Do You Get a Title When You Lease a Car in NY?

No. When you lease a car in New York, you do not get a title. The Certificate of Title stays in the leasing company’s name for the full lease term because the leasing company is the legal owner of the vehicle; you’re paying for the right to drive it, not to own it. The only way your name lands on the title is if you buy the car at lease-end and go through the DMV to have the title reissued.¹

Why the Leasing Company Keeps the Title

A Certificate of Title (MV-999) is New York’s official proof of vehicle ownership. It lists the legal owner, any lienholders with a financial interest in the vehicle, and basic vehicle details.² A lease is a long-term rental, not a purchase, so the leasing company’s name is the one on the document from the day the car leaves the lot until the day the lease ends.

The title also records any lienholders. If the leasing company financed its fleet, that lender’s interest can appear on the title too.³ None of this changes your rights as the lessee, but it explains why the title isn’t something the dealer can simply hand you.

What You Do Receive as a Lessee

You’ll leave the dealership with the paperwork that lets you drive the car legally and enforce your side of the deal, just not the title itself.

The lease agreement is the central document. It sets your monthly payment, the lease term, your mileage allowance, the residual value, and what happens if you terminate early or exceed the mileage cap. You’ll also get the vehicle registration, which is what actually permits you to drive on New York roads, and you’ll need proof of insurance in hand before the vehicle can be registered at all.

Federal law adds another document in your favor. Under Regulation M, which implements the Consumer Leasing Act, the lessor must give you a written disclosure statement before you sign. This applies to consumer leases on vehicles with a fair market value of $73,400 or less in 2026.⁴ The disclosure has to spell out the amount due at signing, total scheduled payments, residual value, the rent charge, early-termination conditions and charges, the purchase-option price, and the lessor’s standards for excess wear.⁵

The disclosure must be segregated from other paperwork and follow a standardized model.⁶ Keep it for the life of the lease. If a dispute ever comes up over your buyout price, mileage cap, or termination fees, this is the document that decides it.

How to Get the Title in Your Name at Lease-End

The title only becomes available to you if you exercise the purchase option in your lease. Once you pay the leasing company the buyout amount, you still have to go to the DMV yourself to have the title reissued in your name. Bring all of the following:¹

Form MV-82 (Vehicle Registration/Title Application) or MV-82TON if you’re already registered and only need the title updated
Proof of identity, such as a current New York driver license, learner permit, or non-driver ID (can be expired no more than two years)
The original title with buyer and seller sections completed, plus odometer and damage disclosure statements for vehicles from the 2011 model year onward that are 20 model years old or newer
The lease buyout agreement from the leasing company confirming the sale
Sales tax form DTF-802 and bill of sale MV-912, with payment for sales tax on the buyout price
A lien release, if applicable
A $50 title fee, payable by check or money order to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles

One detail that catches people off guard: the DMV does not hand you the title at the counter. It gets mailed to you after processing.¹ Until it arrives with your name on it, you cannot sell or transfer the vehicle, so plan around the wait if you’re buying the car with the intention of reselling it.

Sales tax applies to the buyout price, and the leasing company is responsible for collecting that tax from you at the time of the buyout.⁷ This is separate from the sales tax you already paid on the lease itself.

Your Other Choices at Lease-End

If you don’t buy the car, no title ever comes to you. You have two other paths:

Return the vehicle. You bring the car back to the dealer, pay any charges for excess mileage or wear beyond the lessor’s standards, and walk away. A disposition fee is common and should be listed in your original lease disclosure.
Extend the lease. Most lessors will allow a month-to-month extension if you need more time to decide. You keep making your regular payment and typically sign a short extension agreement.

If you return the car, the dealer inspects it against the wear-and-use standards written into your lease. Minor scuffs and normal tire wear generally won’t trigger charges, but dents, cracked windshields, stained interiors, and bald tires will. An independent pre-inspection a few weeks before lease-end lets you fix anything cheaper on your own terms.

Ending the Lease Early

New York gives lessees stronger protections than most states if you want out before the end of the term. Under the Motor Vehicle Retail Leasing Act, you have the right to terminate a lease at any time after you’ve completed at least 50% of the scheduled lease term and paid all amounts due through that point.⁸

On early termination, the leasing company can charge you for past-due payments, government-imposed fees or taxes, a reasonable disposition fee, and any early-termination charge that was disclosed in the lease and is reasonably related to the lessor’s actual or anticipated loss. Total charges cannot exceed the actuarial lease balance (calculated like an early-payoff balance on an installment loan) plus the disclosed early-termination charge. If the lease never disclosed a separate early-termination charge, the lessor is capped at the actuarial lease balance plus what you already owe.⁸

Two other protections apply if you return the car early. The lessor cannot charge you for excess mileage. And if the lessor makes repairs that increase the sale price of the vehicle, those repair costs get credited back to you. Early termination is still expensive in most cases, but the law puts a ceiling on how far the penalties can stretch.

Whether you leave early, ride the lease out, or buy the car at the end, the rule on the title itself doesn’t shift: it belongs to the leasing company until you purchase the vehicle and complete the DMV paperwork to put it in your name.

1
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Change Name on Title After Lease Buyout
2
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Titles and Vehicle Ownership
3
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Information and Instructions about Your Certificate of Title
4
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer Leasing (Regulation M)
5
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Consumer Laws and Regulations Consumer Leasing
6
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Section 1013.3 General Disclosure Requirements
7
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Publication 839 – A Dealer’s Guide to Sales and Use Tax
8
New York State Attorney General. Leases and Rentals