MVT-2 Maine Title Application: Documents, Fees, and Lenders

The MVT-2 Maine title application is the state’s official Application for Certificate of Title, and it is the only form that establishes legal ownership of a vehicle in Maine. You cannot download it. The MVT-2 is a multi-part carbon-copy document available only in person, from a BMV branch office, your town hall, or a municipal agent’s office.¹ Once you have the form, you complete it, attach proof of how you got the vehicle, pay the $33 fee, and send the package to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Do You Actually Need a Title

Maine uses a rolling 25-year rule. As of January 1, 2026, any vehicle with a model year of 2001 or newer needs a title before you can legally drive, sell, or register it in the state. On January 1, 2027, that requirement extends to model year 2002 and newer, and so on each year.²

If your vehicle is model year 2000 or older in 2026, it is title-exempt. You can register and drive it without ever filing an MVT-2. Some owners of older vehicles still apply voluntarily because a title makes a future sale or transfer far easier.

Where to Pick Up the Form

Because the MVT-2 is a carbon-copy form, there is no PDF version, no online portal, and no way to print it at home. Walk into a BMV branch office, your local town hall, or a municipal agent’s office and ask for one.¹ If you bought the vehicle from a Maine dealership, the dealer typically fills out and submits the MVT-2 for you. Private-party buyers handle it themselves.

What Goes on the Form

Maine law spells out exactly what the application has to include. Under 29-A MRS §654, the MVT-2 requires:³

Your full legal name, residence address, and mailing address.
The vehicle’s make, model, model year, body type, VIN, and whether it is new or used.
The current odometer reading at the time of ownership transfer.
The date you bought the vehicle and the name and address of the seller.
Every lienholder’s name, address, and loan date, listed in order of priority.
For a new vehicle, the manufacturer’s suggested retail price minus destination charge. For a used vehicle, the MSRP is only included if it appeared on the previous title.

The VIN should be exactly 17 characters and should match the dashboard plate or door-jamb sticker on the vehicle. Incomplete or unreadable entries are the top reason applications come back.

Documents to Attach

The MVT-2 alone will not get you a title. You have to include proof of how you acquired the vehicle, and the correct document depends on the situation:

New vehicle: the Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin, which the dealer hands over at sale.³
Used vehicle titled in Maine: the previous certificate of title with the seller’s assignment completed on the back, including the odometer reading, at the time of delivery.⁴
Vehicle titled in another state: the out-of-state title.³
Vehicle from a deceased owner: a surviving spouse can use the MVT-22 affidavit with the existing title. A personal representative uses their probate appointment paperwork. If there is no will and no probate, all immediate heirs sign the transfer and include a court statement confirming no will is being probated.⁵

A bill of sale showing the purchase price should also go in the package. Every document has to be an original with genuine signatures. The BMV’s Title Unit rejects photocopies and scans, and any signature on the back of a previous title has to be legible with no erasures or corrections.

One boundary worth naming: if the vehicle was ever branded salvage, rebuilt salvage, rebuilt, or repaired in any state, that legend follows the vehicle onto its Maine title, and a repaired or rebuilt vehicle has to pass a VIN and component inspection before it can be titled or registered for road use.⁶ The MVT-2 by itself does not resolve a branded-title situation.

Fees

The fees due with the MVT-2 are:⁷

Standard title: $33
Rush title: $43 ($33 base fee plus a $10 expedited surcharge)
Corrected title (clerical error or name change): $33
Duplicate title: $33 standard or $43 rush

The expedited surcharge is set by statute and applies to any title type.⁸ Make payments to the Secretary of State. Mail-in applications should use a check or money order. Branch offices generally take credit cards, sometimes with a small processing fee.

These fees cover only the title. Maine also charges a 5.5% sales tax on vehicle purchases, and the state collects it at registration rather than with the MVT-2. The purchase price you write on the application is what the state uses to calculate that tax, so the number matters beyond the title itself.

Submitting the Application

You have two ways to file:

By mail: send the completed MVT-2 and all supporting documents to the Division of Title Services, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, 29 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0029.²
In person: bring the package to a BMV branch office or participating municipal agent. Staff will check it for completeness before forwarding it to the Title Division, which means you find out immediately if something is missing.

Processing runs faster than many people expect. Turnaround is measured from the day the Title Division receives a complete, accurate application, not from the day you mailed it:²

Regular title: 14 business days
Rush title: 3 to 5 business days
Duplicate title: 5 to 8 business days

Errors or missing documents reset that clock. If the vehicle has no lien, the finished title is mailed to you. If there is a lien, the title goes to the lienholder and stays there until the loan is paid off.

If a Lender Is Involved

When a bank, credit union, or other lender finances the purchase, its security interest has to be recorded on the title. Under Maine law, the interest is perfected, meaning it is legally enforceable against other creditors, when the Secretary of State receives the title application listing the lienholder’s name, address, and the date of the loan agreement, along with the certificate of origin or existing title and the fee.⁹

Dealers get this right almost every time because lenders insist on it. In a private-party sale with your own financing, the responsibility is yours. Leave the lienholder off the MVT-2, or write the details wrong, and the lender’s claim on the vehicle may not be legally protected.

The Odometer Line

The mileage box on the MVT-2 is not a formality. When a vehicle changes hands, the seller has to give a written odometer disclosure as part of the title assignment.⁴ Under federal rules, vehicles model year 2011 or newer require odometer disclosures for the first 20 years of the vehicle’s life, while model year 2010 and older are exempt from the federal requirement.¹⁰

Misrepresenting an odometer reading is a federal offense with civil penalties of up to $10,000 per vehicle and criminal exposure of up to three years in prison for knowingly rolling back or disconnecting an odometer.¹¹ A defrauded buyer can also sue for three times actual damages or $10,000, whichever is greater.¹² Copy the reading off the dash carefully.

If You Lose Your Title Later

If a title you already have is lost, stolen, destroyed, or has become illegible, use form MVT-8 to request a duplicate. The fee is $33 for regular processing or $43 for a rush request. If the original was physically damaged, include whatever is left of it. The BMV will not issue a duplicate until at least 15 days after the previous title was issued.¹³

If BMV records still show a lien that has been paid off, the lienholder has to release its interest on form MVT-12 before a duplicate can issue. The duplicate is mailed to the owner unless you authorize delivery to a Maine-licensed dealer. If you later find the original after receiving a duplicate, you are required to surrender the original to the BMV’s Title Section.

1
Maine Secretary of State. Frequently Asked Questions – Titles
2
Maine Secretary of State. Titles
3
Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 29-A Section 654 – Application for Certificate of Title and Certificate of Salvage
4
Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 29-A Section 662 – Transfer of Interest in Vehicle
5
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Affidavit of Surviving Spouse or Personal Representative
6
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 29-A Section 667 – Salvage
7
Maine Secretary of State. Title Fees
8
Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 29-A Section 603 – Fees
9
Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 29-A Section 702 – Perfecting Security Interest
10
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Consumer Alert – Changes to Odometer Disclosure Requirements
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 32709 – Penalties
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 32710 – Civil Actions by Private Persons
13
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. MVT-8 Duplicate Title Request