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2005 SESSION


CHAPTER 305
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 46.2-603 and 46.2-623 of the Code of Virginia, relating to issuance of certificates of title and statements in certificate of title applications.
[H 2293]
Approved March 20, 2005

 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That §§ 46.2-603 and 46.2-623 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 46.2-603. Issuance of certificate of title and registration card.

A. The Department, on receiving an application for a certificate of title for a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer, shall issue to the owner a certificate of title and a registration card as separate documents.

B. Subject to all applicable federal laws, the Department may, at the written request of the owner or lienholder listed on the application for certificate of title, supplemental lien, or transfer of lien, refrain from issuing a certificate of title in paper form and, instead, shall create only the electronic record of such title to be retained by the Department in its existing electronic title record system with a notation that no certificate of title has been printed on paper. The owner of a vehicle will be deemed to have obtained and the Department will be deemed to have issued, a certificate of title when such title record has been created electronically as provided in this subsection. An owner or lienholder listed on a title record so created may at any time request and the Department shall provide a paper certificate of title for the vehicle. All transfers of vehicle ownership shall require a paper certificate of title in accordance with, and subject to, all applicable federal laws.

§ 46.2-623. Statements in application.

A. Every application for a certificate of title shall contain (i) a statement of the applicant's title and of all liens or encumbrances on the vehicle and the names and addresses of all persons having any interest in the vehicle and the nature of every interest in the vehicle; (ii) the Social Security number, if any, of the owner and, if the application is in the name of an employer for a business vehicle, the employer's identification number assigned by the United States Internal Revenue Service; and (iii) a brief description of the vehicle to be registered, including the name of the maker, the vehicle identification or serial number and, when registering a new vehicle, the date of sale by the manufacturer or dealer to the person first operating the vehicle.

B. Not later than July 15, 1998, the lessor of a qualifying vehicle, as defined in § 58.1-3523, shall send a report to the Department for each such qualifying vehicle it was leasing as of July 1, 1998, and has leased between January 1, 1998, and June 30, 1998, containing (i) the name and address of the lessee as it appears in the lease contract; (ii) the social security number of the lessee; and (iii) the registration number of the vehicle as described under Article 1 (§ 46.2-600 et seq.) of Chapter 6 of Title 46.2.

C. Beginning with August 1998, such lessor shall send a monthly report to the Department, by the fifteenth day of the month or such later day as may be prescribed in the guidelines promulgated under § 58.1-3532, listing any changes, additions or deletions to the information provided under subsection B as of the last day of the preceding month.

D. The application shall contain such additional information as may be required by the Department.

E. The Department may require that an applicant present proof reasonably acceptable to the Department of the accuracy of information provided on the application, and may refuse to issue a certificate of title until such proof has been provided.