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Plate Surrender in Ohio
- Moving to Ohio
- Moving from OH
- Selling a Used Car
- Buying a Used Car
Page OverviewYou can keep your Ohio license plates when you move to another state, but there are times when you might want to―or be required to―surrender them to the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV).
Moving to Ohio
When you move to Ohio, you’ll transfer your registration and get new license plates.
Whether you surrender your old plates is up to your former state. Scroll to the top of this page and choose your old state from the drop down menu.
Moving from OH
The OH BMV doesn’t want your old plates when you move to another state.
However, surrendering them to a BMV location or defacing them for trash or recycling, is a good idea. That way, they can’t be lost or stolen, and you can’t be held liable.
Selling a Used Car
You might want to transfer your plates to another vehicle when you sell your used car. You can handle this process when you take care of the title transfer and registration processes.
Consider surrendering or destroying the plates if you don’t want to transfer them, and always surrender the plates when you cancel your insurance and registration.
Buying a Used Car
The vehicle’s previous owner will remove his plates after you buy his used car. If you have valid license plates, you can transfer them to the vehicle, or you can apply for new ones.
The BMV can handle either process when you take care of the title transfer and car registration.
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