Montana title, no LLC

A Montana title without an LLC

A Montana LLC is how people get Montana plates. If your vehicle has no title and a title is all you need, you don’t have to form one.

Last reviewed 2026-09-24

You don’t need your own LLC to get a Montana title. The LLC exists for registration and plates. Montana registers a vehicle in the county where its owner is domiciled, and it counts an LLC as domiciled wherever its registered agent keeps an address (MCA 61-3-303, 61-1-101). A title is a separate document. Montana’s application for a vehicle with no title, form MV10, can be filed to title a vehicle without registering it, and a vehicle 30 or more years old needs no surety bond (MV10).

That’s the route we use. We file through our own Montana company, which holds the title for the few weeks Montana needs and then signs it over to you. You register the vehicle at home, in your name, like any other car. There’s no LLC for you to form, keep an agent for, or renew.

How the Montana LLC route works

Services that sell it set up a Montana limited liability company for you, then title and register your vehicle in the company’s name. Here are the pieces, from Montana’s own rules:

  • The company. The state filing fee is $35 (Secretary of State). The LLC must keep a registered agent at a Montana street address (MCA 35-7-104) and file an annual report between January 1 and April 15 every year (MCA 35-8-208). The $20 report fee is waived for 2026 and 2027 (Secretary of State).
  • Letting it lapse. The state may dissolve an LLC that goes 60 days without a registered agent or 140 days without its annual report (MCA 35-8-209).
  • Permanent plates. A car or light truck 11 or more years old can be registered permanently for an $87.50 fee plus five times the local option tax or flat fee. The registration can’t pass to a new owner, so it ends when the vehicle is sold (MCA 61-3-562). Motorcycles are registered permanently from the start (MCA 61-3-303).
  • Taxes and inspections. Montana has no general sales tax (Montana Department of Revenue) and no emissions testing program (EPA list of state programs).
  • Who owns the vehicle. Montana defines the owner as whoever holds the legal title (MCA 61-1-101). On this route that’s the LLC. When the vehicle is sold, the LLC is the seller, and whoever signs for it certifies they have the authority to (MV24).

What the LLC services charge

Prices from each company’s own website, checked September 24, 2026. Montana’s state and county fees are extra unless the row says otherwise.

Up frontEvery yearWho owns the vehicle
Dirt Legal, car with no title (page)From $1,299.99, depending on value$125 to maintain the LLCThe LLC (their words: “Montana Title In Your LLC Name”)
Shelby & Sons, vintage car (page)$575 for the LLC and $400 for the title and registration, plus $600 for a bonded title when no ownership documents exist$225 for the agent and annual reportThe LLC
Montana Corporate (page)$499 for the LLC, $420 for the first vehicle, $500 for a break/bond title$225 for its annual packageThe LLC
Pink Slip Title$299 in total, Montana’s fees included, plus about $25 for the VIN inspectionNothingYou

The three LLC services include Montana registration and plates. We don’t: you register the vehicle in your own state.

Where the LLC route runs into trouble

Montana allows an LLC to register a vehicle. The state where the vehicle is kept still applies its own rules, and several enforce them:

  • California requires a vehicle based in California, or mainly driven on its roads, to be registered there, whoever owns it (Vehicle Code 4000.4). In March 2026 the state’s tax department reported more than 400 investigations of buyers using out-of-state LLCs, with penalties that include 50% of the tax (CDTFA). The Attorney General charged 14 people the same day (Attorney General).
  • Washington makes it a gross misdemeanor for a resident to register a vehicle in another state to avoid Washington’s taxes and fees. The fine is $1,000 and can’t be suspended or reduced (RCW 46.16A.030).
  • Utah treats an LLC that keeps and drives a vehicle in Utah as a resident, and since 2025 it matches insurance addresses to find out-of-state plates (S.B. 52). A July 2026 news report counted about 1,500 notices, nearly 90% of them for Montana plates (KUER).
  • Massachusetts fines anyone who registers a vehicle in another state, or misstates where it’s garaged, to avoid its excise, sales tax or insurance premiums: $200 to $1,000 per offense (M.G.L. c. 90, § 3½).

Montana applies the same rule to its own residents: after 60 days in the state, a resident can’t drive on another state’s plates (MCA 61-3-302). Insurance can be a catch too. A vehicle owned by a business usually needs a commercial auto policy (Progressive).

A title on its own

If your vehicle has no title, the title is the thing you’re missing. Montana’s MV10 can be filed to title a vehicle without registering it, and for vehicles 30 years and older Montana doesn’t ask for a surety bond, whatever their condition (MV10).

That’s what we do, for cars, trucks and street motorcycles 30 years and older, and for ATVs, side-by-sides and dirt bikes 10 years and older. You give us the vehicle’s details, have the VIN inspected where the vehicle sits, and mail two forms back. We prepare and file the Montana paperwork. The title is typically in your hands 5 to 7 weeks later, signed over to you, and you register the vehicle in your own state and pay whatever your state charges.

See every step of how it works, or check who can inspect your VIN where you live.

The Montana route

$20 to open your case, $279 once your title has been issued and is in our hands. $299 in total, with every Montana fee included and no surety bond for vehicles 30 years and older. The VIN inspection is arranged near you and paid separately.

Who can inspect my VIN?

You’ll pay the $20 securely on Stripe, then tell us about the vehicle. The $279 is only charged once there is a title to mail to you.

Common questions

Questions we get asked

Do I need my own LLC to get a Montana title?

No. An LLC is how a nonresident gets a vehicle registered in Montana, with plates. A title can be applied for on its own: Montana’s MV10 lets a vehicle be titled without being registered. On our route, our Montana company files the application and signs the title over to you, so there’s nothing for you to set up.

Can I get a title with a bill of sale in Montana?

Not if a title exists. Then the previous owner signs that title over to you and it goes in with form MV1. If there’s no title and no way to get a replacement, Montana’s MV10 break/bond application takes a notarized bill of sale (form MV24), a VIN inspection on form MV20 and photos of the vehicle. It also needs a surety bond, unless the vehicle is 30 or more years old or worth $1,000 or less.

Is it legal to register a car through a Montana LLC?

Montana allows it. The risk is in your home state, which usually requires a vehicle kept there to be registered there. California, Washington, Utah and Massachusetts all enforce this. Washington makes it a gross misdemeanor, and California has filed criminal charges.

What happens when an LLC-owned vehicle is sold?

The LLC is the seller, so the person signing has to have authority to sign for the company. Montana’s permanent registration also ends with the sale, because it can’t be transferred to a new owner.

Sources

  1. Montana MV10 Break/Bond Title Application (7/26), checked 2026-09-24.
  2. Montana MV1 Application for Certificate of Title (7/26), checked 2026-09-24.
  3. Montana MV24 Bill of Sale (8/26), checked 2026-09-24.
  4. MCA 61-3-208, title without the prior owner’s title, checked 2026-09-24.
  5. MCA 61-3-303 and 61-1-101, registration county and domicile, checked 2026-09-24.
  6. MCA 61-3-562, permanent registration, checked 2026-09-24.
  7. MCA 35-7-104, 35-8-208 and 35-8-209, registered agent, annual report, dissolution, checked 2026-09-24.
  8. Montana Secretary of State, business fees, checked 2026-09-24.
  9. Montana Department of Revenue, general sales tax, checked 2026-09-24.
  10. California Vehicle Code 4000.4, checked 2026-09-24.
  11. CDTFA news release 26-02 (March 6, 2026), checked 2026-09-24.
  12. Washington RCW 46.16A.030, checked 2026-09-24.
  13. Utah S.B. 52 (2025), checked 2026-09-24.
  14. Massachusetts General Laws c. 90, § 3½, checked 2026-09-24.
  15. Dirt Legal, Shelby & Sons and Montana Corporate price pages (linked in the table), checked 2026-09-24.