Selling a Car That’s Titled in Your Montana LLC

Selling a car titled in your Montana LLC works like any other sale, with one difference: the LLC is the seller, so you sign the title as its member. The buyer takes the Montana title to their own DMV, which treats it like any out-of-state title.

If there is a loan it is paid off at the sale and the lender releases the lien. Afterwards you keep the LLC for the next vehicle or we close it properly.

Selling a car that is titled in your Montana LLC works like any other sale, with one difference: the LLC is the seller, so you sign the title as its member, not as yourself. The buyer takes the Montana title to their own DMV, which treats it like any out-of-state title. If there is a loan, it is paid off at the sale and the lender releases the lien. Afterwards you decide whether the LLC keeps living, because it owns other vehicles or you will buy again, or whether we close it.

People worry about this step more than any other, usually because a buyer’s DMV clerk once said something unhelpful about “a company title.” Here is the whole thing.

Who signs, and how

The Montana title names the LLC as owner. On the assignment section, the seller signature line is signed by you with your name followed by your role in the company, for example “Jane Smith, Member.” Print the LLC’s name exactly as it appears on the title. If a notary is required by the buyer’s state, the notary witnesses your signature as the member. That is it. There is no board resolution and no corporate seal, because an LLC has neither.

Give the buyer the title, a bill of sale from the LLC to the buyer, and the odometer statement. Keep copies of all three.

If the car is financed

The lien is paid off at closing. In a private sale, the buyer’s funds go to the lender first, the lender releases the lien and sends the clean title, and then the LLC assigns it to the buyer. We coordinate the payoff letter so the lender releases to the right place. In a dealer trade-in or sale, the dealer handles the payoff and the LLC signs a power of attorney so the dealer can complete the title once the lien clears. The financed-car guide covers the lender side.

What the buyer’s DMV wants to see

An out-of-state title assigned to the buyer, signed by the owner. The owner is the LLC and the signature is yours as member. Some states ask for proof that the signer had authority to sign for the company; the LLC’s articles of organization or operating agreement is that proof, and we give you a copy at formation. Hand the buyer a copy with the title and the clerk has nothing to ask.

If the title carries a “bonded” brand from a title recovery, it is disclosed on the face of the title and the buyer’s state will carry the brand forward until the three years are up. Collector buyers have seen it before. The no-title guide explains the brand.

Selling to another Montana LLC owner

If the buyer also has a Montana LLC, the title transfers Montana to Montana and we can file it for them. The new owner’s LLC gets a new Montana title and registration. Permanent registration does not transfer with the car: Montana cancels it on transfer and the new owner registers fresh, which for an eleven-year-old vehicle means a new permanent registration in the new LLC’s name.

Selling the whole LLC instead of the car

Some sellers of collector cars sell the company that owns the car, so the title never changes hands. That avoids a title transfer and in some states avoids the buyer’s sales tax. It also hands the buyer any liability the company has ever had, and it needs a lawyer on both sides. We do not recommend it for an ordinary car sale, and we are not the people to do it for you. We mention it because buyers will ask.

After the sale: keep the LLC or close it

Keep it if it owns other vehicles, or if you will buy again within the year. The registered agent is $99.99 a year or $12.50 a month and we file the annual report at no charge, so an idle LLC costs you the agent fee and nothing else.

Close it if you are done. We file the dissolution with the Montana Secretary of State so the company is wound up properly. Do not leave it to lapse on its own: an LLC that stops filing its annual report is dissolved by the state eventually, but it sits in a bad-standing status in the meantime, and if you ever want to use the name again you will wish you had closed it cleanly.

Questions people ask when they sell

No. The buyer can title the car in their own name in their own state. The Montana title is an ordinary out-of-state title to them.

No sales tax on the Montana side. Whether the buyer owes tax is their state’s question.

Wait for it. The title takes two to three weeks after registration. Selling on a registration alone leaves the buyer unable to title the car.

The LLC applies for a duplicate from Montana. We file it. Faster than most states.

Next in the series

Sources

• Mont. Code Ann. § 61-3-562(5), permanent registration cancels on transfer
• Montana Secretary of State, annual reports
• Montana guide, chapter 9: selling a vehicle your LLC owns