Who may apply
“If a certificate of title is lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed or becomes illegible, the owner or the legal representative of the owner named in the certificate, as shown by the records of the commissioner or the commissioner’s duly authorized county tag agent, shall promptly make application for and may obtain a replacement, upon furnishing information satisfactory to the commissioner or authorized county tag agent.”
“As shown by the records” is the operative limit. If the record does not name you, this is not your route — a title bond is.
O.C.G.A. § 40-3-31.
What the replacement says on its face
That legend is required where the replacement issues to the owner named in the lost certificate. After six months or more of continuous record ownership without a challenge, a certificate may instead be issued reading simply “Replacement Title”.
It is worth knowing before a buyer reads it out loud. The legend is not a brand and it is not a defect — it is a statement that the original paper has not been accounted for.
O.C.G.A. § 40-3-31.
The case with no charge
Where the original title was lost in the mail before the registered owner received it, a replacement “shall be issued by the commissioner without charge upon application and completion of the form and affidavit prescribed by the commissioner setting forth the circumstances of nonreceipt of the title”. The owner has to report the nonreceipt and apply “within 60 days of the issuance of such title by the commissioner”, and provide an affidavit of nonreceipt verifying their current mailing address.
Sixty days from the state’s issue date, not from the day you noticed. A title that never arrived after a payoff or an address change is the common version of this.
O.C.G.A. § 40-3-31.
Liens on the record
A lien still recorded against the vehicle has to be dealt with as part of the application; Georgia uses Form T-4 for a lienholder’s release or satisfaction. A replacement title is not a way to shed a recorded security interest.
If the lien was genuinely paid off, get the release from the lender first — it is the same document a sale needs. How a lien is handled on a sale →
Forms, fee and where to file
The application is made to a county tag office or to the Motor Vehicle Division. The current form set and the current fee are published by the Department of Revenue and are not restated here, because a fee on a page is wrong the moment it changes:
Georgia Department of Revenue — Replace a Lost or Stolen Title →
How duplicate titles work generally → · Georgia title rules →
Current as of 14 September 2026. This page describes rules, not your situation, and it is information rather than legal advice. Rules change; the linked official source is always the current one.