How to Get a Lost or Duplicate California Title with REG 227 (2026)
A lost, stolen, mutilated, or illegible California title is replaced on DMV form REG 227. Vehicle Code §4459 says the legal owner applies, or, if there is none, the registered owner on the department record. Handbook 20.000 uses the same form for a paperless title and says the lienholder requests the title on a vehicle two model years old or newer. Complete sections 1 and 3, attach any remaining paper, and pay the replacement fee. Appendix 1F lists that fee at $28 under §9265, checked 5 October 2026. That filing is not the same as registering a vehicle with no California title. A Nontransferable card cannot use REG 227. Via Rapida Services, a private registration service and not the DMV, prepares the packet in Stockton, San Jose, and San Rafael. The department decides whether to issue it.
What the REG 227 looks like. Download the current version from the DMV. dmv.ca.gov
A licensed agent compares carriers and calls back with the options a carrier actually offers. No broker fees on standard policies (Stockton & San Jose offices).
The Stockton counter is at 956 W Robinhood Dr, Stockton, CA 95207. San Jose is at 25 N 14th St #125. San Rafael is at 9 Vivian St. Call (209) 670-1556. Via Rapida Services is a registration service, not the DMV. A priced sale with a missing pink slip is a different packet: title transfer when you buy a used car. A family gift follows the gift title transfer.
Who can apply for a duplicate California title?
Vehicle Code §4459 says that if a certificate of ownership is stolen, lost, mutilated, or illegible, the legal owner applies, and if there is no legal owner, the owner shown on the department records applies. Handbook section 20.000 says REG 227 is completed by the legal owner of record when the vehicle is two model years old or newer, or by the registered owner when no legal owner is on the record, and that the form goes in with the replacement fee. A buyer who is not on the record does not order a replacement in place of the seller. On a transfer with a missing California title, REG 227 (REV. 9/2024) has the seller complete sections 1 through 4 and the new owner complete sections 6 and 7. Vehicle Code §4466(d) says the department issues the certificate of title only to the legal owner, or if none, to the registered owner on the record.
Section 5 of the form, the legal owner release, must be notarized. The DMV title page says the same thing: notarization is required when a legal owner or lienholder is on the registration, and it is not required when the registration shows none. The form says section 5 and a REG 166 cannot be used for a non-ELT lienholder on a vehicle two model years old or newer. In that case the legal owner requests the replacement title first and releases interest on the title itself. The top of the form also says it cannot release a lien on an electronic lien title. Handbook 20.000 adds that a REG 166, and other lien releases, are not acceptable on a California-titled vehicle two model years old or newer. The legal owner must request the title.
What does REG 227 ask for on a replacement?
REG 227 is the DMV Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title, revision 9/2024. A replacement that does not change owners uses sections 1 and 3. Section 1 is the registered owner of record, printed as the name appears on the title or registration, with the driver license or identification number and the address. Section 3 is the missing-title statement. The boxes are lost, stolen, illegible or mutilated (attach the old title), not received from the prior owner, and not received from the DMV, with a note to allow 30 days from the issue date. The warning on that section says issuance of a replacement title cancels the original. Handbook 20.000 says a duplicate is obtained when the original is lost, stolen, mutilated, illegible, or a paperless title, and that renewal fees and parking violations are not required when the only request is a replacement certificate of title.
Section 2 is only for a legal owner already on the record, such as a bank or finance company. Do not type the registered owner into that box. If the paper title is torn, the remnants go with the application, which is also what Vehicle Code §4466(a)(4) asks when the certificate was mutilated or destroyed. The signature block under section 3 is the owner, under penalty of perjury, plus an agreement to indemnify the Director of Motor Vehicles for loss that results from issuing the replacement.
What are the steps to replace a lost California title?
Confirm the vehicle has a California title record and whether a legal owner is listed. The person Vehicle Code §4459 names then completes REG 227 sections 1 and 3, checks the reason the title is missing, and signs the statement, including the agreement to indemnify the department. If the address on the application differs from the department record, the form and Vehicle Code §4466(a) require an in-person filing with photo identification and proof of ownership. Proof under §4466(a)(1) may be the certificate of title, the registration card, or the registration renewal notice, or a copy that matches the record. Handbook 20.000 says the renewal notice must be an original. Section 4466(b)(1) drops that in-person showing when the name, address, and driver-license or identification number already match the record. If a duplicate was issued within the past 90 days and the address does not match, §4466(a)(5) and the form require a California Highway Patrol verification of the vehicle identification number, which the handbook takes on a REG 31. The DMV title page says a lost, stolen, or damaged title is submitted on REG 227 in person or by mail. The department decides whether the application clears.
A licensed registration service has a separate path in §4466(c). Handbook 20.000 asks for a notarized REG 5065 when the service submits a replacement and the registered owner name or address does not match the record. The statute leaves the in-person exception to the department. A mismatch can still be forwarded to headquarters. Bring the registration card, a photo driver license or identification card, and any piece of the old title. If a bank is on the record, the legal owner part of the form is not something the registered owner fills in alone.
What fee does the DMV list for a replacement title?
DMV Appendix 1F lists the replacement certificate of title at $28 under Vehicle Code §9265. That chart was checked on 5 October 2026. Vehicle Code §1678 directs the department to adjust the fees named in §9265 each January 1 by the California Consumer Price Index. Vehicle Industry News 2026-07, issued 17 September 2026, lists the current replacement certificate of ownership at $28 and a new fee of $29 effective 1 January 2027. The amount due on 5 October 2026 is the $28 figure on the current chart. That line is the replacement fee. The same Appendix 1F lists Transfer under Vehicle Code §9255 at $15, checked the same day. A sale that uses REG 227 because the title is missing is a transfer, and the transfer fee is a separate line. Handbook 20.000 says renewal fees and parking violations are not required to issue a replacement certificate of title only.
The code section is the authority the chart cites. The amount due is the indexed figure on Appendix 1F. A registration service states its own service charge before the papers are submitted. That charge is not a DMV fee, and this page does not print it. County use tax, when a transfer is also filed, is computed by the department from the price or the market value on the transfer side of the form. This page does not print a county rate.
How is a duplicate title different from registering with no title?
A REG 227 replacement is for a California title the department already issued, when the paper is lost, stolen, mutilated, or illegible, or the record is paperless, and the applicant is the legal owner or the registered owner on that record. Registering a vehicle with no title is a different packet. The DMV title page says a registration card marked Nontransferable/No California Title Issued cannot use REG 227. The title has to come from the state that last titled the vehicle. If that state cannot issue one, the same page says to document the refusal, and a motor vehicle bond may be required. When the vehicle has been off the digital record for four years or more and there is no California title and no original registration card, the DMV page Vehicles No Longer in DMV Records asks for REG 343, a REG 31 completed by a DMV employee or a peace officer, and a REG 256 stating how, when, and from whom the vehicle was acquired, what effort was made to get proof of ownership, and the current value, plus a non-operation statement. That page says a vehicle valued at $5,000 or more may need a Motor Vehicle Ownership Surety Bond (REG 5057). Handbook section 23.020 says the bond must be submitted when supporting evidence of ownership is unavailable and the value is $5,000 or more, or the vehicle is nontransferable, or a lienholder release cannot be obtained.
What the REG 343 looks like. Download the current version from the DMV. dmv.ca.govWhat the REG 256 Statement of Facts looks like. Download the current version from the DMV. dmv.ca.gov
The bond is written for the fair market value, and handbook 23.020 says the surety signature has to be notarized. A private-party sale that still has a California record, with a seller who will sign the release, stays on the transfer side of REG 227. That packet, including the 10-day application in Vehicle Code §5902, is the used-car title transfer. A gift between relatives is the gift title transfer. Neither of those pages is a substitute for a vehicle the department has dropped from the digital record.
What does a registration office prepare, and what about insurance?
Via Rapida Services prepares registration paperwork at 956 W Robinhood Dr, Stockton, CA 95207, at 25 N 14th St #125 in San Jose, and at 9 Vivian St in San Rafael. Call (209) 670-1556. The office is a registration service, not the DMV, and it does not issue titles. Staff can line up REG 227 for a replacement, compare the name on the card the customer brings with the name typed on section 1, and flag a lienholder, an address that does not match, a title replaced in the last 90 days, or a Nontransferable card before the packet goes in. The department accepts or rejects the application. The DMV title page says titles usually arrive by mail within 15 to 30 days. That is the department statement, not a promise from this office. Vehicle Code §16020 requires the driver and the owner to be able to show financial responsibility, and to carry the evidence in the vehicle, before it is driven. A title replacement does not create that evidence. A carrier decides whether to offer a policy.
Vehicle Code §4459 (legal owner applies for a lost, stolen, mutilated, or illegible certificate; if none, the owner on the department record). Checked 5 October 2026.
Vehicle Code §4466 (in-person proof when the address differs, 90-day CHP verification, who receives the new certificate). Checked 5 October 2026.
DMV REG 227 (REV. 9/2024), Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title. Checked 5 October 2026.
DMV Title Transfers and Changes (replacement in person or by mail, notarization, Nontransferable cards, 15 to 30 days by mail). Checked 5 October 2026.
DMV Appendix 1F (replacement certificate of title $28 under §9265; transfer $15 under §9255). Chart checked 5 October 2026.
Vehicle Code §1678 (annual CPI adjustment of the fees named in §9265). Checked 5 October 2026.
DMV Vehicle Industry News 2026-07 (current replacement certificate of ownership $28; $29 effective 1 January 2027). Issued 17 September 2026. Checked 5 October 2026.
DMV, Vehicles No Longer in DMV Records (four years off the digital record; REG 343, REG 31, REG 256; bond may be required at $5,000). Checked 5 October 2026.
Vehicle Code §5902 (10 days to forward an endorsed title) and §16020 (financial responsibility before driving). Checked 5 October 2026.
Reviewed by Santo Militello, California-licensed Property & Casualty agent (CA License #1737723) and owner of Via Rapida Services. Insurance City Agency, LLC · CA License #6003045. Our licensed team brings more than 70 years of combined insurance experience. Call (209) 670-1556. Last reviewed 2026-10-05.
En español
La guía del título perdido o duplicado, el REG 227 y la diferencia con una registración sin título está escrita para quien habla español en California.
