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- What California REG 135 records
- A bill of sale and a title do different jobs
- California does not generally require notarization
- The seller’s five-day DMV notice is separate
- The buyer’s 10-day transfer period
- Odometer disclosure may require another form
- Smog duties are not created or waived by the bill of sale
- How to read the complete transaction record
- Sources
Key Facts
- California state level: California DMV Form REG 135 records the vehicle, seller, buyer, transfer date, and selling price or gift value.
- California state level: A California motor vehicle bill of sale is not the same document as the endorsed Certificate of Title or the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability.
- California state level: DMV guidance says a qualifying bill of sale does not need notarization or a witness.
- California state level: A seller who transfers and delivers a registered vehicle must notify DMV within five calendar days under Vehicle Code section 5900.
- California state level: A transferee who receives a properly endorsed certificate of ownership must apply for transfer within 10 days under Vehicle Code section 5902.
A California motor vehicle bill of sale creates a written record of a vehicle’s sale, gift, or other transfer between identified parties.
It can document the price and delivery date and help establish the chain of ownership, but it does not replace every document in California’s title-transfer process.
What California REG 135 records
California DMV publishes the one-page Bill of Sale, Form REG 135, for vehicle and vessel transfers.
The form asks for the vehicle identification number, year, make, license plate number, seller and buyer names, transfer date, selling price, and, for a gift, the relationship and gift value.
The seller signs a declaration under penalty of perjury and supplies identifying and contact information, while the buyer section identifies the new owner and mailing address.
REG 135 includes a duplicate section that can be separated and retained as a transaction record.
DMV’s registration manual also says any bill of sale that identifies the vehicle or vessel can be acceptable, so REG 135 is the official standard form rather than the only imaginable format.
A bill of sale and a title do different jobs
The California Certificate of Title is the ownership document that is endorsed and submitted in the transfer process.
The bill of sale records the transaction and may support the chain of ownership, but handing over REG 135 alone does not permanently update the DMV ownership record.
For an ordinary private-party purchase, DMV identifies the signed title as a core transfer document and requires the buyer to submit the transfer materials and applicable fees.
If the seller is not the person named on the title, DMV says the buyer needs a bill of sale signed by both the seller and the titled owner.
This distinction is easier to see by comparing the state-specific form with the broader purpose of a bill of sale.
California does not generally require notarization
California DMV’s vehicle-registration manual states that a bill of sale is not required to be notarized or witnessed.
That rule concerns the bill of sale itself; a different form or a lienholder release in the same transaction can carry its own signature or notarization requirements.
DMV also identifies situations in which a bill of sale is not required, including sales between California-licensed dealers and dealer-to-retail sales with a properly endorsed title.
In other circumstances, the manual permits a bill of sale in place of the registered owner’s release signature on the title when the title is marked as instructed by DMV.
The seller’s five-day DMV notice is separate
Vehicle Code section 5900 requires an owner who sells or transfers a registered vehicle and delivers possession to notify DMV within five calendar days.
The notice identifies the sale date, transferor and transferee, and vehicle, and it also addresses the odometer reading.
California uses the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability, commonly called the NRL or REG 138, for this reporting step.
An NRL is not a substitute for the buyer’s title-transfer application, and DMV expressly states that filing the notice does not itself transfer ownership.
Vehicle Code section 5602 limits certain post-transfer civil or criminal liability when a bona fide seller delivers possession and satisfies the statutory notice or registration-document conditions.
A dated bill of sale can support the transaction record, while the NRL performs the separate DMV-notice function.
The buyer’s 10-day transfer period
Vehicle Code section 5902 requires a transferee who receives a properly endorsed certificate of ownership to forward it with the transfer fee and apply for transfer within 10 days.
DMV’s private-party guidance describes the same division of responsibilities: the buyer has 10 days to transfer ownership, and the seller has five days to report the sale.
The buyer’s package may also require fees, use tax, a smog certification, and odometer documentation depending on the vehicle and transaction.
A sale date that is consistent across the bill of sale, title, NRL, odometer statement, and transfer application reduces ambiguity in the administrative record.
Odometer disclosure may require another form
Vehicle Code section 5900 requires mileage information in the seller’s notice, subject to the statute’s stated circumstances.
For private-party transfers requiring odometer disclosure, DMV directs the registered owner and buyer to complete the mileage disclosure on a complying California title.
If an appropriate title section is unavailable or another listed circumstance applies, DMV may require both parties to complete the same Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment Form, REG 262.
REG 262 is printed on security paper and is not available as an ordinary online download.
The selling price written on REG 135 therefore does not replace the mileage disclosure required on the title or REG 262.
Smog duties are not created or waived by the bill of sale
California Vehicle Code section 24007 generally prohibits delivery of a covered motor vehicle that does not comply with specified emissions law and requires the seller to provide the appropriate compliance or noncompliance certificate, subject to statutory exceptions.
The smog rule turns on the vehicle and transfer, not on whether the bill of sale uses the words “as is.”
A separate article on an as-is bill of sale can explain that phrase generally, but California’s mandatory vehicle-transfer rules still require their own analysis.
DMV lists smog certification among the documents that may be needed to complete a private-party transfer.
How to read the complete transaction record
The same legal names should be traced across the title, bill of sale, identification records, lien releases, and DMV submissions.
The vehicle description should be checked by VIN rather than by color, nickname, or informal description alone.
The price or gift notation, transfer date, mileage information, signatures, and delivery facts answer different questions and should not be collapsed into one blank.
A bill of sale can be important evidence of the transaction without being proof that DMV accepted the title transfer or that every statutory condition was satisfied.
The complete California record is the coordinated set of transfer documents, not REG 135 viewed in isolation.
Sources
- California DMV Bill of Sale, REG 135
- California DMV Registration Manual: Bill of Sale
- California Vehicle Code Section 5900
- California Vehicle Code Section 5902
- California Vehicle Code Section 5602
- California DMV Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability
- California DMV Private-Party Vehicle Registration
- California DMV Odometer Transfer Procedures
- California Vehicle Code Section 24007
