At times, it may become necessary to directly pass the ownership of a motor vehicle, recreational vehicle, or mobile home from one licensed dealer to another. This type of transaction that is normally conducted directly between one licensed dealer and another is popularly known as wholesale transactions. In the State of Florida, it is not strange for a dealer to purchase vehicles on wholesale basis from another dealer, using drafts that are payable at some time in the future by a financial institution. Normally, the financial institution may require several days to clear the draft from which the payment is to be made.  It’s very important to note that the draft system is not in compliance with the statutory requirement that mandates every vehicle owner to possess a duly assigned title, starting from the date the vehicle is acquired till the day it will be eventually be disposed. This means that, even in wholesale transactions, a completed title must accompany the transaction. Although the Division of Motorist Services recognizes the existence of drafts, the Division of Motorist Services holds the dealers involved in these transactions responsible for obtaining titles or proper indicia of ownership before offering these vehicles for sale, wholesale or retail, as required by law.

In this scenario, the selling dealer does not have to transfer title and may simply “reassign” the certificate of title to the buying dealer.

Please note that form HSMV82101 is also used to request a duplicate title when the original title has been lost, destroyed or stolen. We have attached the link to this form to review in detail above.