How We Check State Rules

This page explains how Bill of Sale by State researches, writes, checks and updates the state rules shown next to the free generator. The short version: every state rule comes from an official government source, each claim links to that source, and anything we cannot confirm is left out.

1. Which sources count

We only use primary, official sources for state rules. In practice that means four kinds of document:

  • Pages published by the state motor vehicle agency: TxDMV in Texas, FLHSMV in Florida, the Georgia Department of Revenue Motor Vehicle Division and NCDMV in North Carolina.
  • Official state forms, such as Florida's HSMV 82050 bill of sale form, Georgia's Form T-7 and Texas Form 130-U, the Application for Texas Title and/or Registration.
  • County tax office pages where counties handle titling, such as the Travis County and Montgomery County tax offices in Texas.
  • State statutes or administrative rules, when an agency page refers to them.

We do not use other bill of sale websites, forum posts, legal-form vendors or search engine snippets as sources for a rule. When a commercial site is mentioned for context, it is named in plain text and never treated as evidence. The complete list of documents we rely on, currently 18 official pages and forms, is on our sources page.

2. How a rule gets onto a page

  • Find the official statement. For each state and asset type we look for what the agency says about four questions: is there an official bill of sale form, must the bill of sale or title be notarized, is an odometer statement required, and where does the title transfer happen.
  • Quote narrowly. We write each point as a short summary of what the source actually says, without extending it to situations the source does not cover.
  • Link the source. Every point on a state page carries a "Source" link to the exact page or form we used, and the plain-text version of each page (the same URL plus ".txt") lists the source address beside every claim.
  • Date it. Each state page shows the date the rules were last checked. The current rules were checked on October 16, 2026.

3. When sources disagree or are unclear

Agency pages and forms are sometimes updated at different times. When two official sources disagree, we use the most specific and most recently updated one, and we say on the page that you should confirm with the office before signing. When an official source is silent or ambiguous on a point, we do not fill the gap with a guess. The point is simply left off the page.

4. How the generator works

The PDF is built in your browser by pdf-lib, an open-source library served from this site. The form asks for the details agencies most often look for: the seller's and buyer's names and addresses, the year, make and model, the VIN or serial number, the odometer reading and status for motorized vehicles, the sale date and price, the payment method, "as is" or warranty terms, any liens the seller discloses, and signature lines. Trailer pages also ask for empty weight and gross weight rating, because some states use weight to decide whether a trailer must be titled. An optional blank notary block can be added, and it is switched on by default on Florida pages. Each state page adds a short state note to the PDF.

We test the generator before each release with sample data for every asset type, checking that every field prints in the right place, that the price is written in both numbers and words.

5. Reviews and updates

State pages are re-checked against their sources at least every six months, and sooner when an agency announces a form or fee change or a reader reports a difference. When a rule changes, we update the summary, the source link and the "checked" date together. We do not change dates on pages that were not re-checked.

6. What we leave out

We do not publish fees, tax rates or processing times unless they appear on an official source we link, because they change often and vary by county. We also do not cover firearms, boats, mobile homes or business sales. For those, check with the agency or a qualified professional.

7. Corrections

If you think a rule on this site is wrong or out of date, write to Cornelia Cove LLC, 418 Broadway, Ste N, Albany, NY 12207, or email hello@corneliacove.com, and include the page and the official source you are looking at. We check every report against the source, correct confirmed errors and update the page date. More about who runs the site is on our about page. Nothing here is legal advice.