Applications for Alabama certificate of title must be made through a Designated Agent of the Department. Designated Agents include: County License Plate Issuing Officials, licensed Alabama motor vehicle dealers, and financial institutions located in Alabama such as banks and credit unions.
ALDOR’s titling system, ALVIN, features a VIN decoder that populates this information.
However, there will be occasion where it will not be pre-populated. Sometimes it will populate the information after a vehicle trim is selected.
It is recommended to look up the vehicle year, make, model, and specifications in a Google-type search to see if you are able to find the unladen weight or GVWR.
Another alternative is the NHTSA VIN decoder (https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/decoder/). It will sometimes provide this information for vehicles.
If all else fails and you still can’t determine the unladen weight, then you can enter the same amount as was entered or pre-populated for the GVWR.
If there is joint-ownership and the names are joined by “or,” only one owner is required to sign the title application.
If there is joint-ownership and the names are joined by “and,” then both owners are required to sign the title application.
