Signing Over A Car
Veh. & Traf. Law § 2113 — the assignment and warranty of title at delivery, and the buyer's thirty days
At delivery. An owner transferring an interest in a vehicle executes, at the time of delivery, an assignment and warranty of title to the transferee on the certificate, with a signed statement of any facts known that could reasonably affect the title's validity or that none are known, and mails or delivers the certificate to the transferee.
The buyer's thirty days. The transferee, within thirty days after transfer, executes the application for a new certificate of title and mails or delivers the certificate and application to the commissioner.
The copy that counts. An owner who delivered possession to a bona fide transferee and complied with the section is not deemed an owner for the vehicle liability section, and is not presumed to have abandoned the vehicle, if the owner retained a copy of the assignment and warranty of title. Failing to retain it does not prevent the owner from rebutting those presumptions.
Fees, taxes, odometer statements and the dealer rules are set out in other sections that are not on this page. Whether a particular sale left the seller liable is a question for a licensed New York attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- Veh. & Traf. Law § 2113 — Assignment of title, and the buyer application within thirty days
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed New York attorney.