Bills · 2021-2022 Regular Session
Relating to: motor vehicle transfers of ownership and providing a penalty.
Motor vehicle — Certificate of title Motor vehicle — Dealers and finance companies Motor vehicle — Drivers license Motor vehicle — Regulation
- Introduced, stopped here
- Passes Assembly, not reached
- Passes Senate, not reached
- Governor signs, not reached
- Law, not reached
Unfamiliar terms? Glossary
What this bill does
Plain-language analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill prohibits the transfer of a motor vehicle to a buyer who does not display
a valid operator's license.
Current law requires the owner of a motor vehicle (owner), when transferring
an interest in the vehicle, to record certain information on the vehicle's certificate of
title and deliver the certificate of title to the person taking the interest in the vehicle
(buyer). The owner must also disclose in writing the vehicle's mileage and, if
applicable, certain prior damage to or uses of the vehicle. Upon receiving the
certificate of title, the buyer must promptly complete an application for a new
certificate of title and submit the application and the old certificate of title to the
Department of Transportation. However, a different procedure applies for motor
vehicles purchased from motor vehicle dealers, which generally do not hold title in
their own names. When a dealer transfers an interest in a motor vehicle owned by
the dealer, the dealer processes the certificate of title application for the vehicle and
submits it directly to DOT.
This bill prohibits an owner, dealer, or salesperson from transferring ownership
of a motor vehicle, other than a collector vehicle, to a buyer unless the buyer displays
an operator's license issued to the buyer that appears valid on its face and represents
that the operator's license is valid. A buyer may not receive delivery of the vehicle
unless the buyer has met these requirements. The bill provides exceptions for
transfers of vehicles to persons who are unlicensed because they cannot demonstrate
U.S. citizenship or legal presence in the United States and for transfers of vehicles
to nonlicensed persons if the person provides reasonable proof that the motor vehicle
is intended for transfer to a family member and that the family member to whom the
motor vehicle will be transferred possesses a valid operator's license. An owner,
dealer, salesperson, or buyer that violates these requirements may be required to
forfeit not more than $1,000 or, if the violation is committed with intent to defraud,
not more than $5,000.