Updated DMV Report of Sale Procedures
California Assembly Bill (AB) 516 mandates a new electronic issuance process and new temporary permits for use by California used/new car dealers to issue Reports of Sale and Temporary License Plates.
Effective January 1, 2019 the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) requires all dealers to use the system called Quick Tags provided by Fairfax Imaging to print reports of sale and temporary license plates.
At the time of sale, all dealers and lessor-retailers must print the Report of Sale (ROS) form which include (REG 51, REG 396, REG 397, REG 397A, and REG 398). The registration procedures that dealers currently follow will not change.**Dealers who submit paper report of sale forms will not be processed and will be returned to dealerships for electronic reports of sale**
- The new temporary license plate will tie the Report of Sale and Temporary License Plate to a specific vehicle using special paper to be purchased from Fairfax Imaging, reducing the risk of theft and the identification issue to parking/toll authorities.
- The new temporary license plate (TLP) is required to be mounted to the front and rear of the vehicle where a permanent license plate would be and the dealer must affix the plates with a license plate bracket.
With this system, dealers will print out the Report of Sale forms using a local computer and printer. (Special paper is NOT required for ROS)
How to Register
To register your dealership for the Quick Tags system send an email to cadmv-quicktags@ffximg.com and provide:
- Dealership Name
- Dealership License Number
- Owner Name
- Owner Email Address
- Best Phone number to reach Owner
Once this information is received, the dealer will be provided with an e-mail informing of registration and access.
Does this include wholesale dealers.
Yes it does. When selling a vehicle wholesale or retail, the report of sale must now be printed online.
If I still have some traditional old wholesale ROS forms left. Can I still use it ?
Sometimes I do not have access to a computer.
Traditional paper Reports Of Sale (ROS) whether retail or wholesale must be destroyed. A statement of facts must be filled out to explain how the dealer destroyed the documents in the event of an audit.
If I am a new wholesale dealer and will purchase an used vehicle to export to oversea buyers, and will not resale this vehicle in the US, do I need to fill out the new ROS online through QuickTags website or I just need to fill out Reg 262 and Reg 51 form and send to DVM?
Yes you still need to fill out a wholesale report of sale through QuickTags. You cannot generate a ROS whether is be a Reg 51 or Reg 396 by hand as of January 2019.
If someone has a 5 number dealer/dealership number does that mean he also has a salesperson license number?
Yes that is correct. When filling out the Report of Sale via QuickTags you can see that the platform gives you a code input in the area of “salesperson license”. Be sure to look in the home page of QuickTags upon login to see what the actual code is.
i got a car from the auction with my autobody repair license and sold to someone. he couldnt get it registered as dmv is asking him for a dealer report of sale form from me.
how do i get it?
Hey Michael, did you buy this vehicle at a public auction? Please reach out directly at 507-339-4546 to discuss further.
I have the same issue only I am the guy the bought the car from the guy who lives in mexico now from the guy who lives in texas now that brought the car from public auction.
That was almost 6 months ago who know how long this guy bought it from auction?
CA allows transactions from public auctions. Sounds like you just need to create a bill of sale (Reg 262) to create a chain of ownership. This Reg 262 along with the vehicle title (pink slip) will allow you to complete the deal with DMV. The Reg 262 you can obtain for free at your local DMV department.
Hi, was an former used car wholesale dealer, I kept a few cars tht are not registered. And want to give my son one of the cars. How do I go about it???
What happens if the REG 396 is not sent in on time?
You can always make sure that the selling dealer & buying dealer both sign on the BACK of the vehicle title. The reg 396 is important BUT there will be no penalty for processing it late.
Purchases my car from a used car dealership that delivery my car to .e. upon going to dmv to get my new tags the flowing year no paperworl.or reg 52 report of sales firm or sales tax was e er filed and this said dealership doesn’t ha e any brick and morter branch available for me to visit. What do I do now? I showed the dmv the messy pink slip that showed one dealership (carmax) as lien holder and owner X selling to the dealer I purchased it from. I’ll call that dealer MM in order tk.show chain of ownership I established that with the bill of sales and reg 262 but now the only thing holding me is this reg 51, which I can not get myself due it being a controlled form?? Please help me!!!
Hi Ashlee, contact Hector at 507-339-4546. He may be able to assist.
Hello there, I am a dealer in CA and sold a vehicle to another dealer overseas a few month ago. Now I am trying to do an ROS in CAQuickCarTag and in “address of buyer”, the system asks me to select a State, while the buyer is a dealer in another country. n fact, I can not show it was sold to another country there. How can I do that? Also, as the system doesn’t let us back date the ROS, what should I do to take care of the date being back a few month? Thank you very much for your time
Hi Sara, did you create a Reg 396 ROS? You may want to call/email customer service for QuickTags. Also, you cannot backdate the ROS anymore. Your best bet is to create and attach a statement of facts reg 256 to explain the date issue.
I’m a California Wholesale Dealer. How do I sell my cars to a Mexican dealership? How do the ROS if they don’t have a dealership #? Thanks
Hey Adolfo, you can create a reg 396 wholesale report of sale through QuickTags. Just manually enter the Mexican dealership information in the required boxes.
I’m new Calif Wholesale dealer I just by car from Auction.I received Title and Bill of Sale.Do I need report any Form to DMW or just when I sell car.
No, just make sure you sign the back of the title under “dealer transactions only”
can i pay tax of the car using this fairfax software for the person im selling the car to? i have a dealership lisence
There are only 2 ways to pay sales tax as a used car dealer in CA. 1. Pay directly to DMV when you process the registration (most common for recently licensed dealers). 2. Pay the tax and fee administration directly (only if your account is set up for this)
Hi, I sold a car through Copart auto auction to a buyer that’s out of the country. I ran into 2 issues, for the buyer information the fairfax software is not letting me input an out of the country address and 2, that out of country buyer does not have a dealer license number. The system requires a license number to continue. What should I do? Thank you.
Hi, Here is the link directly from DMV regarding exported vehicles.
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2/report-of-sale-used-vehicles/used-vehicle-sold-for-export-to-another-country/
I am a new wholesale dealer and just sold my first car, I need to fill out the Reg 396 but dont know where or how to get the form. Any advice?
Hey Mike,
Contact Redline Registration Services at hello@redlineregistration.com