Ohio Code 4505.031 – Sale or disposal of vehicles involving minors
(A)(1) No minor under eighteen years of age shall sell or otherwise dispose of a motor vehicle or purchase or otherwise acquire a motor vehicle unless the application for a certificate of title is accompanied by a form prescribed by the registrar of motor vehicles that includes all of the following:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4505.031
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Motor vehicle: includes manufactured homes, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, and trailers and semitrailers whose weight exceeds four thousand pounds. See Ohio Code 4505.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Signature: includes an electronic signature as defined by section 1306. See Ohio Code 4505.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- title: include an electronic certificate of title, unless otherwise specified. See Ohio Code 4505.01
(a) A statement authorizing the sale, disposition, purchase, or acquisition of the motor vehicle;
(b) The signature of one of the minor’s parents, the minor’s guardian, or other person having custody of the minor that is signed in the presence of one of the following:
(i) A clerk or deputy clerk of a court of common pleas;
(ii) A notary public;
(iii) A motor vehicle dealer or the dealer’s designee, if the transaction involves that dealer.
(c) A statement signed by the motor vehicle dealer or the dealer’s designee, if applicable, acknowledging that the dealer used reasonable diligence in ascertaining the age of the minor and the identity of the adult who signed the form.
(2) At the time the adult signs the form, either before a clerk of courts, a deputy clerk of courts, a notary public, or a motor vehicle dealer, the adult shall provide identification establishing that the adult is the individual whose signature appears on the form.
(B) No right, title, claim to or interest in a motor vehicle shall be acquired by or from a minor unless the application for a certificate of title is accompanied by the form required by this section.
(C) No clerk of a court of common pleas shall be held liable in any civil action that arises under the law of this state for injury or loss to persons or property caused when a person has obtained a certificate of title in violation of this section, unless the clerk failed to use reasonable diligence in ascertaining the age of the minor or the identity of the adult who signed the form authorizing the sale, disposition, purchase, or acquisition of the motor vehicle by the minor.
(D) If the minor’s parents, the minor’s guardian, or other person having custody of the minor signs the form in the presence of a motor vehicle dealer or the dealer’s designee and the transaction involves that dealer, no notarization is required for the form and it does not need the additional signature of a clerk of courts, deputy clerk of courts, or notary.
Last updated February 16, 2023 at 2:33 PM