Oregon Statement of Error: Form 735-502, Deadlines, and Filing

Oregon’s Statement of Error is DMV Form 735-502, and it exists for one purpose: removing a name that was placed on a vehicle title, title application, or Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin by mistake.¹ If the problem on your title is anything other than a name that shouldn’t be there, this is the wrong form and you’ll need Form 735-264 instead.

What the Statement of Error Actually Fixes

The form’s instructions say it plainly: “THIS FORM CAN ONLY BE USED FOR NAME CORRECTIONS WHEN APPLYING FOR TITLE.”¹ The classic scenario is a buyer who signed in the seller’s block, or a name that ended up in the ownership record when it never belonged there in the first place.

The person whose name was placed in error is the one who fills the form out. When a DMV title clerk caused the mistake, the clerk completes it instead, signing with both the business name and a personal signature.² You’ll need the vehicle’s plate number and VIN, a checkbox showing where the error appears (title, title application, or MCO), a description of what happened, and the signer’s declaration that the name “has no bearing on the ownership of the vehicle.”¹

When Form 735-502 Won’t Work

Two situations look like Statement of Error cases but aren’t. If the person whose name appears actually held a financial interest in the vehicle at some point and later gave it up, Form 735-502 doesn’t apply. If that person genuinely signed the title application themselves, it doesn’t apply either. Both situations call for a signed release of interest instead.²

The form also won’t fix a misspelled name of the actual owner, a wrong VIN, a bad address, a customer number, an odometer figure, a title brand, or a survivorship arrangement. Those go on Form 735-264, the Request for Correction of Title Records, which the DMV uses for the broader universe of title fixes.³ Picking the right form at the start is what keeps a two-week fix from turning into a two-month one.

How to File

Send the completed Form 735-502 together with the original title. You have two ways to get everything to the DMV.

By mail, send it to DMV Headquarters at 1905 Lana Avenue NE, Salem, OR 97314. Mailed transactions go only to headquarters, not to local field offices, and headquarters doesn’t accept walk-ins or fees in its lobby.⁴⁵

In person, bring it to any local field office. A clerk can look it over on the spot and flag a missing signature or blank field before it becomes a rejection letter. That review is worth the drive if your situation is at all complicated.

What It Costs and How Long It Takes

When the DMV processes the correction and prints a new title, you’ll pay the standard title fee. For most passenger vehicles and light trucks, that fee ranges from $101 to $192 depending on fuel efficiency, with all-electric vehicles at the top of the range and heavy vehicles at $90.⁶ Oregon posted new fee amounts taking effect December 31, 2025, so check the DMV’s fee page before you write the check.

Standard Oregon titles are running about two to three weeks. If the DMV needs more information from you, expect a letter roughly a week after you submit, and the clock restarts when you resubmit.⁷

Don’t Let the 30-Day Deadline Lapse

Title name errors usually surface during a sale, and Oregon gives you 30 days from the date of sale to submit the title application. The DMV doesn’t waive late penalties because a correction was in progress:

31 to 60 days late: $25 penalty
More than 60 days late: $50 penalty

Those amounts stack on top of the regular title fee.⁷ If you’re the buyer and you spot a name error in the seller’s paperwork, start the correction immediately rather than waiting to see whether the DMV catches it.

If the Other Party Has Disappeared

Form 735-502 has to be signed by the person whose name was placed in error. That’s a problem when the other party is unreachable or uncooperative.

Oregon accepts a Power of Attorney (Form 735-500) for title transactions. If the other party signed one before things went sideways, the designated representative can sign title documents on their behalf. The form needs the representative’s name, the vehicle’s plate number or VIN, and the owner’s original signature.⁸ That obviously only helps when the paperwork was in place ahead of time.

When the original title is lost, mutilated, or destroyed, ORS 803.065 lets the DMV accept alternative proof of ownership: bills of sale, assignments of interest, statements of release, or other documentation the department finds adequate to show a legitimate transfer.⁹ If you’re stuck between an unreachable seller and thin documentation, call the DMV directly. These cases tend to need individual review, and a phone call before you mail anything can save weeks.

The Honesty Warning Is Not Boilerplate

Every Statement of Error signature sits above a warning worth reading. Under ORS 803.075, knowingly making a false statement on a vehicle title document is a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $6,250, or both.¹ The correction system runs on the signer’s word about what actually went wrong, and the penalty is calibrated to that reliance. Sign only what you know to be true.

1
Oregon Department of Transportation. Oregon DMV Form 735-502 – Statement of Error or Erasure of a Name
2
Oregon Department of Transportation. DMV Title and Registration Handbook – Chapter E: Releases of Interest
3
Oregon Department of Transportation. Oregon DMV Form 735-264 – Request for Correction of Title Records
4
Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services. DMV Offices
5
Oregon Department of Transportation. DMV Offices – Headquarters
6
Oregon Department of Transportation. Vehicle Title, Registration and Permit Fees
7
Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services. Titling and Registering Your Vehicle
8
Oregon Department of Transportation. Oregon DMV Form 735-500 – Power of Attorney
9
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 803 – Vehicle Title and Registration