MVD | Abandoned Motor Vehicle

**MVD Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday excluding state holidays **

What is needed to obtain a Georgia title and/or license plate for an abandoned motor vehicle?

Important: This state's abandoned motor vehicle laws require an abandoned motor vehicle to be sold at a public sale. See the definition of a public sale* below.

Click here to view a chart showing the Abandoned Motor Vehicle Process.

• A Georgia title will not be issued for an abandoned vehicle when the vehicle does not require a Georgia title, 1963-1985 year models, etc.

• Click here to view a list of vehicles that do and do not require a Georgia title.

• A Georgia title cannot be obtained for an abandoned motor vehicle on the basis of a surety bond.

Where to Apply

To apply for a Georgia title and license plate (tag), submit the following to the Tax Commissioner's office in the county in Georgia where you, the vehicle owner(s), reside.

For business owned and operated vehicles, apply at the Tax Commissioner's office in the county in Georgia where your business is located.

For commercial vehicles that travel in Georgia as well as other states and/or jurisdictions, the vehicle should be registered under the International Registration Plan (IRP) with this Department’s IRP Unit. After obtaining a Georgia title (when one is required), contact this Department's IRP Unit of the Motor Vehicle Division for what is needed to register your vehicle in this state under the International Registration Plan (IRP).

What is Needed to Apply

• A completed MV-1 tag and/or title application - Typed or printed in blue or black ink, except for the signature(s), electronically or legibly by-hand in the vehicle owner(s)' full legal name(s) and signed. If jointly owned, each owner must sign. For natural persons, enter each owner's valid Georgia driver's license number or Georgia identification card number in the spaces provided. A natural person's full legal name would be his or her complete name as it appears on his or her valid Georgia driver's license or Georgia identification card. Click here to read this Department's policy regarding identification and applications for tags and/or titles.

If all owners go in person to their County Tax Commissioner’s office with their valid Georgia driver's license or Georgia identification card, the required documents and applicable fees and taxes, this application can be completed on-line and printed for your signature(s) and processing.

• A certified copy of the Court Order authorizing the sale of this vehicle. Certified copies of court documents must contain the Clerk of the Court's signature and his or her seal or stamp.

• A completed and signed bill of sale (form T-7) from the person authorized by the Court to sell this vehicle conveying ownership to the applicant(s) using the applicant(s)' full legal name(s).

• A completed T-22B Certification of Inspection form - This form must be typed or printed in blue or black ink, except for the signature, electronically or legibly by-hand and signed. A Georgia law enforcement officer or a Georgia County Tax Commissioner or his or her designee must sign this completed form after making a visual inspection of the vehicle's identification number (VIN) plate (a/k/a serial plate).

Important: Incomplete forms or forms containing alterations will not be accepted!

The VIN on all documents must match the VIN as shown on your vehicle's VIN plate (a/k/a serial plate).

• A copy of the newspaper advertisement or advertisement posted at the county courthouse must be submitted when the person authorized by the Court to sell the vehicle and the purchaser are the same person.

Click here to read the duties of a person removing and/or storing a motor vehicle.

• A signed and notarized affidavit must be submitted stating a public sale was held and the purchaser made the highest bid when the person authorized to sell the vehicle and the purchaser are the same person.

• $18.00 title fee.

• $10.00 title penalty is due if the purchaser(s) have failed to apply for a Georgia title (when a title is required) in his and/or her name(s) within ninety-days (90) of the date he and/or she purchased the vehicle.

• $10.00 additional title penalty is due if the purchaser(s) previously applied for a Georgia title in his and/or her name(s) for this vehicle and their application was returned requesting additional action before title issuance and compliance has not been made within sixty-days (60) of the accompanying letter's date.

Pay all fee and taxes due with cash, check or money order payable to the Office of the Tax Commissioner. Some counties accept credit cards.

A Georgia tag will not be issued for a vehicle requiring a Georgia title unless a Georgia title has already been issued for the vehicle in the applicant(s)’ name(s) or a title is applied for at the time of registration.

If you are applying for a Georgia title and tag at the same time through your County Tax Commissioner's office, you must also comply with all of the requirements of vehicle registration. Click here to view what is required to register and obtain a tag for the vehicle.

When a vehicle is no longer an abandoned vehicle, an MV-603R Notice of Abandoned Vehicle Release form must be completed and forwarded to: Attention: Stop File, Motor Vehicle Division, P. O. Box 740384, Atlanta, Georgia 30374-0384.

Final Disposition of an Abandoned Motor Vehicle

Upon the final disposition of an abandoned motor vehicle, the applicable form listed below should be completed and submitted to the Court of competent jurisdiction. Click on the applicable form number and/or form name below to complete the form on-line for printing, signing and submission.

MV-603A Abandoned Vehicle Affidavit (Towing Company or Individual)

MV-603I Abandoned Vehicle Affidavit From Insurance Company or Company Storing Vehicle for Insurance Company

MV-603RF Abandoned Vehicle Affidavit From Repair Facility Storing Vehicle Definitions

Definitions

“Abandoned motor vehicle,” means a motor vehicle or trailer:

(A) Which has been left by the owner or some person acting for the owner with an automobile dealer, repairman, or wrecker service for repair or for some other reason and has not been called for by such owner or other person within a period of thirty-days (30) after the time agreed upon; or within thirty-days (30) after such vehicle is turned over to such dealer, repairman, or wrecker service when no time is agreed upon; or within thirty-days (30) after the completion of the necessary repairs;

(B) Which is left unattended on a public street, road, or highway or other public property for a period of at least five-days (5) and when it reasonably appears to a law enforcement officer that the individual who left such motor vehicle unattended does not intend to return and remove such motor vehicle. However, on the state highway system, any law enforcement officer or employee of the Department of Revenue to whom enforcement authority has been designated pursuant to §32-6-2 of the OCOGA may authorize the immediate removal of vehicles posing a threat to public health or safety or to mitigate congestion,

(C) Which has been lawfully towed onto the property of another at the request of a law enforcement officer and left there for a period of not less than thirty-days (30) without anyone having paid all reasonable current charges for such towing and storage,

(D) Which has been lawfully towed onto the property of another at the request of a property owner on whose property the vehicle was abandoned and left there for a period of not less than thirty-days (30) without anyone having paid all reasonable current charges for such towing and storage; or

(E) Which has been left unattended on private property for a period of not less than thirty-days (30).

“Motor vehicle” or vehicle means a motor vehicle or trailer.

Owner or owners means the registered owner, the owner as recorded on the title, lessor, lessee, security interest holders, and all lien holders as shown on this Department's tag and/or title records.

Public sale means a sale:

1. Held at a place reasonably available to persons who might desire to attend and submit bids; and

2. At which those attending shall be given the opportunity to bid on a competitive basis; and

3. At which the sale, if made, shall be made to the highest bidder; and

4. Except as otherwise provided by law for advertising or dispensing with the advertising of public sales, of which notice is given by advertisement once a week for two (2) weeks in the newspaper in which the sheriff's advertisements are published in the county where the sale is to be held, and which notice shall state the day and hour, between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., and the place of sale and shall briefly identify the goods to be sold.