Virginia Form SUT 4 is a lienholder authorization that lets the DMV change a vehicle’s title while a loan is still active on it. Your bank, credit union, or finance company completes and signs the form, and you submit it with the existing title and a $15 title fee to any DMV Customer Service Center or by mail to the Titling Work Center in Richmond. It covers three situations, and it is not the form you use for an ordinary title transfer on a vehicle you own free and clear.
When You Need SUT 4
The form itself lists three scenarios. The lienholder checks the one that fits:
- Adding or removing an owner’s name while the existing loan stays in place. A spouse being added after purchase, or a co-owner coming off the title after a divorce, falls here.
- Recording a new lien on a vehicle you already own, for a reason unrelated to purchasing it. Refinancing with a different lender is the common case.
- A new buyer assuming the seller’s unpaid loan balance. The form includes a blank for the dollar amount of the obligation being assumed.
If none of these describes your situation, you likely do not need SUT 4. A payoff by itself does not require it: lenders in Virginia’s electronic lien program release the lien automatically once the loan is satisfied, and the DMV mails you a clean title with no action on your part.
Filling Out the Form
You can download the PDF from the Virginia DMV website or pick one up at any Customer Service Center. Although it is a lienholder form, the vehicle owner usually gathers the information and coordinates with the lender to get it completed and signed.
Vehicle Information
Enter the year, make, model, existing Virginia title number, and the full 17-character VIN. The VIN appears on a metal plate on the driver-side dashboard and on a sticker inside the driver-side door jamb. Copy it from the current title, not from a registration card that might contain a typo. A single wrong character will get the form kicked back.
Currently Titled To and Retitle To
The “Currently Titled To” block lists the owner or owners shown on the existing title, each with a DMV customer number, FEIN, or Social Security number, plus a mailing address. The “Retitle To” block lists whoever should appear on the new title. Adding a co-owner means both names in “Retitle To”; removing an owner means only the remaining owner’s name there. The DMV requests the identifying number under Virginia Code ยง 46.2-623 and will not issue the title without it.
Lienholder and Representative
This section identifies the lending institution by name, phone number, and address. If a loan officer, title clerk, or attorney is completing the form on the lender’s behalf, their name and title go in the “Represented By” fields. The lienholder or representative checks one of the three certification boxes, then signs, prints their name, and dates the form. The certification is made under penalty of perjury, and a knowingly false statement is a criminal violation.
Does Sales and Use Tax Apply?
Not always. The form spells out which scenarios are exempt from Virginia’s 4.15 percent motor vehicle sales and use tax and which are not.
Adding or removing an owner on an existing loan, and recording a new lien on a vehicle you already own, are exempt as long as at least one original owner stays on the newly issued title and the sales tax was paid when the vehicle was first titled in Virginia (or the vehicle originally qualified as tax-exempt).
Loan assumption works differently. Because the vehicle is changing hands to someone who was not on the original loan, the DMV treats it as a sale and collects the 4.15 percent tax at titling, calculated on the assumed obligation amount or the vehicle’s fair market value, whichever applies.
SUT 4 is not the vehicle for claiming a general tax exemption. That belongs on Form SUT 3, the Purchaser’s Statement of Tax Exemption. If you believe the tax was charged in error on an exempt SUT 4 transaction, contact the DMV promptly.
Where to Submit It
Bring or send the signed form, the existing certificate of title, and the $15 fee.
In Person
Any Virginia DMV Customer Service Center will accept it, either by appointment or through a drop-off option that returns the new title in three to five business days. Submitting in person lets a clerk catch a missing signature or a wrong VIN before you leave.
By Mail
Send the completed form, the title, and payment to the DMV Titling Department using the address that matches your carrier:
- USPS: Virginia DMV, Titling Department, P.O. Box 27412, Richmond, VA 23269
- UPS or FedEx: Virginia DMV, Titling Department, 2300 West Broad St, Richmond, VA 23269
The new title is mailed to the address listed in the “Retitle To” section. If anything does not reconcile with DMV records, expect a letter requesting clarification before the title issues.
If Your Lender Holds the Title Electronically
Many Virginia lenders participate in the DMV’s Electronic Lien Program, which means the DMV holds the title record rather than the lender holding a paper title. Your lender can still complete and sign SUT 4 the same way, but you will not have a paper title to hand over at the counter. Tell the DMV clerk the title is held electronically and they will pull the record from the system. For lenders not in the electronic program, the paper title stays with the lender until the debt is paid.
Mistakes That Delay the Title
Most rejections come from a short list of fixable errors:
- More than one certification box checked. Only one scenario applies per transaction.
- A VIN that does not match DMV records, usually copied from a registration card with a typo.
- Owner names in “Currently Titled To” that do not match the existing title exactly. Nicknames, missing suffixes, and middle-name differences all cause problems.
- An unsigned form. Lenders who complete it electronically sometimes forget to print, sign, and date the certification before mailing.
If the lender filled out the form and sent it to you to deliver, open the envelope and check every field against your current title before you make the trip. A correction caught at your kitchen table costs a phone call. One caught at the DMV counter costs a return trip to the bank.