Replace a lost title (REG 227)
Your pink slip is gone, damaged, or never arrived. The REG 227 is the DMV's replacement-and-transfer form — who can file it, what it costs, and the lienholder rule that catches people out.
California paperwork guides
California Car Paperwork Guides
Most car sales don't stall on price — they stall on paperwork. Start here.
Get my guaranteed offer →The offer we make is the offer you get for 7 days, when the car matches its description. If hidden or unreported damage is found at pickup, any adjustment is shown with photo evidence before you decide.
Paperwork guides, in plain English
Most car sales don't stall on price — they stall on paperwork. These walkthroughs cover the California DMV forms that come up again and again when a title is lost, a car is sold, or an owner has passed away. Every step follows the California DMV's own process. If your situation is one of the ones we buy cars in, you don't have to finish the paperwork alone — we complete it with you at pickup. The seller guides below cover the rest of the sale: smog rules, back fees, loans, what a car is worth, and how our guaranteed offer works.
The guides
Release of Liability (REG 138)
You sold the car — now tell the DMV. California law gives you 5 days to file a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability so tickets and tolls stop coming to you.
Title transfer after a death (REG 5)
When a car's owner dies, an heir can often transfer the title without probate using the REG 5 affidavit — the 40-day rule, the documents you need, and when probate is required.
Seller guides: the rest of the sale
How to Sell Your Car in California
The full California sale in order: price, smog, title, handoff, and the DMV notice that closes the loop. Written for sellers across Los Angeles County.
Smog Check Rules for Sellers
Who provides the smog certificate, how long it lasts, which cars are exempt in California, and what to do when a car fails. Clear rules before you list.
Selling a Car With Back Fees
How California registration penalties build in tiers, why they follow the car, what PNO stops, and the two honest ways to sell when a balance is already owed.
Selling a Car With a Loan
Lienholders, electronic titles, and payoffs explained plainly, including what happens when the payoff is larger than the car's price. No surprises at closing.
Title Not in Your Name
Why a stranger-signed title stops a sale, why title jumping is illegal in California, and the real fixes, from titling it yourself to a bonded title.
What Affects Your Car's Cash Value
The real factors buyers weigh — model demand, mileage, condition, title, smog, registration, keys, and records — and how they read the whole picture.
Trade-In vs. Private Sale vs. Cash Buyer
An honest three-way comparison on money, time, effort, smog duty, and risk — with the genuine best case for each path, so you can choose with open eyes.
Selling a Car That Won't Run
Repair, as-is sale, dismantlers, donation, and state retirement for a non-running car, with verified program figures and an honest note on what we cannot buy.
Paperwork Checklist for Sellers
Every document in a California sale, in order: title, smog certificate, REG 135, odometer rules, REG 138, and plates — plus the mistakes that come back later.
How Our Guaranteed Offer Works
One hand-reviewed offer from your condition answers, guaranteed for 7 days, free pickup across Los Angeles County, and payment at pickup after verification.
Selling with a paperwork problem?
These are the situations our intake is built for:
- No title — sell a car without a title
- Inherited car — sell an inherited car
- Car with a lien — sell a car with a lien
Selling the car instead? We handle the paperwork with you
Ready when you are
Complete one vehicle intake, see your offer, and arrange free local pickup. No obligation, and no strangers coming to your door.
Get my guaranteed offer →