed-over title, pay the transfer fee, and register the vehicle. If they never do, the title technically stays in your name on DMV records even though the NRL notation shows you released liability. When you can, go with the buyer to the DMV or verify they have completed the registration transfer.

Mistakes That Delay or Void the Filing

  • Transposing even one of the last five VIN digits will keep the filing from matching the vehicle record. Check against your registration card, not the dashboard.
  • Filing late. The five-day deadline runs from delivery of the vehicle, not the signing of paperwork.
  • Leaving buyer fields blank on the paper form, which can cause the DMV to reject the notice entirely. If you truly do not know the buyer’s information, use the online tool, where “unknown” is accepted.
  • Guessing at the odometer or rounding to a clean number. The statute treats inaccurate mileage as a violation only when done with intent to defraud, but an obviously wrong reading can still slow processing.2California Legislative Information. California Code VEH – Section 5900
  • Not saving the confirmation. It is the only record that proves you filed. Lose it, and you lose your evidence.