What a statement of facts actually is
A statement of facts is the sworn sheet a clerk uses for a gift or family claim. It is not the title. It is not a bill of sale.
Is a statement of facts the title? No. People also treat it like a bill of sale. Those are different papers.
A statement of facts is the sworn sheet for claims the clerk cannot read off the title — a gift, a family transfer, a smog exemption, a name that does not match. It is not the new title. The county still titles it. It is not a bill of sale. That receipt is who sold which VIN for what money.
California prints that job on Statement of Facts, REG 256. Section A is use-tax exemption: family transfer, adding or dropping a family name, a gift with no trade and no other consideration, a court order, inheritance. Section B can skip a smog cert on some family moves. Section F is the name that does not match the paper. Section H is the swear — penalty of perjury. The lemon-buyback post already used this sheet as a stamp. This is the form’s own job.
Texas puts the gift path on a different paper: Affidavit of Motor Vehicle Gift Transfer, Form 14-317. Eligible family, a guardian, some trusts and 501(c)(3)s. No consideration, including no assumption of debt. Donor and recipient sign. A notary or the county tax office stamps it. It rides with Application for Texas Title, Form 130-U, in person. Same idea: sworn facts so the clerk can finish. Different paper. Not the title.
