To notarize a car title in Ohio, a commissioned notary public verifies the signer’s identity, administers an oath, watches the signer sign the title assignment or BMV Form 3770, and then completes and seals a jurat certificate on the document. Ohio treats a title transfer as a sworn statement, not a simple acknowledgment, so the verbal oath and in-person signing are both required. Without them, the Clerk of Courts title office will reject the transfer.
Who Can Notarize and What They Need
Only a notary holding a current commission from the Ohio Secretary of State may perform the act.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 147.01 – Appointment and Commission of Notaries Public The commission is statewide, so the notarization can happen in any Ohio county regardless of where the notary lives or where the vehicle is titled.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 147.07 – Jurisdiction
The notary must have an official seal. Ohio law requires the state coat of arms inside a one-inch circle, along with the words “notary public” or “notarial seal,” the notary’s name, and “State of Ohio.”3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 147.04 – Seal Stamp or embosser both work. If the notary’s name is not on the seal itself, it must be printed legibly near the signature.
What the Signer Brings
Everyone whose signature is being notarized has to appear in person. No phone calls, no pre-signed documents dropped off later. The notary has to see the signer, verify their identity, and watch them sign.
Ohio Administrative Code 111:6-1-05 lets a notary accept any of the following:
- A current U.S. or foreign passport.
- A current driver’s license or state-issued ID card.
- A current U.S. military ID.
- Any current government-issued card showing a photograph and signature.
- A credible witness personally known to the notary who can swear the signer is who they claim to be.
“Current” means unexpired. Ohio’s notary statutes do not spell that out, but the administrative code word choice is what most notaries rely on, and most will refuse an expired ID.
The signer also has to bring the form or title fully filled in wherever they are about to sign. Every blank in the assignment section needs an entry before the notary witnesses the signature; where a field does not apply, write “N/A” or “NONE.”4Ohio.gov. Ownership Assignment and Title Application for Casual Sale – BMV 3770 And nothing on the title can be whited out, taped over, or erased. Any alteration voids the title, and a notary who sees one should refuse to notarize.
Paper Title or Electronic Title
Which signatures need notarization depends on which type of title the seller holds.
Paper Title
The seller fills out the “Assignment of Ownership” section on the back of the physical title and has their signature notarized. The signed, notarized title then goes to the buyer, who takes it to a Clerk of Courts title office.5Ohio BMV. Vehicle Titles – How to Title Only the seller’s signature is notarized on a paper title.
Electronic Title
With an electronic title there is no physical document to sign, so both parties use BMV Form 3770. The seller completes and gets notarized on page one; the buyer completes and gets notarized on page two.5Ohio BMV. Vehicle Titles – How to Title Two notarizations, not one.
Form 3770 is limited to private-party sales between Ohio residents. Dealerships and insurance companies cannot use it, and it does not cover all-purpose vehicles, off-highway motorcycles, watercraft, or outboard motors — those transfers require a physical title.
The Four Steps of the Notarization
1. Verify Identity
The notary examines the ID and confirms the name matches what appears on the title or the 3770. If the photo does not match, the name is spelled differently, or the ID looks altered, the notary should stop. The notary also needs to be satisfied that the signer understands what they are signing and is signing willingly.6Justia. Ohio Revised Code 147.53 – Taking an Acknowledgment
2. Administer the Oath
Ohio car title assignments use a jurat. The form and the back of the paper title both read “Sworn to and subscribed in my presence,” which means the signer is swearing under oath that the information is true.4Ohio.gov. Ownership Assignment and Title Application for Casual Sale – BMV 3770 The verbal oath must come before the signing. A typical wording is, “Do you swear that the statements in this document are true to the best of your knowledge, so help you God?” The signer answers “yes” or “I do.” If the signer would rather not swear a religious oath, the notary must offer an affirmation using “affirm” and dropping the religious phrase. Skipping the verbal oath invalidates the jurat.
The seller is swearing to two things with real legal weight: the true selling price and the odometer reading. A false statement on either violates Ohio Revised Code 2921.13 and can bring up to six months in jail, a fine up to $1,000, or both. Federal odometer fraud penalties reach higher still.4Ohio.gov. Ownership Assignment and Title Application for Casual Sale – BMV 3770 The odometer disclosure itself is required under federal law, 49 CFR Part 580, and the certifications for actual mileage, mileage exceeding mechanical limits, or a reading that is not actual mileage are already printed on the form for the seller to select.7eCFR. Part 580 – Odometer Disclosure Requirements
3. Witness the Signature
Once the oath is administered, the signer signs in the notary’s presence. A signature made earlier, before the notary was watching, cannot be used for a jurat. The signer signs; the notary sees it happen.
4. Complete the Certificate and Seal
The notary fills in the notarial certificate: the county and state where the notarization took place, the date, and the notary’s own signature.8Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 147.542 – Notarial Certificates Then the seal, and the commission expiration date. If the printed certificate block on the title is too small or damaged, a loose jurat certificate can be attached instead.
Multiple Owners
Every owner listed on the title must sign the assignment, and every signature must be notarized.5Ohio BMV. Vehicle Titles – How to Title Ohio titles use “and” between owners, never “or,” so both signatures are required even if the original out-of-state title was worded differently. The owners do not have to appear together. If one signs today with one notary and the other signs next week with a different notary, that is fine; the second notarization goes on a loose jurat certificate attached to the title.
When the Owner Cannot Sign: Power of Attorney
An owner who cannot sign personally can authorize someone else to sign using BMV Form 3771, Power of Attorney for Certificate of Title. The POA form itself must be notarized before it is used. When the attorney-in-fact comes to sign the title, they must bring the original notarized POA, not a photocopy.5Ohio BMV. Vehicle Titles – How to Title The notary handling the title signing should check that the POA names the correct vehicle and that the person in front of them is the attorney-in-fact named on the form.
Notary Fees
Ohio caps notary fees at $5 per in-person notarial act and $30 for an online notarial act.9Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 147.08 – Fees Notarizing the seller’s signature is one act. If the buyer’s signature also needs notarization (as with a 3770), that is a second act at a second $5. Travel fees, if any, are separate; ask before the appointment.
Fixing Mistakes
Errors on the title itself cannot be corrected. No whiteout, no correction tape, no erasures, and no correction affidavit. Any alteration voids the title, and the only fix is a replacement certificate from a Clerk of Courts title office. The owner takes the title and valid ID to a title office and requests one; once issued, the assignment can be completed fresh and notarized.
Errors in the notary’s certificate section are a different matter. A wrong date or misspelled county can usually be corrected by drawing a single line through the mistake, writing the correct information, and initialing it. If the certificate section is too messy to fix cleanly, the notary attaches a fresh loose jurat and completes it properly.
After the Notarization
Notarization is only the middle of the transfer. The buyer has 30 days from the date of sale to file the title application at a Clerk of Courts title office; missing that window brings a late fee.10Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 4505.06 – Application for Certificate of Title The application itself is also sworn, before a notary or an authorized officer at the title office, so the buyer should be ready to sign under oath again at that stage.