Does a personal car sales contract need to be notarized?

Can I ask if the car sale contract needs to be notarized when buying or selling a car with someone else? - Reader Van Nam

Hợp đồng mua bán xe của cá nhân có cần công chứng không?

Does a personal car sales contract need to be notarized?

Specifically, Clause 2, Article 11 of Circular 24/2023/TT-BGTVT stipulates documents for transferring vehicle ownership, including one of the following documents:

- Electronic invoice data is received by the vehicle registration and management system from the public service portal or the tax authority's database. In case the vehicle does not have electronic invoice data, it must have a paper invoice or an invoice converted from an electronic invoice to a paper invoice according to the provisions of law;

- Decision of competent authority or document on sale, donation, inheritance of vehicle, financial documents of vehicle according to regulations of law.

Documents on the sale, donation, or inheritance of a vehicle by an individual must be notarized or certified or confirmed by the agency, organization, or unit where the individual is working (for armed forces and foreigners working in diplomatic missions, consular offices, or representative offices of international organizations that register the vehicle at the address of the agency, organization, or unit where the individual is working);

- For vehicles liquidated by the police agency: Vehicle liquidation decision of the competent authority and invoice for sale of public assets or invoice for sale of State assets;

- For vehicles liquidated by military agencies: Official dispatch confirming that the vehicle has been removed from military equipment by the Department of Vehicles and Machinery, General Department of Engineering, Ministry of National Defense and invoice according to regulations.

Thus, the vehicle sale contract of an individual must have notarized or certified confirmation.

When selling a car, do I have to go through the procedure of revoking the registration and license plate?

Pursuant to Clause 4, Article 6 of Circular 24/2023/TT-BGTVT, when selling, donating, inheriting, exchanging, contributing capital, allocating, or transferring a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as transferring vehicle ownership):

- The vehicle owner must retain the vehicle registration certificate and license plate (not give it to the organization or individual receiving the vehicle ownership transfer) and submit the vehicle registration certificate and license plate to the vehicle registration authority to carry out the revocation procedure; in case of transferring vehicle ownership with the auction winning license plate, the vehicle owner must submit the vehicle registration certificate to the vehicle registration authority to carry out the revocation procedure;

- Within 30 days from the date of completing the vehicle ownership transfer paperwork, the vehicle owner must complete the revocation procedures; in case the above deadline has passed and the vehicle owner fails to complete the revocation procedures or hand over the vehicle registration certificate and license plate to the organization or individual receiving the vehicle ownership transfer to complete the revocation procedures, before handling the case, the vehicle registration authority shall issue a decision to sanction the vehicle owner for not completing the revocation procedures as prescribed;

In case the vehicle owner does not carry out the revocation procedures after transferring vehicle ownership, he/she shall be responsible before the law for any violations related to that vehicle;

- After the vehicle owner completes the recall procedure, the organization or individual receiving the transfer of ownership completes the vehicle registration procedure according to regulations.

Thus, when selling a vehicle, the owner must submit to the vehicle registration agency the vehicle registration certificate and license plate to complete the revocation procedure.

Vehicle registration and license plate revocation records when selling a vehicle

According to Clause 1, Article 14 of Circular 24/2023/TT-BGTVT, the dossier for revoking vehicle registration and license plates is as follows:

- Vehicle registration and license plate revocation declaration;

- Vehicle owner's documents as prescribed in Article 10 of Circular 24/2023/TT-BGTVT;

- 02 copies of engine number and chassis number;

- Vehicle registration certificate;

- License plate number;

In case of moving the original owner, the vehicle owner does not have to return the license plate, except in the case of a vehicle registered with a 3 or 4-digit license plate, in which case the 3 or 4-digit license plate must be returned;

In case of loss of vehicle registration certificate or license plate, the reason must be clearly stated in the registration and license plate revocation declaration;

- Copy of vehicle ownership transfer documents as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 11 of Circular 24/2023/TT-BGTVT (except in case of transfer of original owner).

Procedures for revoking vehicle registration and license plates when selling a vehicle

Procedures for revoking vehicle registration and license plates are specified in Clause 1, Article 15 of Circular 24/2023/TT-BGTVT as follows:

- Vehicle owners declare the vehicle registration and license plate revocation declaration on the public service portal; provide the vehicle registration file code online; submit the revocation dossier as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 14 of Circular 24/2023/TT-BGTVT and receive an appointment to return the vehicle registration results as prescribed;

- After checking the valid vehicle records, the vehicle registration authority shall issue a certificate of registration revocation and license plate number revocation according to regulations (with a copy of the engine number and chassis number and the vehicle registration authority's seal on the copy of the engine number and chassis number): 01 copy is returned to the vehicle owner; 01 copy is kept in the vehicle records; in case of loss of the vehicle registration certificate, verification shall be carried out according to regulations.

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