Georgia Form T-53 Notice of Security Interest: Filing, Perfection, and Fees

Georgia Form T-53, the Notice of Additional Security Interest, is the document you file when a vehicle is pledged as collateral for a new loan while another lender still holds the title. The form is prescribed by the Georgia Department of Revenue under O.C.G.A. § 40-3-52.¹ The step that trips most people up: you don’t take it to the county tag office. You mail it to the primary lienholder, and they forward it to the state.

What to Gather Before You Fill It Out

Download the form from the Georgia Department of Revenue website, where it appears as “T-53 Notice of Additional Security Interest.”² Blank copies are also available at any county tag office. Before you sit down with it, pull together:

The vehicle’s year, make, and seventeen-character VIN. Copy the VIN exactly from the current registration card or the plate on the driver’s side dashboard. One transposed digit will bounce the filing.
The registered owner’s full legal name and current address, matching what the state has on file.
The full legal name and mailing address of the new lienholder.
The date the security interest was created, meaning the date the loan agreement or promissory note was signed. Pull it straight from the signed document, because this date drives the perfection priority.
The $18.00 title fee, paid by check or money order.³
A cover letter addressed to the first lienholder, who currently has custody of the title.⁴

A completed and signed Form MV-1 Title/Tag Application is accepted in place of Form T-53 if you prefer; the Department of Revenue lists both as acceptable.⁴

Filling Out the Form

The form itself is short. Type the entries, or print them clearly in blue or black ink; signatures are the only handwritten fields. The sections cover the vehicle, the owner, and the new lienholder.

Compare every entry against your current registration card before signing. Mismatches between what the state has on file and what you write are the most common reason filings come back. Check the VIN character by character rather than from memory. The vehicle owner signs the form, and the new lienholder’s authorized representative signs where indicated.

How to Submit the Packet

This is where the process departs from a normal title transaction. Form T-53 does not go to the tag office. Georgia law requires the holder of the new security interest to mail the full packet directly to the first lienholder who has custody of the certificate of title.¹ The packet contains:

The completed Form T-53 (or Form MV-1) signed by the vehicle owner.
The $18.00 title fee.
A cover letter addressed to the primary lienholder.

Send it by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested. This is not optional. The return receipt is your proof of delivery, and you need to keep it.¹

The notice printed on Form T-53 instructs the primary lienholder to forward the entire package (notice, title application, fee, and the original certificate of title) to the commissioner or an authorized county tag agent within ten days of receipt. The primary lienholder is legally required to comply.¹ Once the tag agent or commissioner processes the filing, the state issues a new certificate of title reflecting the additional security interest.

The Ten-Day Perfection Window

Timing drives everything. If the new lienholder mails the packet to the primary lienholder within ten days of the date the security interest was created, perfection relates back to that creation date.¹ Miss the ten days and perfection dates only from when you actually mailed it. That gap matters if the borrower takes on other debts or faces a judgment lien between loan execution and filing.

In practice, the new lender should mail the packet the same week the loan closes.

When the Primary Lienholder Won’t Forward It

If the first lienholder fails or refuses to send the documents on to the commissioner or county tag agent, the new lienholder can apply directly to the commissioner or an authorized county tag agent.¹ Attach the return receipt from your certified mailing as proof that you sent the required documents. That receipt is the whole reason the fallback exists for you, so don’t lose it.

Fee and Late Penalty

The title fee for adding a security interest is $18.00.³ Include it in the packet; the primary lienholder forwards it with the rest of the documents.

If a title application is not submitted within 30 days of the vehicle’s purchase or transfer date, a $10.00 late penalty applies on top of the $18.00 fee.³ That 30-day penalty window is separate from the ten-day perfection window under § 40-3-52. The ten-day deadline affects your priority date, not whether extra money is owed.

Releasing the Lien After Payoff

Once the debt secured by the additional lien is paid, the lienholder must release the interest within ten days by executing a release and delivering it to both the commissioner and the vehicle owner.⁵ The form is the T-4 Satisfaction of MV Title Lien or Security Interest Affidavit from the Department of Revenue.⁶ If a lender is slow to release, point them to that ten-day statutory deadline.

1
Justia. Georgia Code 40-3-52 – Perfection of Second or Subsequent Security Interests
2
Georgia Department of Revenue. T-53 Notice of Additional Security Interest
3
Georgia Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicles Fees, Fines, and Penalties
4
Georgia Department of Revenue. Recording a Lien and Security Interest on a Title
5
Justia. Georgia Code 40-3-56 – Satisfaction of Security Interests and Liens
6
Georgia Department of Revenue. T-4 Satisfaction of MV Title Lien or Security Interest Affidavit