Florida’s Exhibit D Authorization/Release Affidavit is a one-page FLHSMV form that lets a vehicle owner authorize another person to pick up a printed title certificate and registration on their behalf. It’s part of the department’s expedited title process (procedure TL-46). You fill in your owner information, describe the vehicle, name the person you’re appointing, sign under the perjury clause, and hand it off. Your authorized recipient then presents the completed affidavit with photo ID at the office where the title is being issued.1Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. TL-46 Expedited Title Procedure
When You Need the Exhibit D
Use this form whenever someone other than the registered owner will pick up a printed title. FLHSMV offices will not release a title certificate to a non-owner unless one of three documents is on file: the Exhibit D, a separate power of attorney, or a notarized affidavit from the owner granting permission.1Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. TL-46 Expedited Title Procedure The Exhibit D is the simplest of the three because it’s purpose-built for exactly this task.
Typical uses: sending a spouse, adult child, or business associate to retrieve a title while you’re out of town; letting a dealership representative collect the title after a sale; or appointing an agent when illness or scheduling keeps you from the office yourself.
What Goes in Each Field
The form has four sections. Gather the information below before you start, because every field must match what the state has on file. A mismatch between the name or VIN on the form and the department’s records will get the form rejected at the counter.
- Registered owner information: full legal name of every registered owner, street address, city, state, ZIP code, and phone number with area code.
- Vehicle description: title number, model year, make, and vehicle identification number. All of these appear on your current or previous title document or your registration.
- Authorization statement: print the owner’s name and the full name of the person being authorized. The pre-printed language reads, “I [Owner’s Name] authorize [Person Appointed] to receive my printed title certificate and registration, if applicable for the above described vehicle.”1Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. TL-46 Expedited Title Procedure
- Signatures and date: the owner signs and dates the form. If the vehicle has a co-owner, both owners must sign.
Check the VIN character by character. VINs run 17 characters, and a single transposed digit will keep the office from matching your form to the title record.
Signing Under the Perjury Clause
The Exhibit D carries its own perjury declaration: “Under Penalties of perjury I declare that I have read the foregoing document and certify that the statement is true.”1Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. TL-46 Expedited Title Procedure Signing above that line means you are swearing the information is accurate and accepting criminal liability if it is not. That clause gives the document its legal weight; a notary stamp is not automatically required.
The TL-46 procedure treats notarized affidavits and perjury-clause affidavits as acceptable alternatives, so the built-in clause on the Exhibit D satisfies the requirement on its own. If the issuing office does ask for notarization, a Florida notary public can witness your signature after verifying your identity. Under Florida law, acceptable ID for that verification includes a current Florida driver license or ID card, a U.S. passport, a military ID, or a driver license from another state, a U.S. territory, Canada, or Mexico, so long as the document is current or was issued within the past five years and bears a serial or identifying number.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 117.05 – Use of Notary Commission
What the Authorized Person Must Bring to Pickup
At the counter, your authorized recipient hands over the completed affidavit and a valid photo ID. The TL-46 procedure is explicit: “the recipient must also provide photo ID before the title certificate can be released to them.”1Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. TL-46 Expedited Title Procedure A driver license, state-issued ID card, or passport will do. The name on the ID has to match the name written in the “Person Appointed” field.
If the person arrives without the affidavit, or with an ID that doesn’t match the name on the form, the office will not release the title. There is no counter-level workaround. The owner will need to provide a corrected form or come in personally.
Where to Get the Form and Where to Submit It
The Exhibit D lives inside the FLHSMV’s TL-46 procedural packet. You can pull it from the FLHSMV website or ask for a copy at your local county tax collector’s office, which handles most title and registration work in Florida. It’s submitted in person at the same office issuing the expedited title. This is not a form you mail to Tallahassee. Your authorized recipient hands it to counter staff along with their photo ID at pickup.
Why Florida Requires an Authorization at All
The reason a non-owner can’t simply walk in and collect a title traces to federal privacy law. The Driver Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2721–2725, bars state motor vehicle departments from disclosing personal information from their records without proper authorization.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2721 – Prohibition on Release and Use of Certain Personal Information From State Motor Vehicle Records A title certificate contains several data points that fall inside the federal definition of personal information, including name, address, and driver identification number.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2725 – Definitions Florida reinforces the protection through Section 119.0712(2), which classifies that information as confidential.5The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 119.0712 – Executive Branch Agency-Specific Exemptions From Inspection or Copying of Public Records The Exhibit D is how you supply the written consent the law requires.