Tennessee’s power of attorney for vehicle transactions is Form RV-F1311401, published by the Department of Revenue. It lets a vehicle owner appoint an “attorney-in-fact” to handle title and registration business at the county clerk’s office, and the appointment is limited to the specific vehicle and the specific transactions checked on the form.
What the Form Lets Your Representative Do
The form has checkboxes for the transactions you’re authorizing. Your representative’s authority extends only to what you check, so be deliberate:
- Application for title and registration.
- Transfer of title (buying or selling on your behalf).
- Duplicate title if the original is lost or damaged.
- Noting of lien, or extending an existing lien.
- Vehicle information request from the state system.
- Verification of ownership on vehicles found abandoned, immobile, or unattended.
- Other, with a write-in line for things like a disabled placard, address change, or temporary operating permit.
Checking “Transfer of Title” does not also authorize a duplicate registration. If your representative might need to do two things at the window, check both boxes now rather than making a second trip.
One boundary to know: this form cannot be used by a dealer to make an odometer disclosure as both buyer and seller. When a dealer handles a title transfer and the original certificate isn’t available for the owner’s odometer disclosure, the separate secure power of attorney, Form RV-F1316901, is required instead.
Filling Out the Form
The instructions on the form are strict. It is void if any field is left blank, or if any entry has been erased or altered. Fill it out completely in ink the first time. No correction fluid, no strike-throughs. If you make a mistake, print a fresh copy and start over. The fillable PDF on the Department of Revenue site helps with legibility, but the signature has to be original.
Owner Information
The top section identifies you as the person granting authority. Check the box for individual or business. Individuals give full legal name, physical street address, city, state, zip, phone, and email. Your name should match your government-issued ID and any existing title exactly. If your name has changed since the title was issued, resolve that discrepancy first, because the clerk will reject the form on a name mismatch.
For a business-owned vehicle, check “Business,” enter the business name, and print the name of the owner or authorized individual signing. The form doesn’t require corporate documents to be attached, but the clerk may want to see that the signer can act for the business. Bringing the organizing documents avoids a wasted trip.
Attorney-in-Fact Information
Enter the full legal name of the person you’re appointing. If they work for a title service or dealership, use the separate line for the business name, then their street address, city, state, and zip. Their information has to match the ID they’ll present at the clerk’s window.
Vehicle Information
The form ties the authorization to one specific vehicle. You’ll need the VIN, year, make, model, and body type. Copy the VIN character by character from your title or the dashboard plate. A single transposed digit gets the form rejected.
Transaction Boxes
Check every transaction your representative may need to complete. If you use the “Other” line, write a clear, specific description of what you’re authorizing.
Signing
The bottom of the form is an affiant certification. By signing, you certify the information is true and correct, and the form warns that fraudulent statements can result in denial and criminal or civil penalties. Sign on the “Affiant’s Signature” line and enter the date.
The form does not include a notary acknowledgment, so notarization is not a standard requirement. Some situations do call for more. Nashville’s county clerk, for example, requires a notarized power of attorney from the leasing company on leased-vehicle transactions. If your situation is unusual, call the clerk’s office where the form will be filed before your representative drives over.
What Your Representative Brings to the Clerk
Title applications go to the county clerk in the county where the vehicle will be registered. Along with the completed form, your representative should bring:
- Their government-issued photo ID, so the clerk can confirm they’re the person named on the form.
- The existing certificate of title if the transaction is a transfer, plus any related documents like a bill of sale or lien release.
- Payment for the underlying transaction fees. The power of attorney itself has no separate filing fee.
The clerk reviews the power of attorney alongside the primary application to confirm the representative is authorized for what’s being requested. Once accepted, your representative can sign the paperwork and finish the transaction in a single visit.
Mistakes That Void the Form
The same problems come up again and again at the clerk’s window:
- Blank fields. The form is void if any required information is missing. Even a blank phone or email can trigger rejection.
- Altered entries. White-out, cross-outs, and overwritten characters void the form. Start over on a clean copy.
- VIN mismatches between the form, the title, and the vehicle itself.
- Name discrepancies between the form and the existing title.
- The wrong transaction box checked. If the form only authorizes a duplicate title and your representative tries to transfer ownership, the clerk won’t process the transfer.
Fill it out digitally if you can, print it, sign in ink, and check every field against your existing title before your representative leaves the house.