Can I Get a Title With a Bill of Sale in SC? Rules and Fees

In South Carolina, you generally cannot get a title with only a bill of sale. The SCDMV requires the previous owner’s signed-over certificate of title for almost every transfer, and the bill of sale rides along as a receipt showing the sale price and the buyer’s signature.¹ The one real exception is a vehicle that was never titled in the first place, in which case the state has a separate affidavit-and-inspection process you can use.

Why a Bill of Sale Alone Is Not Enough

Ownership in South Carolina is established by the certificate of title, not by a bill of sale. The SCDMV does require a signed bill of sale for every title transaction, showing the total sale price minus any trade-in value and carrying the buyer’s signature.¹ But that document proves you paid for the vehicle and what you paid. It does not prove you own it.

So if a seller handed you a bill of sale and never signed the title over, the SCDMV will not issue a title in your name on the strength of that receipt. You’ll have to go back to the seller and get the title properly assigned. If the seller themselves never put the car in their name, you’re looking at a title jump, which is a bigger problem covered further down.

The Normal Path: Signed Title Plus Bill of Sale

When a private sale goes the way it should, the seller signs the title over on the assignment section on the back, filling in the sale price, the odometer reading, the date, and the buyer’s information.² If any of that information is missing from the title, the bill of sale is the required backup that fills the gap.

With both documents, you bring the following to any SCDMV branch or mail everything to their headquarters in Blythewood:

Completed Form 400, the Title and/or Registration Application, capturing the VIN, make, model, year, body style, fuel type, and weight.³
The signed title with the assignment section completed.²
The bill of sale.
Form TI-006, but only if you don’t have a South Carolina driver’s license or state ID.¹
The title fee and Infrastructure Maintenance Fee.

The SCDMV can issue a title without simultaneously issuing a registration, so you don’t need to register the vehicle at the same moment if you’re not ready to drive it.¹

Getting a Title When There Was Never a Previous Title

This is the situation many people asking the question actually face. You bought an old truck, a trailer, or a vehicle that changed hands informally for years, and no title has ever been issued in South Carolina. The SCDMV does have a process for this, but it takes more documentation than a normal transfer.

On top of the usual Form 400 and bill of sale, you submit two additional forms:

Form TI-021A, the Affidavit of Ownership. This is a sworn statement explaining in detail how, where, and when you acquired the vehicle, who the sellers were, whether any lienholders were involved, and the vehicle’s current condition. Specific answers move the review along; vague ones invite follow-up questions.⁴
Form TI-021B, the VIN Verification. A law enforcement officer or DMV agent must physically inspect the vehicle and confirm the VIN matches your paperwork. A private mechanic cannot do this.⁵

Trailers and campers often land in this category because many were never titled to begin with. The SCDMV’s trailer titling guidance points owners toward the TI-021A and TI-021B process when no previous title exists.⁶ Expect more scrutiny than a routine transfer. The agency is checking that the vehicle isn’t stolen, and both the sworn affidavit and the in-person VIN inspection are non-negotiable.

Vehicles That Don’t Need a Title in the First Place

Not every vehicle in South Carolina requires a certificate of title. State law exempts mopeds, vehicles owned by nonresidents that aren’t required to be registered here, implements of husbandry (farm equipment), special mobile equipment, and pole trailers.⁷ If you bought a moped with only a bill of sale, you don’t need a title. You’ll still need to register it to ride on public roads, but the title requirement doesn’t apply.

What South Carolina Does Not Offer

Two workarounds that come up constantly in online searches do not exist here in the way most buyers assume.

Bonded Titles

Many states let a buyer with incomplete ownership documents purchase a surety bond and receive a “bonded title.” South Carolina is not one of them. The SCDMV does not offer a bonded title process for individual consumers. The surety bond page on the SCDMV website applies only to licensed vehicle dealers and wholesalers, not private buyers.⁸ Advice telling you to “get a bonded title in SC” is wrong for this state. Your realistic options are the affidavit-and-VIN-verification route or tracking down the previous owner to get the title properly assigned.

Magistrate’s Sales

A magistrate’s sale is not a general fix for missing titles. It’s a specific process available to towing companies, storage facilities, and repair shops that hold a lien on a vehicle left in their possession. The vehicle must have been left for repairs or storage, the work must be completed or the storage contract expired, and the shop must send written notice to the owner by certified mail at least 30 days before the sale.⁹ A magistrate of the county where the work was done then conducts the sale. A private buyer who simply doesn’t have a title cannot use this process.

What Your Bill of Sale Should Include

The SCDMV’s minimum requirement is the total sale price minus any trade-in value and the buyer’s signature.¹ A stronger bill of sale reduces the chance of the SCDMV kicking your application back. Include:

Full legal names and addresses of buyer and seller
The VIN, make, model, and year
The odometer reading at the time of sale
The purchase price
The date of sale
Signatures of both buyer and seller

Many of these details also appear in the title assignment section on the back of the title. When something is missing there, the bill of sale is what fills the gap, which is why the SCDMV requires one for every transaction.²

Fees for Titling

A standard title costs $15. An expedited title is $35 and is only available in person at a branch. Separately, the Infrastructure Maintenance Fee is 5% of the purchase price, capped at $500.¹⁰ A $5,000 car triggers a $250 IMF. A $10,000 car hits the $500 cap exactly. Anything above that still tops out at $500. The IMF is a one-time charge per vehicle, not annual.

How to Avoid Ending Up Stuck With Just a Bill of Sale

The most common way buyers end up in this situation is title jumping. A seller buys a vehicle, never transfers the title into their own name, and resells it to you with the previous owner’s signature still on the title. The chain of ownership is broken, and the SCDMV won’t process the transfer because the names don’t line up. Title jumping is illegal in every state, and South Carolina has statutes covering offenses involving motor vehicle titles.⁷

Before money changes hands in a private sale:

Check that the seller’s name matches the current owner listed on the title. If it doesn’t, insist they complete their own transfer first, or walk away.
Run a lien check. Outstanding loans can follow the car, not the borrower.
Watch the seller fill out and sign the title assignment in front of you. Confirm the sale price, odometer reading, and date are all written in. Blank spaces on a signed title cause problems later.
Write a thorough bill of sale with both parties’ full names, addresses, and the vehicle details, not just the bare minimum.

South Carolina law makes it unlawful to sell a vehicle that’s required to be registered and titled in the state without a currently valid certificate of title.⁷ If a seller tells you a bill of sale is all you need, treat it as a signal that the title situation is not clean. The $15 title fee is one of the cheapest parts of buying a used car. Untangling a title problem after the fact costs far more.

1
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Titles
2
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Buying or Selling a Car
3
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Title and/or Registration Application – Form 400
4
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Affidavit of Ownership for a Motor Vehicle, Trailer, or Mobile Home – Form TI-021A
5
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Identification Verification for Title without a Previous Title – Form TI-021B
6
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Camper, Trailer, or RV
7
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 56 Chapter 19 – Protection of Titles to and Interests in Motor Vehicles
8
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Surety Bond
9
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 29 Chapter 15 – Liens for Repairs or Storage
10
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Fees