4.020 Application for Duplicate Title

An Application for Duplicate Title (REG 227) is used to transfer ownership when the California title is lost, stolen, mutilated, or illegible. A mutilated or illegible title must be submitted with the application. The REG 227 must be properly completed and endorsed for transfer. If the legal owner/lienholder of record is releasing interest, the signature must be notarized (VC §5752).

A California notary’s stamp must include the notary’s name, the commission number, and expiration date, the county and state in which the commission was granted, and the state seal. An out-of-state notary’s stamp is acceptable. (Other states might not require the same information as California.)

Notarization may be:

• Next to the legal owner’s/lienholder’s release signature on the REG 227, or
• On a separate sheet of paper attached to the REG 227, or
• On any other document submitted in place of the release signature on the REG 227 that shows satisfaction of the lien, such as a Lien Satisfied (REG 166).

EXCEPTION: An insurance company (or its agent) is exempt from the notarized signature requirement on transfers of total loss salvage vehicles to the insurance company when a lienholder is indicated on the department’s record and an acceptable lien satisfied document from the lienholder is submitted by the insurance company (or its agent).