SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2006 SESSION


CHAPTER 615
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 46.2-1072.1, 46.2-1605, and 46.2-1610 of the Code of Virginia, relating to certain fees charged by the Commissioner.
[H 1407]
Approved April 5, 2006

 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That §§ 46.2-1072.1, 46.2-1605, and 46.2-1610 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 46.2-1072.1. Fees.

The Commissioner may charge an appropriate fee, not to exceed twenty-five dollars a fee of $125 per vehicle, for the examination, verification, or identification of the serial or identification number of any vehicle, motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer. The Commissioner may also receive applications for the issuance of an identification number and investigate the circumstances of the application. When the Commissioner is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to the identification number, the fee for the issuance of such identification number shall be five dollars. If any inspection under this provision is done at the same time as an inspection under § 46.2-1605, then only one twenty-five-dollar $125 fee shall be charged for both inspections. All fees collected under this section shall be paid by the Commissioner into the state treasury and set aside as a special fund to be used to meet the expenses of the vehicle identification number and salvage vehicle inspection program.

§ 46.2-1605. Vehicles repaired or rebuilt for highway use; examinations; branding of titles.

Each salvage vehicle that has been repaired or rebuilt for use on the highways shall be examined by the Department prior to the issuance of a title for the vehicle. The examination shall include a review of all documentation for the parts and labor used for the repair of the salvage vehicle and a verification of the vehicle's identification number, confidential number, and odometer reading. The Commissioner shall ensure that, in scheduling and performing examinations of salvage vehicles under this section, single vehicles owned by private owner-operators are afforded no lower priority than examinations of vehicles owned by motor vehicle dealers, salvage dealers, demolishers, rebuilders, salvage pools, or vehicle removal operators. The Commissioner may charge an appropriate fee, not to exceed $25 a fee of $125 per vehicle, for the examination of repaired and rebuilt vehicles.

Any salvage vehicle whose vehicle identification number or confidential number has been altered, is missing, or appears to have been tampered with may be impounded by the Department until completion of an investigation by the Department. The vehicle may not be moved, sold, or tampered with until the completion of this investigation. Upon completion of an investigation by the Department, if the vehicle identification number is found to be missing or altered, a new vehicle identification number may be issued by the Department. If the vehicle is found to be a stolen vehicle and its owner can be determined, the vehicle shall be returned to him. If the owner cannot be determined or located and the person seeking to title the vehicle has been convicted of a violation of § 46.2-1074 or § 46.2-1075, the vehicle shall be deemed forfeited to the Commonwealth. Each such vehicle shall be sold at public auction and the proceeds thereof, after satisfaction of any liens, returned to the state treasury for use by the Department. If the Department's examination of a repaired or rebuilt salvage vehicle indicates no irregularities, a title and registration may be issued for the vehicle upon application therefor to the Department by the owner of the salvage vehicle. The title issued by the Department and any subsequent title thereafter issued for the repaired or rebuilt vehicle shall be permanently branded to indicate that it is a repaired or rebuilt vehicle. All repaired and rebuilt vehicles shall be subject to all safety equipment requirements provided by law. No title or registration shall be issued by the Department for any vehicle for which a nonrepairable certificate has ever been issued.

§ 46.2-1610. Disposition of fees.

All fees collected under this chapter shall be paid by the Commissioner into the state treasury and set aside as a special fund to be used to meet the expenses of the Department vehicle identification number and salvage vehicle inspection programs.

2. That if a settlement agreement has been reached between the Attorney General of Virginia and any insurance company whereby the insurance company has offered payments to the current, registered owners of vehicles which were previously declared total losses by the insurance company but for which the insurance company failed to obtain a salvage certificate, so that the current owners purchased the vehicles without knowledge that they had been declared total losses and had become salvage vehicles, then the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles, in the process of retitling such vehicles in accordance with Chapter 16 of Title 46.2, may waive the requirement for a review of all documents for the parts and labor used for the repair of the salvage vehicles as part of the examination of any such vehicles under § 46.2-1605, if the current owner is neither an insurance company nor rebuilder and the vehicle is currently titled and registered in his or her name with no brand and he or she purchased the vehicle without knowledge that the vehicle had ever been a salvage vehicle or had ever been declared a total loss.