How to Fill Out Form DR-2175: Colorado Motor Vehicle Power of Attorney

To fill out Colorado Form DR-2175, print your name and your agent’s name at the top, check the boxes for the specific motor vehicle powers you’re granting, enter a termination date, describe the vehicle by VIN, year, make, and model, fill in your identification details, and then sign the form in front of a notary public. The DR-2175 is a limited power of attorney that lets someone else handle motor vehicle business for you at a Colorado county motor vehicle office, and it’s available as a free download from the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles.1Colorado Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney for Motor Vehicle Only

What the DR-2175 Covers

The form lists eight powers, and you grant only the ones whose boxes you check. They are:1Colorado Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney for Motor Vehicle Only

  • Apply for and receive a new registration or temporary registration
  • Apply for and receive a certificate of title
  • Apply for and receive a duplicate certificate of title (secure and verifiable ID is required when the original title was issued on or after July 1, 2006)
  • Transfer ownership and acknowledge the odometer reading
  • Record a lien
  • Release a lien
  • Apply for and receive a copy of a motor vehicle record
  • Receive a Persons with Disability parking placard

The authority is tied to the single vehicle you describe on the form. It gives your agent no authority over your other vehicles, accounts, or property.

One boundary matters before you start writing: the DR-2175 cannot authorize one person to sign as both buyer and seller on an odometer disclosure. If that’s what you need — commonly when a dealer handles both sides of a sale — use Form DR-2174 (Secure Power of Attorney) instead.1Colorado Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney for Motor Vehicle Only

What to Have in Front of You

Pull these before you touch the form. Working from memory is how VINs and names go wrong.

  • The full 17-character VIN, taken from the metal plate on the driver-side dashboard or the sticker in the driver-side door jamb, and cross-checked against the title.
  • The vehicle’s year, make, and model, pulled from the title or registration.
  • Your full legal name and your agent’s full legal name, spelled exactly as they appear on government-issued identification. Nicknames and missing middle names cause rejections.
  • Your Colorado driver’s license, Colorado ID, or other government-issued ID number, plus its expiration date and your date of birth.
  • A specific termination date. The form will not be accepted without one, so choose a date that gives your agent a comfortable margin for delays.1Colorado Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney for Motor Vehicle Only

If a business is granting or receiving the authority, the grantor and agent fields accept entity names.

Filling Out the Form, Section by Section

The DR-2175 is a single page. Use black ink and work top to bottom.

Print your full legal name (or entity name) in the grantor field. Print your agent’s full legal name in the agent field.

Check the boxes for each power you want to grant, and only those. If your agent only needs to pick up a registration, don’t also check the title-transfer box. The county office reads the form literally, so give your agent what they need and nothing more.

Fill in the termination date. Blank equals rejected.

Enter the VIN, year, make, and model in the vehicle description section. Read the VIN back against the title one character at a time. A single transposed digit voids the transaction at the counter.

In the grantor certification section, print your name again, check the box for the ID type you’re presenting (Colorado driver’s license, Colorado ID, or other), and fill in the ID number, expiration date, and your date of birth.

Do not sign yet. Your signature must be applied in the physical presence of a notary.2Justia. Colorado Code 15-14-705 – Execution of Power of Attorney

Signing Before a Notary

Colorado law presumes a power of attorney signature is genuine when acknowledged before a notary public.2Justia. Colorado Code 15-14-705 – Execution of Power of Attorney Bring the unsigned form and your ID. Sign and date in front of the notary; they complete the notarial certificate at the bottom of the page, apply the seal, and sign.

Colorado caps notary fees at $15 per document for in-person notarization and $25 for electronic or remote notarization.3Colorado Secretary of State. Notary Public FAQs The cap covers verifying identity, administering any oath, and stamping the document.4Justia. Colorado Code 24-21-529 – Notarys Fees

Do not erase, cross out, or white out anything on the completed form. Any alteration voids it. If you make a mistake, print a fresh copy and start over.5Larimer County. Power of Attorney

Getting It to the County Office

Your agent takes the notarized form to any Colorado county motor vehicle office, bringing their own valid government-issued ID and enough money for any title or registration fees.

Whether they need the original or can use a certified copy depends on what you authorized. If the form authorizes a title transfer or an odometer acknowledgment, the original must be surrendered to the county at the time of the transaction. For other powers, such as registration or lien recording, a certified copy is acceptable.1Colorado Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney for Motor Vehicle Only A plain photocopy is never acceptable for a title transaction.5Larimer County. Power of Attorney

If your agent needs to handle a title transfer and a separate matter, plan how the original will be available when the title work is done. You may need to sequence the transactions or execute more than one form.

Odometer Disclosure and When to Use DR-2174 Instead

If your agent is transferring ownership through the DR-2175, an odometer disclosure is part of the transaction for most vehicles. Federal law requires odometer disclosure for every ownership transfer during the first 20 model years of vehicles with model year 2011 or newer.6National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Consumer Alert Changes to Odometer Disclosure Requirements Older vehicles fall outside that federal window on a rolling basis.7eCFR. 49 CFR Part 580 – Odometer Disclosure Requirements

Again, if a single person needs to sign for both buyer and seller on the odometer disclosure, the DR-2175 is the wrong form; use the DR-2174.1Colorado Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney for Motor Vehicle Only

When the Form Expires or Gets Revoked

The DR-2175 terminates on the date you wrote in the termination date field. After that date, your agent cannot use it for anything.1Colorado Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney for Motor Vehicle Only If the transaction drags on, execute a new form with a new date.

The authority also ends if the grantor dies. You can revoke the form yourself at any time before the termination date by putting the revocation in writing. If the original was already submitted to a county office, file the written revocation with that same office so staff know the authority is cancelled.

Mistakes That Send You Back to the Notary

These are the errors county offices see most, and each one means starting over.

  • No termination date. The field is mandatory.
  • VIN mismatch between the form and the title, even by one character.
  • Erasures, cross-outs, or white-out anywhere on the form.5Larimer County. Power of Attorney
  • Signing before you reach the notary. Your signature has to happen in their presence.
  • Handing over a plain copy for a title transfer. Title transfers and odometer acknowledgments require the original; other powers accept a certified copy.1Colorado Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney for Motor Vehicle Only
  • Names on the form that don’t match the ID your agent presents, including nicknames or missing middle names.

Getting it right the first time saves a second notary appointment and another $15. When in doubt about a name spelling, a VIN character, or which power to check, verify against the title before you write anything down.