How to Complete and Submit the NC MVR-46F: Notarize, Mail, Plates

The North Carolina MVR-46F form is a notarized affidavit that removes a vehicle from your name in the DMV’s registration files when the buyer never applied for a new title. You fill it out with the sale date, the vehicle and buyer information, and the North Carolina title number, sign it in front of a notary, and either mail it to the NCDMV in Raleigh or hand it in at a local License Plate Agency. Once the DMV processes it, the registration and title in your name are canceled.¹

When You’d File This Form

The MVR-46F exists for the seller who no longer has the vehicle but is still showing as its owner in state records. That happens most often when a buyer takes the signed-over title and simply never applies for a new one within the 28 days North Carolina allows. Until they do, the DMV computer still lists you as the owner. Property tax bills keep coming. Your continuous liability insurance duty under G.S. 20-309 keeps running. Toll and camera violations tied to the plate can still land in your mailbox.

The NC Title Manual points to four situations where the form is the right fix:²

You sold or traded the vehicle and signed over the title, but the buyer never retitled it.
The vehicle was salvaged, junked, or totaled and the title was never submitted for cancellation.
Your county tax office keeps billing you for a vehicle you no longer own.
A Department of Social Services needs-based program requires you to remove vehicles you no longer possess from your name.

Under N.C.G.S. § 20-110(l), the DMV can rescind and cancel the registration and title when given evidence that the vehicle was transferred to someone who then failed to retitle it.³ The MVR-46F is that evidence.

What to Gather Before You Start

The form is short, but every field has to be filled in accurately. Have all of this in front of you:

The exact date you sold or transferred the vehicle.
The vehicle’s year, make, body style, and 17-character VIN. If the vehicle is already gone, pull the VIN from your copy of the old title or from your insurance records.
The North Carolina title number, which appears on the face of the title certificate the state issued.
The buyer’s full name and address.
Lien information. You’ll need to certify either that no liens were on the vehicle or that a lien was recorded and has since been released. If a lien existed, get the written cancellation from the lienholder before you file, because the DMV won’t process the form without it.

Filling Out and Notarizing the Form

Download the MVR-46F from the NCDOT vehicle registration forms page.⁴ It’s a one-page fillable PDF, so you can type into the fields before printing.

The top block is your sworn statement as the seller. Enter the transfer date, the vehicle details, the buyer’s name and address, and the North Carolina title number. The form’s language certifies that the title “was assigned and delivered to the purchaser,” which means you signed the title over in front of a notary and gave it to the buyer, as North Carolina law requires for any vehicle transfer.⁵

Below the vehicle information, check the box that matches your lien situation. Either there are no outstanding liens, or a lien existed and you are attaching the cancellation.¹

Every person listed as an owner on the registration has to sign. If the vehicle was registered to two people, both signatures are required.²

Do not sign until you are in front of a notary. The MVR-46F is an affidavit, and an unnotarized form will be rejected. Sign in the notary’s presence; the notary then completes the sworn-statement block, applies the seal, and prints the commission expiration date.¹ Most banks offer notary services free to account holders, and many UPS Store locations have a notary on staff for a small fee.

Where to Send the Completed Form

You have two ways to get the notarized form to the DMV:

By mail to the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, 3148 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27697.¹
In person at any local License Plate Agency, which you can find through the NCDMV office locator.

Keep a copy of the completed form for yourself. If you are attaching a lien cancellation, copy it before mailing the original.

Don’t Forget Your Plates and Insurance

Filing the MVR-46F takes the vehicle out of your registration record, but two related duties often get missed.

North Carolina plates belong to the owner, not the vehicle. When you sell a car, take the plates off. Turn them in at a License Plate Agency or transfer them to another vehicle you own. Leaving them on a car you no longer possess is asking for problems.

Insurance is the trickier one. Under G.S. 20-309, North Carolina requires continuous liability coverage on every registered vehicle, and if coverage terminates while the vehicle is still registered in your name, you must immediately surrender the registration and plates.⁶ Order matters. Surrender plates first, then cancel insurance. Doing it the other way around triggers civil penalties.

What Happens After the DMV Processes It

Once the DMV accepts the MVR-46F, the vehicle’s registration and title in your name are canceled. Property tax notices should stop. Insurance-related notices tied to that vehicle should stop. And if the buyer ever runs into trouble with the car, you have a dated, notarized paper trail showing when it left your hands.

The buyer isn’t cut off from titling the vehicle later. They can still apply for a title in their name using the standard MVR-1 application, though they’ll owe a late penalty if more than 28 days have passed since the transfer.⁷

If Your Situation Is Slightly Different

The MVR-46F is specifically for the seller whose buyer never retitled the vehicle. If your problem is a lost title rather than an untitled buyer, one of the other affidavits in the MVR-46 series is the right form:²

MVR-46A is the buyer’s affidavit when the title was properly assigned and delivered but later lost.
MVR-46B is the matching seller’s affidavit for the lost-title scenario.
MVR-46C is the dealer’s version, used when the sale went through a dealership.
MVR-46D is the lienholder’s affidavit, used when a lien was on the vehicle and the title was lost after endorsement.
MVR-46G cancels a mobile or manufactured home title when the home is being converted to real property.

All of them live on the same NCDOT registration forms download page as the MVR-46F.⁴

1
North Carolina Department of Transportation. MVR-46F Affidavit for Removal of Registered Vehicle from Vehicle Registration Files
2
North Carolina Department of Transportation. North Carolina Vehicle Registration Section Title Manual
3
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 20-110 – When Registration Shall Be Rescinded
4
North Carolina Department of Transportation. NCDMV Vehicle Registration Forms
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 20-72 – Transfer of Title or Interest
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 20-309 – Financial Responsibility Prerequisite to Registration
7
North Carolina Department of Transportation. Official NCDMV Vehicle Title and Registration Fees