How Florida dealers can e-sign title and odometer forms

A used-car deal in Florida still produces a stack of paper: the buyer's order, the title application, the odometer disclosure, often a reassignment supplement or a power of attorney. Since 2020, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has accepted the title and odometer forms signed electronically, if the dealer follows its rules.

Which forms can be e-signed

FLHSMV's Information Notice INFO20-019 (May 6, 2020) covers the forms used to make odometer disclosures, submitted by dealers and manufacturers:

• HSMV 82040: Application for Certificate of Title
• HSMV 82101: Application for Duplicate or Lost in Transit/Reassignment Title
• HSMV 82993: Odometer Disclosure Statement
• HSMV 82994: Motor Vehicle Dealer Title Reassignment Supplement
• HSMV 82995: Motor Vehicle Power of Attorney/Odometer Disclosure

What the Department requires

1. An identity check. The e-signature process must confirm who is signing, by a signature pad in person or through a compliant process using email, with an authentication method (a shared secret, a secure token or other credentials) meeting NIST assurance level 2, as set by NHTSA's rule 49 CFR 580.
2. An audit trail. A signature certificate submitted with the forms, showing the history, timestamps and other identifying information such as IP addresses, enough to stand up if a signature is later disputed.
3. The dealer's attestation. A statement on the dealer's letterhead, in the Department's wording, that the electronic signatures on the odometer disclosure documents meet the requirements of 49 CFR 580 for assurance level 2.
4. Records. The dealer keeps the records of each signer's authentication, including the identity proofing, for the normal retention period.

The signed forms, the certificate and the attestation are uploaded to the Electronic Filing System, or printed and taken to the tag office.

How it works in Signzuma for Dealers

1. Start a Florida deal packet: choose the HSMV forms the deal needs and add your own documents, such as the buyer's order, we-owe and arbitration agreement.
2. Enter the deal once: buyer, co-buyer, vehicle, odometer, trade-in. Every form comes back filled in, with each signer's boxes already placed.
3. Choose each buyer's identity check: in person with a photo ID at your desk, an access code you give them yourself, or a text message code. Nobody can open the documents before passing it.
4. The buyers sign everything in one sitting; the dealership signs last, from its own account.
5. The finished PDF ends with the signature certificate and the attestation page on your letterhead, and is sealed so any later change shows.

What still needs ink

• Retail installment contracts you sell to a lender go through that lender's own e-contracting system, which holds the original. Contracts you keep in-house can be e-signed.
• Anything that needs a notary still needs one.
• If the buyer prefers paper, they are entitled to it: the federal ESIGN Act requires their consent to sign electronically.

This guide summarizes FLHSMV Information Notice INFO20-019 as published; it is not legal advice. Your dealership signs the attestation, so confirm your process with FLHSMV (BIO-E-Signature@flhsmv.gov) before relying on it.