Signing Over A Car
Va. Code 46.2-628 — the assignment fully and correctly endorsed, and the title handed over with the car
At delivery. An owner transferring title fully and correctly endorses the assignment and warranty of title on the certificate to the purchaser, with a statement of all security interests, and delivers the certificate at the time of delivering the vehicle.
Willfully not doing it. An owner who willfully fails to fully and correctly endorse the assignment and warranty of title is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
No title, no sale. Selling, trading, exchanging or bartering a motor vehicle without first securing a certificate of title, or without legally having in possession the certificate issued to its owner, is a Class 3 misdemeanor, except as the Code provides.
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 Virginia attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- Va. Code 46.2-628 — How a certificate of title is transferred
- Va. Code 46.2-617 — Selling a vehicle without a certificate of title
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Virginia attorney.