Louisiana Vehicle Title Transfer: Deadline, Documents, and Fees

To complete a Louisiana vehicle title transfer, the buyer must apply for a new certificate of title at an Office of Motor Vehicles branch or a licensed Public Tag Agent within five days of taking delivery of the vehicle.¹ The application requires the signed-over title with a notarized assignment, a bill of sale, an odometer disclosure for newer vehicles, proof of Louisiana liability insurance, and a valid ID. The base title fee is $68.50, plus sales tax on the purchase price.²

The Five-Day Deadline

Louisiana gives buyers only five days from the date of delivery to apply for a new title.¹ The clock starts when you receive the signed-over title or take physical possession of the vehicle, whichever happens first. This is one of the shortest title-transfer windows in the country. Buyers routinely miss it because they assume Louisiana gives them 30 days, as many other states do.

Plan your paperwork before you hand over the money. If the seller can meet you at a notary, or if you can drive straight from the sale to a Public Tag Agent, you protect yourself from a rushed filing.

Documents You Need to Bring

A private-party transfer is built around a few core documents. Missing any one of them typically means the clerk rejects the application on the spot.

The Signed and Notarized Title

The seller completes the assignment section on the back of the existing title, printing and signing their name along with yours. Louisiana requires that assignment to be signed in front of a notary public. If a new lien is being recorded at the same time, an authorized agent of a federally insured financial institution can witness the signatures instead, but only if the seller is present and the institution has filed a designation of authorized officers on its letterhead.³

A Notarized Bill of Sale

The bill of sale must state the actual sale price, the transaction date, and a full description of the vehicle: year, make, model, and VIN. If the sale price is already written on the title and the assignment is notarized, a separate bill of sale is not required.³ When the seller cannot be present to sign the title, a signed and notarized bill of sale can stand in, with a notation on the first title assignment explaining the seller’s absence.⁴

Odometer Disclosure

Federal law requires an odometer disclosure statement for most transfers. As of 2026, vehicles from model year 2011 and newer need a disclosure because they still sit inside the 20-year exemption window. Vehicles from model year 2010 and older are exempt under the earlier 10-year rule and no longer need one.⁵ Louisiana’s administrative code mirrors this framework.⁶ Falsifying mileage carries criminal penalties.

Proof of Insurance and ID

Every vehicle registered in Louisiana must carry liability insurance meeting the state minimums: $15,000 for bodily injury to one person, $30,000 for bodily injury per accident, and $25,000 for property damage.⁷ You must show proof of coverage before the transfer will be processed.⁸ The application also requires your full legal name and driver’s license or state ID number exactly as they appear on the card.¹

Where to File

You can file at a state OMV field office or at a licensed Public Tag Agent. Both feed into the same state system, so the end record is identical.

OMV field offices are state facilities staffed by state employees. They handle every kind of motor vehicle transaction. Wait times can run long, and hours follow a standard government schedule.

Public Tag Agents are private businesses authorized by the state to collect taxes and fees, issue plates, process title applications, and handle some driver’s license work.⁹ They include auto title companies, new-vehicle dealers, and some parish and municipal offices. Hours are often longer, lines shorter. The trade-off is a convenience fee of up to $23 per transaction.¹⁰

Fees and Sales Tax

The base title fee is $68.50.² On top of that, the OMV charges an $8.00 handling fee and a local fee of up to $6.00. Recording a lien adds $15.00 for a UCC-1 financing statement or $10.00 for other security agreements.³ A Public Tag Agent may add its convenience fee of up to $23 on top of all of this.¹⁰

Sales tax is where the real cost lands. The state rate is 4.45 percent of the purchase price, and local parish and municipal taxes add another 1.85 to 7 percent.¹¹ Combined rates in most areas fall between 8 and 11 percent. On a $15,000 vehicle, expect $1,200 to $1,650 in sales tax alone. All taxes and fees must be paid before the state will issue new ownership documents.

If the Vehicle Has an Outstanding Lien

When the vehicle you are buying still carries a loan, the existing lien must be properly released before title can pass to you. The seller pays off the loan, the lender issues a release, and that release is reflected on the title. The OMV will not process the transfer until the title shows a properly released lien.³

Do not hand money to a seller who promises to clear the lien later. Once the funds change hands, you have little leverage to force the release. If you are financing your purchase, your lender will record its own lien at the time of transfer, adding the $15.00 or $10.00 recordation fee.³

Transferring a Vehicle as a Gift

When a vehicle is given rather than sold, Louisiana uses an Act of Donation form (DPSMV 1699) in place of a bill of sale.¹² The Act of Donation must be notarized in every case; the financial-institution witness exception does not apply.³ The rest of the checklist is the same: ID, proof of insurance, and odometer disclosure if the vehicle is not exempt.

Transferring a Title After the Owner’s Death

If the previous owner has died, the process depends on whether a formal succession (Louisiana’s term for probate) has been opened. When no succession is pending, heirs can use an Affidavit of Heirship (form DPSMV 1696) to transfer the vehicle without going through court.¹³ This route requires:

A death certificate or published obituary.
The Affidavit of Heirship, signed by the surviving spouse and all heirs and notarized.
A copy of the will, if one exists, or a notarized statement of its contents relevant to vehicles.
Vehicle application form DPSMV 1799, with current mileage.
Photo ID for every person listed as an owner on the application.

If a surviving spouse is transferring the vehicle to someone else, only the spouse signs the bill of sale or Act of Donation, but all other heirs must still sign the Affidavit of Heirship. When there is no surviving spouse, all heirs sign both documents.¹³ Once a succession has been opened and a court judgment rendered, this simplified process no longer applies, and the court’s order controls the transfer.

The Seller’s Duty to Report the Sale

If you are on the selling side of the deal, your job does not end at the notary. Louisiana law requires the seller to submit a written notice of the transfer to the commissioner within 15 days of the sale.¹⁴ The notice must include the date of transfer, the names and addresses of buyer and seller, and a description of the vehicle. Sellers who skip this step can remain on the hook for parking tickets, toll violations, or liability claims tied to a vehicle they no longer own. The form is on the OMV website, and filing it takes only a few minutes.

1
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 32-707 – Application for Certificates of Title
2
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 32-728 – Fees
3
Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles. Used Title and Registration
4
Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Office of Motor Vehicles Policy 7.00 – Open Titles
5
eCFR. 49 CFR Part 580 – Odometer Disclosure Requirements
6
Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 55 III-398 – Odometer Disclosure
7
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 32-900 – Motor Vehicle Liability Policy Defined
8
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 32-861 – Security Required
9
Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles. Auto Title Companies and Public Tag Agents
10
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 47-532.1 – Public License Tag Agents
11
Louisiana Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle Sales Tax
12
Louisiana Department of Public Safety Office of Motor Vehicles. Act of Donation of a Movable DPSMV1699
13
Louisiana Department of Public Safety Office of Motor Vehicles. Office of Motor Vehicles Policy 18.02 – Affidavit of Heirship
14
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 47-510 – Notice of Sale or Transfer