How to Get a CT DMV Replacement Title Online

You can request a CT DMV replacement title online through the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles website for a $25 fee, and the printed title will reach you by mail within 20 business days. The online option is open to titled owners of vehicles and vessels registered in Connecticut, with one important exception: if your vehicle has an outstanding lien, you can’t use the portal.¹

Who Can Use the Online Portal

The online service is available to titled owners of Connecticut-registered vehicles and vessels. If a lien is still recorded against your vehicle, the portal will not let you proceed. In that case the lienholder has to apply by mail using a power of attorney, and the replacement certificate gets sent to the first lienholder rather than to you.²

If you’ve paid off your loan but the lien still shows on your DMV record, clear that up first. Ask your lender for a lien release letter and submit it to the DMV, or handle the whole thing through the mail-in process described below.

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Everything you enter has to match what the DMV has on file. A single mismatched digit will kick the request back and force you to restart. Have these in front of you:

Your Vehicle Identification Number. The 17-character VIN is visible on the driver-side dashboard through the windshield, or on your registration certificate. For a boat, you’ll use the Hull Identification Number instead.
Your Connecticut driver’s license or non-driver ID number, matching the name tied to the title.
Your date of birth as it appears in DMV records.
Your Social Security Number. The DMV asks for this as an identity check. Owners who hold an out-of-state driver’s license or a Connecticut “drive only” license are exempt. Some third-party summaries say only the last four digits are needed; the DMV’s own instructions say “your social security number” without that limitation, so plan on providing the full number.¹

Once verification clears, you’ll pay the $25 fee by card and submit. Save or print the confirmation receipt. It proves you paid, but it isn’t a title and can’t be used to sell or transfer the vehicle.

Fee and Delivery Timeline

The replacement title fee is $25.¹ Online payments go through by credit or debit card.

You will not receive an electronic copy. The DMV prints and mails the physical replacement, which arrives within 20 business days.¹ That’s roughly four calendar weeks once weekends are counted. There’s no expedited option advertised. If a buyer is waiting, plan around that window.

The replacement is mailed to the address the DMV has on file. If you’ve moved and haven’t updated your record, do that before applying. Chasing a title mailed to an old address is far more work than updating your address first.

What Your Replacement Title Will Say

A replacement is not an identical reissue of your original. Connecticut law requires it to carry a printed legend: “This is a replacement title and may be subject to the rights of a person under the original certificate.”² The line warns a future buyer that an earlier version of the title could still exist. In an ordinary private sale it rarely causes trouble, but a buyer may ask about it.

If you later find the original after the replacement has been issued, state law requires you to surrender it promptly to the DMV commissioner.² Don’t hold on to it. Two valid-looking titles in circulation for the same vehicle creates real fraud risk.

When You Have to Use the Mail-In Form Instead

If the portal won’t accept your application, whether because of a lien on record, a data mismatch, or another technical issue, use Form H-6B (Application for Replacement Certificate of Title). Complete Section 1 with the vehicle and title information and Section 3 with your signature, then mail the form with a $25 check or money order payable to “DMV” to:³

State of Connecticut
Department of Motor Vehicles, Room 305
60 State Street
Wethersfield, CT 06161

A few situations call for extra paperwork with the mail-in application:

Outstanding lien. The lienholder must submit the application along with a power of attorney.³
Lien recently paid off. Include a letter from the lienholder confirming the lien is satisfied. If the lien is more than 10 years old, you can instead complete Section 2 of the H-6B indicating it has been paid.³
Transferring ownership at the same time. You must also submit a Connecticut Q-1 (Supplemental Assignment of Ownership Form). Without it, the DMV will reject and return your paperwork.³

Mail adds postal transit time on both ends to the DMV’s processing window, so budget extra weeks compared with the online route.

Boats and Vessels

The same portal handles replacement titles for Connecticut-registered vessels, not just cars and trucks.¹ You’ll enter the Hull Identification Number in place of the VIN. The fee, the timeline, and the lien restriction all work the same way.

1
Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles. Replace Your Title
2
Justia Law. Connecticut Code Title 14 Chapter 247 Section 14-178 – Replacement Certificate of Title
3
CT.gov. Application for Replacement Certificate of Title Form H-6B