Free North Dakota Bill of Sale Template & Generator

North Dakota Bill of Sale Requirements

Additional Forms Required in North Dakota

• Form SFN 2872 (Application for Certificate of Title and Registration)
• Form SFN 2888 (Seller's Certificate and Vehicle Bill of Sale) — notarized; used when a title cannot be furnished

North Dakota keeps private vehicle transfers unusually simple, but one piece of misinformation about the state circulates widely and is worth correcting first: the title transfer deadline is 30 days, not 90. A number of online guides describe North Dakota as having "one of the longest" or "most generous" windows in the country at 90 days. It does not. Plan on 30 days from the day you receive the endorsed title — and the seller has up to 30 days from the sale to hand it over.

The core paperwork is the seller-assigned title plus SFN 2872, the Application for Certificate of Title and Registration — the buyer's form. SFN 2888, the Seller's Certificate and Vehicle Bill of Sale, is a notarized form used when a title can't be furnished; for an ordinary sale, NDDOT's Private Party Vehicle Bill of Sale is SFN 62502, which has no notary block. A related form number causes real confusion: SFN 2889 is sometimes described online as a North Dakota bill of sale, but it is actually an affidavit used to claim a refund on a permanently destroyed vehicle. If someone points you to 2889 for a normal sale, they have the wrong form.

North Dakota also differs from several of its neighbors in where the transfer happens. Rather than routing titling through county treasurers, the state centralizes it at the NDDOT Motor Vehicle Division — you can file by mail to Bismarck or visit a motor vehicle branch office. Given the distances involved in a rural state, mail-in filing is a normal and well-used option.

The tax is a 5% Motor Vehicle Excise Tax, applied flat statewide with no local or county add-ons — so your address does not change what you owe. The statute ties it to the purchase price, while NDDOT's 2026 private-party bill of sale form says it is based on the vehicle's fair market value, so a low written price is not a reliable way to cut the tax. The title transfer fee itself is a modest $5, and an accurate bill of sale is the simplest protection for both parties.

Inspections are absent entirely: no emissions testing anywhere in North Dakota and no periodic safety inspection for an ordinary transfer. Between that, a flat statewide tax rate, a $5 title fee, and no notarization needed for a standard sale with the title in hand, a North Dakota private sale is straightforward — as long as you work to the real 30-day clock.