How to Get a Duplicate Title in Maryland: Steps, Fees, and Liens

To get a duplicate title in Maryland, file Form VR-018 (or its digital equivalent) with the Motor Vehicle Administration and pay a $40 fee. You can submit it online through myMVA, at an MVA kiosk, in person at a full-service branch, or through a licensed tag-and-title service. Online and kiosk requests are the fastest.

What You Need Before You Apply

Pull together your vehicle and owner information first. The MVA will ask for the make, model, year, VIN, and current Maryland title number if you have it. You’ll also need the full legal name, driver’s license number (or FEIN for a business), date of birth, and current address for every owner on the title, plus the same details for any co-owner.

Bring a valid state-issued ID. The MVA wants a copy of the ID for every owner listed on the title and for anyone physically presenting the application.

If you still have the original title but it’s damaged, altered, or was assigned incorrectly, you must turn it in with your application. If your Maryland title was surrendered to another state, bring the out-of-state title.¹

Form VR-018 is the standard paper application, used for in-person, mail, and tag-and-title submissions. It asks you to check a reason for the request (lost, destroyed, altered, mutilated, misassigned, returned to state, or other), fill in the vehicle and owner details, and sign. Every owner on the title must sign and date. For a business-owned vehicle, the authorized signer notes their capacity (officer, manager, etc.) next to the signature. Online and kiosk applicants complete a digital version instead.¹

Four Ways to Submit

Pick the channel that fits your situation:

Online through myMVA. The fastest option. You can have the duplicate mailed to an alternate address, except for company-owned vehicles.
At an MVA kiosk. Kiosks are available at all full-service and Express Service MVA locations. The alternate-address option is available here too, again not for company-owned vehicles.
In person at a full-service MVA branch. Bring your completed VR-018, copies of every owner’s ID, and the original title if it’s damaged or misassigned. The duplicate is mailed to the address the MVA has on file.
Through a licensed tag-and-title service. You hand over the completed VR-018 and a copy of your ID; the service files it for you and usually charges its own fee on top of the MVA’s.

If you’re mailing the form, send it with payment to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, 6601 Ritchie Highway N.E., Glen Burnie, MD 21062.²

Applying for Someone Else

The registered owner is always eligible to apply. When there’s more than one owner, every owner listed on the title generally has to sign. Someone else can apply only with specific paperwork:

Power of Attorney (Form VR-470). Authorizes a representative to apply on the owner’s behalf. Include a copy of the owner’s state-issued ID; the representative shows their own ID as well. The duplicate title is still mailed to the vehicle owner, not the representative.
Letters of Administration. Allow a personal representative to act for a deceased owner.
Death certificate. Lets a co-owner obtain a duplicate without the deceased co-owner’s signature. If the surviving co-owner is a spouse and the Department of Vital Statistics has already flagged the vehicle record as “Reported Deceased,” the death certificate may not be needed.
Trustee appointment order. A court order authorizing a trustee to act for a trust that owns the vehicle.

Whoever presents the application in person has to show their own state-issued ID.²

Handling Liens

If a lender still holds an active lien, VR-018 asks for the secured party’s name and address, and the MVA will note the lien on the new duplicate. Tell your lender the title is being replaced.

The form does include a section for releasing a lien, but it only works if the lien is more than seven years old and has already been satisfied. If your lien was paid off more recently than that, get a separate lien release from the lender before you apply for the duplicate.¹

Fees and Payment

The duplicate certificate of title fee is $40, as listed on the VR-018 form.¹ Maryland law authorizes the MVA to charge for a replacement title.³

Full-service MVA locations take cash, check, money order, credit card, and mobile wallet. Mailed applications should include a check or money order payable to the MVA. Online and kiosk transactions accept electronic payment.

What Happens After You Apply

The MVA mails the duplicate title to the address it has on record. Online and kiosk applicants can usually specify an alternate mailing address, though not for company-owned vehicles.²

The MVA doesn’t publish an official processing timeline, but mail-in requests take longer than in-person, online, or kiosk submissions. If you need to sell or transfer the vehicle soon, apply online or at a kiosk.

Once you receive the duplicate, the original title is automatically voided. If the old one turns up later, destroy it so it doesn’t cause confusion in a future sale or transfer.

Penalties for a False Application

Lying on a duplicate title application is a criminal offense. Anyone who uses a false name, knowingly makes a false statement, or conceals a material fact on a title application faces a fine of up to $1,000.⁴ Forging, altering, or counterfeiting a certificate of title with fraudulent intent carries up to two months in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both.⁵ The VR-018 form itself carries this warning above the signature line.

1
Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title (Form VR-018)
2
Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Duplicate Certificate of Title Request
3
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Transportation Code 13-805 – Fee for Duplicate Certificate of Title
4
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Transportation Code 13-704 – Fraudulent Applications Prohibited
5
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Transportation Code 14-110 – Altered or Forged Documents or Plates