COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 374
(By Senators Chafin, Wooton, Ross, Prezioso, Dugan, Jackson,
Bailey, Deem, Love, Dittmar, Snyder, Anderson, Kessler, Minear
and Sprouse)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 12, 1998.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section ten, article four, chapter
seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to salvage
certificates for certain wrecked or damaged vehicles; fees;
applicable taxes; authorizing the commissioner to issue
titles for salvage or reconstructed vehicles; fees; and
penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article four, chapter seventeen-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. TRANSFERS OF TITLE OR INTEREST.
§17A-4-10. Salvage certificates for certain wrecked or damaged
vehicles; fee; penalty.
(a) In the event a motor vehicle is determined to be a total
loss or otherwise designated as "totaled" by any insurance
company or insurer, and upon payment of an agreed price as a
claim settlement to any insured or claimant owner for the
purchase of the vehicle, the insurance company or the insurer
shall receive the certificate of title and the vehicle. The
insurance company or insurer shall within ten days surrender the
certificate of title and a copy of the claim settlement to the
division of motor vehicles. The division shall issue a "salvage
certificate", on a form prescribed by the commissioner, in the
name of the insurance company or the insurer. Such certificate
shall contain on the reverse thereof spaces for one successive
assignment before a new certificate at an additional fee is
required. Upon the sale of the vehicle the insurance company or
insurer shall endorse the assignment of ownership on the salvage
certificate and deliver it to the purchaser. The vehicle shall
not be titled or registered for operation on the streets or
highways of this state unless there is compliance with subsection
(c) of this section. In the event a motor vehicle is determined
to be damaged in excess of seventy-five percent of its retail
price as described in the national automobile dealers association
official used car guide, a junk card will be issued in lieu of a
salvage certificate.
(b) Any owner, who scraps, compresses, dismantles or
destroys a vehicle for which a certificate of title or salvage certificate has been issued, shall, within twenty days, surrender
the certificate of title or salvage certificate to the division
for cancellation. Any person who purchases or acquires a vehicle
as salvage or scrap, to be dismantled, compressed or destroyed,
shall within twenty days surrender the certificate to the
division. Should a vehicle less than eight years old be
determined to be a complete loss as a result of fire, flood or a
basket, a photograph of the vehicle shall accompany the
surrendered certificate: Provided, That the term "basket" means
a vehicle which has been damaged more than seventy-five percent
of the retail price as described in the national automobile
dealers association official used car guide. If the vehicle is
to be reconstructed, the owner must obtain a salvage certificate
and comply with the provisions of subsection (c) of this section.
(c) If the motor vehicle is a "reconstructed vehicle" as
defined in section one, article one of this chapter, it may not
be titled or registered for operation until it has been inspected
by an official state inspection station and by a representative
of the division of motor vehicles who has been designated by the
commissioner as an investigator. Following an approved
inspection, an application for a new certificate of title may be
submitted to the division; however, the applicant shall be
required to retain all receipts for component parts, equipment
and materials used in the reconstruction. The salvage
certificate must also be surrendered to the division before a certificate of title may be issued.
(d) The owner or title holder of any motor vehicle titled in
this state which has previously been branded in this state or
another state as "salvage", "reconstructed", "flood" or "fire" or
an equivalent term under another state's laws shall, upon
becoming aware of the brand, apply for and receive a title from
the division of motor vehicles on which the brand
"reconstructed", "salvage", "flood" or "fire" is shown. A fee
of five dollars will be charged for each title so issued.
(e) If application is made for title to a motor vehicle, the
title to which has previously been branded "reconstructed",
"salvage","flood" or "fire" by the division of motor vehicles
under this section and said application is accompanied by a title
from another state which does not carry the brand, the division
shall, before issuing the title, affix the brand "reconstructed",
"flood" or "fire" to the title. The privilege tax paid on a
motor vehicle titled as "reconstructed" under the provisions of
this subsection, "flood" or "fire" shall be based on fifty
percent of the loan value as described in the national automobile
dealers association official used car guide.
(d) (f) The division shall charge a fee of fifteen dollars
for the issuance of each salvage certificate but shall not
require the payment of the five percent privilege tax. However,
upon application for a certificate of title for a reconstructed,
flood or fire damaged vehicle, the division shall collect the five percent privilege tax on the fair market value of the
vehicle as determined by the commissioner unless the applicant is
otherwise exempt from the payment of such privilege tax. A
wrecker/dismantler/rebuilder is exempt from the five percent
privilege tax upon titling a reconstructed vehicle. The division
shall collect a fee of thirty-five dollars per vehicle for
inspections of reconstructed vehicles. These fees shall be
deposited in a special fund created in the state treasurer's
office and may be expended by the division to carry out the
provisions of this article. Licensed
wreckers/dismantlers/rebuilders may charge a fee not to exceed
twenty-five dollars for all vehicles owned by private rebuilders
which are inspected at the place of business of a
wrecker/dismantler/rebuilder.
(e) (g) A certificate of title issued by the division for a
reconstructed vehicle shall contain markings in bold print on the
face of the title that it is for a reconstructed, or salvaged
flood or fire damaged vehicle.
Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one
thousand dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail for not more
than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
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(NOTE: This bill authorizes the Division of Motor Vehicles
to issue "reconstructed", "salvage", "flood" or "fire" certificates of title. Establishes a privilege tax rate for such
vehicles and requires owners or title holders of such vehicles to
title the vehicle as such.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.)