Denver may need a VIN verification before registration

You drove the car here from another state, or bought it just over the line, and now you want a Colorado plate. Denver often wants someone to lay eyes on the vehicle identification number first.

VIN verification is required before the City and County of Denver will register a vehicle in four common situations: when the title comes from out of state, when the car was bought outside Colorado, when it changed hands on a purged bill of sale, or when the title description needs a correction. The check simply confirms that the number on the car matches the number on the paperwork.

It is an easy step to overlook, because the moments that trigger it are already busy ones — a move across state lines, a private-party purchase, an inheritance, a title that needs cleaning up. Skip it, and the registration stalls at the counter while you go back for the one thing you were missing.

So sort out the verification before you make the trip to Denver Motor Vehicle. Confirm whether your title situation calls for it, get it done, and tuck the official paperwork in with the rest of your registration documents. Denver’s VIN Verifications page lists who is authorized to perform the check and what they confirm.