Every week someone in El Paso sells a car to a neighbor, hands a paid-off truck down to a son or daughter, or has to move a title for an owner who is deployed from Fort Bliss, admitted at UMC or held at the El Paso County Detention Facility. The paperwork is filed at the El Paso County Tax Office on Manny Martinez Drive, and most of it needs no notary at all. A few pieces are rejected without one: the affidavit of heirship for a deceased owner's vehicle, the gift affidavit a parent and child sign so the transfer is taxed as a $10 gift rather than a sale, and the titles of several other states.
Texas does not require a notary on the title assignment, on Form 130-U (the Texas title application) or on Form VTR-271, the limited power of attorney for motor vehicle transactions. It does require one on Form VTR-262, Affidavit of Heirship for a Motor Vehicle, and on Comptroller Form 14-317, Affidavit of Motor Vehicle Gift Transfer, which donor and recipient both swear to before a Notary Public or a county tax office employee. Titles from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and other states also need a notarized seller signature. For an affidavit you sign in front of the notary and take an oath, so leave it unsigned; for a title or power of attorney the notary completes the certificate printed on the form, usually an acknowledgment. Everyone shows unexpired photo ID.
Text or call (915) 302-0902 with the form name and your address, and we confirm the fee before we leave: the statutory notarial fee plus a nominal $39 travel fee in El Paso, evenings and weekends by appointment. We meet you at home, at work, at the tow yard, the hospital or the county jail, and a simple signing takes about fifteen minutes. Bring the completed form, your ID and the title or paperwork the form refers to. Our notary is not an attorney and cannot fill in the form, calculate tax or tell you which document you need; download current forms from TxDMV and take title questions to the El Paso County Tax Office.
Documents we notarize
- Vehicle title assignment (Texas title back)
- Application for Texas Title and/or Registration (Form 130-U)
- Bill of Sale (vehicle, boat, trailer, mobile home)
- Power of Attorney for Transfer of Ownership to a Motor Vehicle (VTR-271, notarized on request)
- Affidavit of Heirship for a Motor Vehicle (Form VTR-262)
- Statement of Fact / Affidavit of Fact
- Affidavit of Motor Vehicle Gift Transfer (Comptroller Form 14-317)
- Out-of-state title transfers (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and other notarized titles)
- Towing company and Vehicle Storage Facility (VSF) forms and abandoned vehicle affidavits
- Mechanic's lien on a vehicle paperwork
- Repossession affidavits
Common mistakes that delay a title transfer in El Paso
The most common problem is an affidavit signed before the notary arrives: a sworn form must be signed in the notary's presence, so a pre-signed VTR-262 or 14-317 means starting a fresh copy. Next is identification. The name on the ID has to match the signer, and a title issued in a maiden name or without a middle initial may need a statement of fact, which the tax office can explain. Signing a title while the buyer's name is blank creates an open title, and any form with blanks, corrections or white-out is likely to be refused.
Deadlines matter too. Texas requires the buyer to apply for title within 30 days of the sale, or 60 days for active-duty military, and the El Paso County Tax Office charges delinquent transfer penalties after that. Sellers protect themselves by filing a Vehicle Transfer Notification with TxDMV within 30 days, so parking tickets and toll bills stop following them. None of these steps is something the notary can do for you, but a notarized affidavit that is correct the first time keeps you from making a second trip to Manny Martinez Drive or the Eastside annex on George Dieter.
Towing companies, storage lots, lienholders and out-of-town owners
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation licenses vehicle storage facilities, and the abandoned-vehicle notices, auction paperwork and title applications a tow yard files often include sworn statements or signatures that must be notarized. The same is true of repossession affidavits from lenders and the mechanic's lien paperwork a repair shop uses to recover an unpaid bill. We offer recurring visits to El Paso tow yards, dealerships and repair shops so a manager can sign a stack of affidavits in one appointment instead of driving across town, with the notarial fee itemized per document and the travel fee listed separately.
Owners who cannot get to the tax office sign a power of attorney. Texas does not require Form VTR-271 to be notarized, but many people ask us to notarize it anyway so the signature is never questioned; a statutory durable power of attorney used for the same purpose must be acknowledged before a notary. We notarize powers of attorney for inmates at the El Paso County Detention Facility and the Jail Annex on Montana under each facility's rules, and Fort Bliss Legal Assistance prepares military powers of attorney at no cost to eligible soldiers before a deployment. Ask the tax office what identification it wants from the person signing under a power of attorney.
What to bring
- Unexpired government-issued photo ID for every signer — the name should match the title or form
- The completed form; leave affidavits (VTR-262, 14-317, statements of fact) unsigned until the notary arrives
- The title, or the VIN, year and make, so nothing on the form is left blank
- Any instructions from the tax office, lienholder, out-of-state agency or towing company
- Payment for the notarial fee and the $39 travel fee — we confirm the total when you book
How a mobile appointment works
Text or call to book
Text or call (915) 302-0902 with the form name, how many people will sign and where you are in El Paso. We tell you the exact fee and confirm a time, including evenings and weekends.
We come to you
Our bilingual notary meets you at home, at work, at the dealership or tow yard, at the hospital or at the jail. We check each signer's ID, administer the oath on affidavits, watch you sign and complete the certificate — about fifteen minutes.
Signed, sealed, done
Take the notarized paperwork, the signed title and Form 130-U to the El Paso County Tax Office within 30 days of the sale. If you are the seller, file your Vehicle Transfer Notification with TxDMV within 30 days as well.