North Dakota title transfer cost and calculator

How much does it cost to transfer a title in North Dakota?

The title itself costs $5 in North Dakota. Add $5 to record a lien if the car is financed, which brings the paperwork to $10. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. Title and registration together, the way most people do it in one visit, come to about $99.50 on a used $20,000 car, before tax.

The fee is the small part. On a $20,000 car North Dakota also collects about $1,000 in motor vehicle excise tax on the purchase, which is far more than the title fee.

Work out your own figure on the North Dakota registration fee calculator, which itemizes every line and links to the source for each one.

How to transfer a car title in North Dakota

1. Get the paperwork right. The seller signs the title over to you and you fill in an application to put it in your name. NDDOT lists the exact forms on its own site.
2. Where you go. The North Dakota DOT Motor Vehicle Division, online, by mail, or at a motor vehicle office. New residents register after establishing residency. source 1
3. Pay. The title fee of $5, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
4. Do it in time. Treat the deadline as short and go in the first week, before the sale date turns into a late fee.

Do both of you need to be there, and can you do it online?

NDDOT does not say whether both of you have to be there. As a rule the seller has to sign the title over and the buyer signs the application, and where a state wants both signatures notarized a notary can stand in for one party being present. Confirm it with the NDDOT before you both take time off.

Can you transfer a title online in North Dakota?

Yes. North Dakota lets you title and renew online through its Motor Vehicle self-service portal. source 1

Transferring a title to a family member, or as a gift

A gift between a husband and wife, parent and child, grandparent and grandchild, or brothers and sisters is exempt from the 5% excise tax, including a transfer into a trust between those relatives. source 6

Do not write $1 on the form to dodge the tax. North Dakota taxes what you actually paid, which is exactly why an understated price is treated as fraud rather than a smart move. If it truly is a gift, claim it as one on the proper form at the time of the transfer.

How long you have, and what late costs

NDDOT does not publish a deadline. Treat it as short: every state in this set that does publish one gives you 30 days or fewer from the date of sale.

The clock starts on the sale date, not the day you get round to it, so a signed title left in a drawer is already running down. A transfer you never finish leaves the car in the seller's name, and tickets, tolls and abandoned-vehicle notices all follow the registered owner.

When something is missing

Most of what people search here is a version of "can I still do this without". The honest general answer, worth confirming with NDDOT for your own case:

• No title. The seller applies for a duplicate before selling. A car sold without its title is not a car you can register, and a seller who cannot produce one is a seller to walk away from.
• There is still a loan on it. The lender holds the title or the lien is recorded against it, and it only moves cleanly once the loan is cleared. Never hand over money for a financed car before you have seen the lien released in writing. North Dakota charges $5 to record a lien, so that line shows up on your own paperwork when you finance a car here.
• No bill of sale. Some states require one and some do not, but write one anyway. It is the only record of what you paid, and in North Dakota what you paid is what any tax is worked out on.
• The owner has died. This goes through the estate rather than a normal transfer, and what is needed depends on whether there is a will and whether the estate goes to probate. It is the one case here where it is worth ringing NDDOT before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where North Dakota wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about North Dakota title transfers

Once the title is in your name

The title is half of it. The plate and the registration are the other half, and the tax lands with them. The North Dakota registration fee calculator works out the whole bill line by line, including what a dealer means when they quote a single tax, title and license number.

Nearby states

Or see car title transfer by state for all 51.

Where these numbers come from