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To legally transfer ownership, the seller must sign the back of the Georgia Certificate of Title in the designated seller section. Georgia does not require this signature to be notarized to be valid. You must then take this signed title, along with your Georgia driver's license, proof of insurance, and a completed MV-1 form, to the Twiggs County Tax Commissioner's Office located right in Jeffersonville to finalize the transfer.
While a properly assigned title technically transfers ownership, a Bill of Sale (Georgia Form T-7) is highly recommended and often requested by the tag office. It serves as your official receipt and protects both you and the seller from future disputes about the sale price, date, or vehicle condition. It should include the VIN, vehicle details, sale price, date, and signatures of both parties.
In Georgia, the license plate stays with the seller. Plates are registered to an individual, not the vehicle. The seller is required by law to remove their plate before you take possession of the car. Do not drive the car with the seller's plates on it.
Since the seller keeps their plate, Georgia allows you a seven-day grace period to drive the vehicle without a license plate. To drive legally during this short window, you must carry the properly signed and assigned original title, a dated Bill of Sale, and proof of active Georgia auto insurance in the car with you at all times. This proves to law enforcement that you just purchased the vehicle.
Before paying, carefully inspect the title document. Ensure the seller’s name on the title matches their government-issued ID. Critically, verify that the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the title perfectly matches the VIN on the car’s dashboard and driver-side door jamb.
A lien means a lender still has a financial claim on the vehicle. You can check for liens by looking at the front of the physical title document. If a lienholder is listed, the seller must provide you with an official, stamped lien release document from the lender before the tag office will issue you a clear title. You can also run the VIN through online checking services to verify lien status.