You Sold the Car. Now File the Release of Liability.

When you sell or give away a vehicle in California, the DMV record still shows you as the owner until the buyer completes the transfer, and buyers are slow. The Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability is the seller's five-day filing that tells the DMV the exact date you handed the vehicle over, so that parking tickets, toll violations, towing bills, and accident liability after that date belong to the buyer, not you.

What it needs

The plate number, the last five digits of the VIN, the odometer reading at the time of sale, the date of sale, the sale price, and the buyer's name and address. It is free to file and can be done online at the DMV website, which is what we tell sellers to do the same day they hand over the keys.

What it does not do

It does not transfer the title. The buyer still has to file the transfer and pay the fees; the NRL just documents that you are out. If the buyer never files, the record eventually shows the vehicle as sold by you on the NRL date, which is exactly the protection you want.

If you forgot

File it now with the real sale date. A late NRL still records the date of sale, and it is the document you will point to when a ticket from three months later shows up in your mailbox.