How to Fill Out Maine’s MVT-2: Application for Certificate of Title

Maine’s MVT-2, the Application for Certificate of Title, is the form you file to put a vehicle in your name with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. You pick up a blank MVT-2 in person at a town office or BMV branch (it isn’t posted online), fill it out in blue or black ink, attach the previous title or Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin, and submit the package with a $33 fee either at your town office or by mail to the BMV in Augusta. Standard processing runs about 14 business days once the Title Division has a complete application; $10 more buys rush handling.

Do You Actually Need to File One

Maine titles vehicles on a 25-year rolling exemption. In 2026, that means model year 2001 and newer vehicles need a title; model year 2000 and older are exempt, and the cutoff moves forward one year every January 1. A handful of other vehicles stay outside the titling system regardless of age: trailers with an unladen weight of 3,000 pounds or less, motorcycles and mopeds under 300cc, dealer and manufacturer inventory, construction and farm equipment, and interstate commercial vehicles already titled elsewhere.¹

If your vehicle isn’t exempt, you’ll need an MVT-2 whenever ownership changes or you first bring the vehicle into Maine’s system. The common triggers are buying from a private seller, buying from an out-of-state dealer (Maine dealers file for you; out-of-state ones usually don’t), moving to Maine with an out-of-state title, or removing a paid-off lien from an existing title. You cannot register a titled vehicle in Maine without completing the title transfer first.

Getting the Blank Form

The MVT-2 is not available for download. The BMV’s forms page states that the Application for Title must be picked up at a town office or BMV branch.² Most Maine municipal offices act as BMV agents and keep blank forms on hand, so your town hall is usually the easiest stop. Even if you plan to mail the completed application to Augusta, you still have to collect the blank form in person first.

Filling Out the Form

Use blue or black ink. Don’t cross out entries or use correction fluid; the BMV can reject an application with erasures or alterations. Every owner named on the title has to sign.

Vehicle Information

Enter the make, model, model year, body type, and the full 17-character Vehicle Identification Number.³ Copy the VIN character by character from the dash plate or door jamb sticker. One transposed digit will bounce the application. You also indicate whether the vehicle is new or used and whether it has been repaired or rebuilt.

Odometer Disclosure

Federal law requires a written, signed odometer disclosure from the seller on every used-vehicle transfer.⁴ The seller records cumulative mileage at the time of sale, or certifies “actual mileage unknown” if the odometer is broken or has rolled over. A false reading is a federal violation.

For model year 2011 and newer vehicles, this disclosure requirement runs 20 years from the model year, so a 2011 vehicle needs it through 2031. Model year 2010 and older vehicles are already exempt from the federal odometer disclosure.⁵

Owner and Lienholder Details

List each owner’s full legal name and current residential address exactly as they appear on government-issued identification. If a loan secures the vehicle, add the lienholder’s name, mailing address, and the date of the lien; that information gets printed on the face of the title certificate.³ The form also asks individuals for a Social Security Number and businesses for a Federal Employer Identification Number. Federal law permits states to collect SSNs for motor vehicle administration, with disclosure of how the number is used.⁶

Documents You Need to Attach

The MVT-2 by itself isn’t enough. What you include depends on how you acquired the vehicle.

Used vehicle from a private seller or out-of-state source: the previous certificate of title, properly signed over by the seller with the odometer disclosure completed.³
New vehicle: the Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin (MCO), assigned from the dealer to the buyer with both parties’ names and addresses. No new vehicle can legally enter Maine without its certificate of origin.⁷
Out-of-state title conversion: the original out-of-state title. If the issuing state is electronic-title-only, you may need to request a paper title from that state before Maine will process the application.

A bill of sale is good practice because it documents price, date, and parties, and because the purchase price affects what tax you owe. The statute, however, requires the previous title or certificate of origin as the core ownership proof; a bill of sale alone will not substitute.

When the Prior Title Is Missing

If you can’t produce a previous title because the seller lost it, the vehicle changed hands informally, or the issuing state’s records are incomplete, Maine allows a bonded title under 29-A M.R.S. § 659. You buy a surety bond that protects any prior owner, prior lienholder, or future buyer from losses caused by a defect in your claim. The bond runs three years. If no one challenges your ownership during that window, the bond expires and your title stands clean. Bond details are recorded on form MVT-18, which rides along with your MVT-2.

Treat the bonded title as a last resort. The BMV expects a genuine attempt at proper documentation first, and if the previous owner is reachable, having them apply for a duplicate title from the issuing state is almost always simpler and cheaper.

What You’ll Pay

The title fee is $33. Rush processing costs an additional $10, and the Secretary of State decides whether to grant it based on the reason you give.⁸ A municipal office that processes the application may add a small agent fee.

Two other charges hit at the same visit if you’re also registering the vehicle. Excise tax is owed annually to your municipality and is calculated from the vehicle’s original MSRP against a mill rate that steps down with age, from 0.0240 in year one to 0.0040 in year six and after.⁹ Sales and use tax runs at Maine’s general 5.5% rate; a Maine dealer collects sales tax at the point of sale, while private and out-of-state purchases trigger use tax at the same rate, typically collected when you title and register at your town office.¹⁰

Where to Submit

You have two options. Most people file at their local town office, where a clerk acting as a BMV agent processes the application, collects fees, and handles registration in the same visit. That is the fastest route to getting plates on the vehicle. The alternative is mailing the completed MVT-2, supporting documents, and payment to the Division of Title Services, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, 29 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0029.¹¹ Either way, the BMV’s Title Division in Augusta issues the certificate; town office filings are forwarded there.

How Long Processing Takes

Once the Title Division has a complete, accurate application in hand, expect these turnaround times, not counting mail transit:¹²

Regular title: 14 business days
Rush title: 3 to 5 business days
Duplicate title: 5 to 8 business days

During processing, the BMV checks the VIN against national databases to confirm the vehicle hasn’t been reported stolen or flagged for insurance fraud. The certificate is then mailed to the owner, or directly to the lienholder if there’s an active loan. Keep it somewhere secure. It is your definitive proof of ownership for as long as you have the vehicle.

Why the Odometer Entry Deserves a Second Look

Before you hand over the application, verify that the seller’s odometer statement on the old title matches the number on the dashboard. A mismatch isn’t automatically fraud. Odometers break, get replaced, or roll over. But an “actual mileage unknown” disclosure is far safer than a number that doesn’t add up. The BMV screens for obvious discrepancies, and a flagged reading can delay your title or produce a “not actual mileage” brand on the certificate, which cuts significantly into resale value.⁴

1
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 29-A 652 – Exempted Vehicles
2
Maine Secretary of State. Forms and Applications
3
Maine Legislature. Maine Code 29-A 654 – Application for Certificate of Title and Certificate of Salvage
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 U.S. Code 32705 – Disclosure Requirements on Transfer of Motor Vehicles
5
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Consumer Alert – Changes to Odometer Disclosure Requirements
6
United States Department of Justice. Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974 – Disclosure of Social Security Numbers
7
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 29-A 653 – Certificate of Origin
8
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 29-A 603 – Fees
9
Maine Revenue Services. Excise Tax
10
Maine Revenue Services. Sales and Use Tax Rates and Due Dates
11
Maine Secretary of State. Types of Title Certificates
12
Maine Secretary of State. Frequently Asked Questions – Titles