How do you fill out the assignment on a Wisconsin title?

Before anyone writes on it

Check three things first. The name on the front must be the seller's; WisDOT says a vehicle has to be titled in the seller's name before it can be sold. The VIN on the title must match the vehicle. And if a lender is listed, the seller needs a lien release to hand over with the title.

Then slow down. A title is a secure document, and WisDOT's correction options are limited. Fill it in once, carefully, in blue or black ink.

What the seller fills in

WisDOT's selling instructions and its odometer rules call for:

• Seller signature and date, in the area for the selling owner or owners
• Every listed owner's signature if the names are joined by 'and'; any one owner if joined by 'or'
• Odometer reading in whole miles, no tenths, for model year 2011 and newer vehicles still within 20 years of their model year
• One odometer certification: actual, not actual, or in excess of mechanical limits
• Brand disclosure, if the vehicle was ever a taxi or public transportation vehicle, salvaged, flood damaged or used as a police vehicle
• Selling price
• Buyer's name and address

What the buyer does

Read the completed back of the title before you pay. Make sure your name is spelled the way you want it on your new title, the price is right, and the mileage matches the dash. Sign where the title asks for the purchaser, if it does.

Then apply for your own title, either online through eMV Public or with form MV1 mailed to WisDOT at P.O. Box 7949, Madison WI 53707-7949, with the original title, the $214.50 title fee and sales tax. If you will drive the vehicle, WisDOT says to title and register it within two business days and display plates in that time.

The small errors that cause the big delays

Plenty of title problems are not legal puzzles at all. They are a pen in the wrong place.

Writing the seller's name in the buyer box is common enough that WisDOT gives it its own line on the MV2489 page. Read the labels on each line before you write.

Odometer readings go in whole miles. Trans 154 says the reading excludes tenths, so leave off the last digit if the dash shows one. Pick exactly one certification: actual, not actual, or exceeds mechanical limits.

Leaving the price blank, or writing a token number, is a problem too. WisDOT says the Department of Revenue checks titles and investigates suspiciously low sale prices, and the buyer's sales tax is figured from it.

Last, a title with two owners joined by "and" that only one person signed will not transfer. If the second owner has died, that is a different process, not a signature you can skip.

If something goes wrong on the assignment

WisDOT's Statement of Intent, form MV2489, is for a change or erasure in the purchaser, lienholder or odometer area. The form and WisDOT's page cover a buyer who backed out after being written in, someone listed as purchaser who was only the owner's agent, a seller who wrote their own name in the purchaser or lien area, a seller who printed the wrong buyer's name, and a sale that never happened. The person who should not be listed draws a single line through their name and completes the form, and it travels with the original title.

If White-Out or a similar product was used, WisDOT says not to use MV2489. The owner applies for a replacement title with form MV2119 and starts the assignment fresh. That means a $20 fee and a wait, which is why care the first time is worth it.

Sources, checked 2026-10-31: WisDOT: Sell your vehicle · Wis. Admin. Code Trans 154 (assignment and odometer) · WisDOT: Statement of intent · WisDOT: MV1 Title/License Plate Application. Rules can change; confirm with WisDOT before you file.