Selling a junk car in Florida

Bring to the yard

• Bring the Florida certificate of title (or salvage certificate of title or certificate of destruction) in your name.Sign the seller transfer section on the front of the title, print the yard's name as purchaser, and enter the selling price. Tax collectors will not accept a transfer without the price, and it is illegal to transfer a title when the purchaser's name does not appear on it (Florida Statutes Sections 319.22(4) and (5), 319.225(2)).
• If the title lists co-owners joined by "and", every co-owner signs.If they are joined by "or", either co-owner can sign (Section 319.22(2)(a)1).
• Complete the odometer disclosure on the title for a model year 2011 or newer car until it is 20 years old.Model year 2010 and older cars are exempt after 10 years, so they are exempt in 2026, as are vehicles over 16,000 pounds gross vehicle rating and vehicles that are not self-propelled (Section 319.225(4)).
• No notary is needed.Section 319.22 sets no notarization requirement, and the FLHSMV forms reviewed (HSMV 82050, HSMV 82101) use a signed declaration under penalty of perjury instead.
• Bring a valid driver license or state ID card.The yard must record your name, address and ID number, and a derelict application must include a legible copy of a valid Florida or other-state driver license or ID card (Section 319.30(2)(c), (6) and (7)).
• If your title is electronic, have it printed before the sale (a tax collector office can print it; Flagler County charges $2.50 by mail), or go with the buyer to a tax collector office or license plate agency to sign a secure reassignment document that records the odometer reading (Section 319.225(7)).
• If the title shows a lien, bring the lienholder's lien satisfaction.With an electronic lien, the satisfaction is sent to FLHSMV electronically and a clear title is then issued to the owner (Section 319.24(5) and (8)).
• No title and the car qualifies as derelict: complete HSMV 82137 together with the yard at the time of sale.If you are not the owner of record, expect to give a right thumbprint and to be paid by check or money order.
• A bill of sale is optional when you sign over a title.Form HSMV 82050 (Notice of Sale and/or Bill of Sale) works as a bill of sale when the seller and purchaser complete sections 1, 2 (when applicable) and 3. Keep a copy of every document you sign.
• Remove your license plate before the yard takes the car (Section 320.0609(2)(a)).
• Leave the catalytic converter on the car.Only a registered secondary metals recycler may buy a detached converter, and selling a detached converter without proof of ownership is a felony, while a converter sold as part of the vehicle is not restricted (Sections 860.142 and 538.26(5)(b)13).

After the car leaves

Lost title

The owner, or the lienholder if a lien is recorded, signs and swears to HSMV 82101 and files it with a county tax collector office with proof of identity (Section 319.29(1)); Marion County says only the lienholder may apply while a lien is outstanding. Section 319.29(4), in effect since July 1, 2026, lets the tax collector issue the duplicate at its office or mail it to you. Fast title service must issue the title within 5 working days (Section 319.323). Include proof of address if your address differs from FLHSMV records, and expect the new title to be marked "duplicate copy" (Section 319.29(1) and (5)). With a lien, FLHSMV sends the lien electronically to the first lienholder and may wait to issue a title until the last lien is satisfied (Section 319.24(8)). On a paper title, the lienholder must send the lien satisfaction and title within 10 working days after final payment, and if it cannot provide the title it must give you a lien satisfaction and pay for a duplicate (Section 319.24(5)(a)). An electronic title with no lien can be printed through a tax collector ($2.50 by mail in Flagler County) or requested online through the FLHSMV MyDMV Portal ($4.50; Flagler County says it arrives in about 3 to 4 weeks).

Application for Duplicate or Lost in Transit/Reassignment for a Motor Vehicle, Mobile Home or Vessel Title Certificate (HSMV 82101), By statute, a duplicate title costs $70 plus a $1 security fee (Florida Statutes Section 319.32(1)) and a $4.25 service charge kept by the tax collector (Section 319.32(2)), plus $2.50 for each paper title FLHSMV mails; a tax collector branch office may add up to 50 cents (Section 320.04(1)(c)). Expedited (fast title) service adds $10 (Section 319.323). County totals vary: Marion County lists $75.75 if the duplicate stays electronic, $2.50 more to print it and $10 more for fast title; Okaloosa County lists $78.25 (title mailed from Tallahassee in about 7 to 10 business days) or $85.75 (printed and mailed by the county within 24 to 48 hours). There is no fee to reissue a title lost in the mail if you apply within 180 days of its issue date (Section 319.29(3)).

What the yard has to do

• Salvage motor vehicle dealers must hold a Florida motor vehicle dealer license in the salvage class (Florida Statutes Section 320.27(1)(c)5 and (2)).Secondary metals recyclers must register each fixed location with the Florida Department of Revenue ($6 per location, renewed each October 1), display the registration, and not dispose of property until any holding period has expired (Section 538.25).
• Before buying a vehicle, the yard must get a valid certificate of title, salvage certificate of title or certificate of destruction in the seller's name or properly endorsed to the seller (a recycler may also accept a derelict motor vehicle certificate reassigned by a licensed salvage dealer) and must make the required NMVTIS notification.Knowingly skipping these steps is a third-degree felony (Section 319.30(2)(b), (2)(c) and (7)(a)4).
• The yard records the purchase date and the seller's name, address and driver license or ID card number (Section 319.30(2)(c), (6)(a) and (7)(a)).
• For a derelict sale without a title, the yard completes the derelict application with the seller at the time of sale, attaches a legible copy of the seller's license or ID, takes a smudge-free right thumbprint if the seller is not the owner of record, notifies FLHSMV electronically or delivers the original application within 24 hours, and holds the vehicle 3 full business days (no lien, or a lien 3 years or older) or 10 days (active lien under 3 years) before crushing it (Section 319.30(2)(c)2 and (7)(a)4.b).
• Payment for a derelict vehicle sold by someone other than the owner of record must be by check or money order payable to the seller, never to the transporter, and the yard may not cash the check it issued (Section 319.30(8)(j)).
• Yards return titles and salvage titles to FLHSMV monthly (or notify FLHSMV electronically) and keep originals or copies of all title documents and required records for 3 years in chronological order (Section 319.30(8)(a) and (b)).
• When FLHSMV or police believe a vehicle is stolen or fraudulently titled, they may order the yard to hold it for up to 5 additional business days (Section 319.30(8)(d) and (e)).For nonferrous regulated metals, a police hold notice lasts 15 calendar days and an extended hold notice 45 calendar days (Section 538.21).
• Secondary metals recyclers keep paper and electronic records of every regulated metals purchase on the FDLE-approved form, including the seller's ID number, a signed ownership statement, a right thumbprint, the seller's vehicle tag number and photos of the seller and the metal; they send the electronic record to local law enforcement by 10 a.m. the next business day and keep records 3 years (Section 538.19(1) to (4)).
• A recycler that crushes a vehicle bought from a salvage dealer or another recycler must get the seller's signed statement that the title was surrendered to FLHSMV (Section 538.19(5)).
• No cash over $1,000 for regulated metals property, and no cash at all for restricted regulated metals property such as a detached catalytic converter; those payments go by check mailed to the seller's street address (not a post office box) or by electronic payment within 3 days.Cash payments are rounded up to the nearest nickel if the 1-cent piece is no longer produced (Section 538.235).
• Recyclers may not buy metals before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m., away from a fixed location, from a seller under 18, using a false name or visibly impaired, or when the metal did not arrive in a motor vehicle (Section 538.26(1) to (4)).
• Restricted items, including a catalytic converter not purchased as part of a vehicle and more than two lead-acid batteries from the same person in one day, require reasonable proof of ownership such as a receipt or bill of sale (Section 538.26(5)).A purchased detached catalytic converter must stay at the yard unprocessed for 10 business days unless it came from another recycler, a salvage motor vehicle dealer or an exempt seller (Section 538.26(6)).