Wisconsin Vehicle Power of Attorney

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Form MV2690 is the one power of attorney form the Wisconsin Department of Transportation issues for a vehicle transaction, and WisDOT gives it the full title Power of Attorney, Vehicle Odometer Disclosure. It lets the person taking the vehicle complete the owner mileage statement and the transfer of ownership.

2. 2

   There is one gate on using it. Trans 154.11(1) allows this power of attorney only if the owner certificate of title is physically held by a secured party at the time ownership of the vehicle is transferred.

3. 3

   The rule that specifies what the form must contain asks the owner to sign and to provide a printed name. WisDOT separately states that the MV2690 can be signed electronically. No notarial act appears in either source.

4. 4

   It is a secure form. Trans 154.11(2)(a) requires it to be printed by a secure printing process and issued by the department only to the person receiving the vehicle, and WisDOT says it must be printed on secure paper, so it is not a download.

5. 5

   WisDOT created MV2690 in 2012 when the DMV began delivering electronic titles to lenders, so that a dealer could offer a traded-in vehicle for sale while waiting for the paper title from the lienholder.

6. 6

   A power of attorney cannot be granted to a dealership for the purpose of applying for a replacement title. WisDOT states that form MV2119 must be signed by the owner of record, or by the primary lienholder where one holds the title.

7. 7

   The authority is fragile by design. Trans 154.11(7) provides that if the mileage the owner wrote on the power of attorney is inconsistent with the mileage already shown on the title and any reassignment documents, the power of attorney is void.

Wisconsin Requirements for Vehicle Power of Attorney

• DOT Form MV2690, Power of Attorney, Vehicle Odometer Disclosure

  Wisconsin uses form MV2690, which the Department of Transportation names in full as Power of Attorney, Vehicle Odometer Disclosure. It carries the appointment and the owner mileage statement together, and it is the form WisDOT points dealers and agents to for a power of attorney on a vehicle transfer.

• Usable Only While a Lienholder Physically Holds the Title

  This is the gate Wisconsin puts in front of the form. Trans 154.11(1) permits the transferor to grant power of attorney for completing the odometer disclosure and transfer of ownership only if the transferor title is physically held by a secured party at the time ownership is transferred. With the title in hand, you complete the reassignment and the odometer disclosure on the title itself.

• A Secure Form You Cannot Download

  MV2690 is not published as a downloadable PDF. Trans 154.11(2)(a) requires the form to be issued by the department only to the transferee and printed by a secure printing process meeting 49 USC 32705(b)(2)(A), so WisDOT distributes it through authorized form providers. You obtain it from the dealer or agent handling the transaction.

• No Notarization, but a Signature and a Printed Name

  Trans 154.11(2) lists the complete conditions for a conforming power of attorney form and Trans 154.11(3) states the transferor duty, which is to sign the odometer disclosure and provide a printed name in the spaces provided. No notarial act appears in either, and WisDOT states MV2690 can be signed electronically although it must be printed on secure paper.

• The Owner Odometer Certification

  The owner gives the odometer reading at transfer, without tenths of a mile, and certifies one of three things: that the reading reflects the actual mileage, that it exceeds the designed mechanical limit of the odometer, or that it differs from the actual mileage by more than calibration error. The third choice is the one that warns the other side of a discrepancy.

• Void If the Mileage Does Not Line Up

  If the mileage the owner entered on the power of attorney is inconsistent with what the certificate of title and any reassignment documents already showed, the power of attorney is void. Check the figure against the title before anyone signs, because a void form takes the transfer down with it.

• Not Available for a Replacement Title

  A power of attorney cannot be granted to a dealership for the purpose of applying for a replacement title. The owner of record signs that application, or the primary lienholder does where one holds the title. A general power of attorney may still be granted for signing documents required for a purchase, such as a leased vehicle.

• Where the Original Goes, and the Seven Day Wholesale Rule

  The original completed form is included with the application for title; it is not filed on its own. Where ownership is reassigned to another dealer before a title has issued, the original power of attorney goes to the department within seven business days of the reassignment, together with a photocopy of the front and back of the certificate of title and the supporting documents.