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Introduced Version Senate Bill 45 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 45

(By Senators Jenkins and Plymale)

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[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on Government Organization.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact §17A-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §17A-3-4 of said code; and to amend and reenact §17A-3A-2 and §17A-3A-3 of said code, all relating to the registration of mini-trucks; the operation of mini-trucks by municipalities; exempting mini-trucks from title requirements; exempting sellers from any requirement to modify mini-trucks to comply with any federal law; exempting the seller from making certain disclosures to purchasers; and defining a term.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17A-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that §17A-3-4 of said code be amended and reenacted; and that §17A-3A-2 and §17A-3A-3 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. WORDS AND PHRASES DEFINED.
§17A-1-1. Definitions.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the following words and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this article:
(a) "Vehicle" means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
(b) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self- propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails.
(c) "Motorcycle" means every motor vehicle, including motor- driven cycles and mopeds as defined in sections five and five-a, article one, chapter seventeen-c of this code, having a saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, but excluding a tractor.
(d) "School bus" means every motor vehicle owned by a public governmental agency and operated for the transportation of children to or from school or privately owned and operated for compensation for the transportation of children to or from school.
(e) "Bus" means every motor vehicle designed to carry more than seven passengers and used to transport persons; and every motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used to transport persons for compensation.
(f) "Truck tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load so drawn.
(g) "Farm tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and used primarily as a farm implement for drawing plows, mowing machines and other implements of husbandry.
(h) "Road tractor" means every motor vehicle designed, used or maintained for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry any load thereon either independently or any part of the weight of a vehicle or load so drawn.
(i) "Truck" means every motor vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily for the transportation of property.
(j) "Trailer" means every vehicle with or without motive power designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle, but excluding recreational vehicles.
(k) "Semitrailer" means every vehicle with or without motive power designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that some part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle.
(l) "Pole trailer" means every vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach, or pole, or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes or structural members capable, generally, of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections.
(m) "Specially constructed vehicles" means every vehicle of a type required to be registered hereunder not originally constructed under a distinctive name, make, model or type by a generally recognized manufacturer of vehicles and not materially altered from its original construction.
(n) "Reconstructed vehicle" means every vehicle of a type required to be registered hereunder materially altered from its original construction by the removal, addition or substitution of essential parts, new or used.
(o) "Essential parts" means all integral and body parts of a vehicle of a type required to be registered hereunder, the removal, alteration or substitution of which would tend to conceal the identity of the vehicle or substantially alter its appearance, model, type or mode of operation.
(p) "Foreign vehicle" means every vehicle of a type required to be registered hereunder brought into this state from another state, territory or country other than in the ordinary course of business by or through a manufacturer or dealer and not registered in this state.
(q) "Implement of husbandry" means every vehicle which is designed for or adapted to agricultural purposes and used by the owner thereof primarily in the conduct of his or her agricultural operations, including, but not limited to, trucks used for spraying trees and plants: Provided, That the vehicle may not be let for hire at any time.
(r) "Special mobile equipment" means every self-propelled vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including, without limitation, road construction or maintenance machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, stone crushers, air compressors, power shovels, graders, rollers, well-drillers, wood- sawing equipment, asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, earth-moving carryalls, scrapers, drag lines, rock-drilling equipment and earth-moving equipment. The foregoing enumeration shall be deemed partial and may not operate to exclude other such vehicles which are within the general terms of this subdivision.
(s) "Pneumatic tire" means every tire in which compressed air is designed to support the load.
(t) "Solid tire" means every tire of rubber or other resilient material which does not depend upon compressed air for the support of the load.
(u) "Metal tire" means every tire the surface of which in contact with the highway is wholly or partly of metal or other hard, nonresilient material.
(v) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles of this state.
(w) "Division" means the Division of Motor Vehicles of this state acting directly or through its duly authorized officers and agents.
(x) "Person" means every natural person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation.
(y) "Owner" means a person who holds the legal title to a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter.
(z) "Nonresident" means every person who is not a resident of this state.
(aa) "Dealer" or "dealers" is a general term meaning, depending upon the context in which used, either a new motor vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle dealer, factory-built home dealer, recreational vehicle dealer, trailer dealer or motorcycle dealer, as defined in section one, article six of this chapter, or all of the dealers or a combination thereof and, in some instances, a new motor vehicle dealer or dealers in another state.
(bb) "Registered dealer" or "registered dealers" is a general term meaning, depending upon the context in which used, either a new motor vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle dealer, house trailer dealer, trailer dealer, recreational vehicle dealer or motorcycle dealer, or all of the dealers or a combination thereof, licensed under the provisions of article six of this chapter.
(cc) "Licensed dealer" or "licensed dealers" is a general term meaning, depending upon the context in which used, either a new motor vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle dealer, house trailer dealer, trailer dealer, recreational vehicle dealer or motorcycle dealer, or all of the dealers or a combination thereof, licensed under the provisions of article six of this chapter.
(dd) "Transporter" means every person engaged in the business of delivering vehicles of a type required to be registered hereunder from a manufacturing, assembling or distributing plant to dealers or sales agents of a manufacturer.
(ee) "Manufacturer" means every person engaged in the business of constructing or assembling vehicles of a type required to be registered hereunder at a place of business in this state which is actually occupied either continuously or at regular periods by the manufacturer where his or her books and records are kept and a large share of his or her business is transacted.
(ff) "Street" or "highway" means the entire width between boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.
(gg) "Motorboat" means any vessel propelled by an electrical, steam, gas, diesel or other fuel propelled or driven motor, whether or not the motor is the principal source of propulsion, but may not include a vessel which has a valid marine document issued by the Bureau of Customs of the United States government or any federal agency successor thereto.
(hh) "Motorboat trailer" means every vehicle designed for or ordinarily used for the transportation of a motorboat.
(ii) "All-terrain vehicle" (ATV) means any motor vehicle designed for off-highway use having a seat or saddle designed to be straddled by the operator and handlebars for steering control or an all-terrain utility vehicle (UTV) designed for off-highway use having a bench or bucket seat and a steering wheel.
(jj) "Travel trailer" means every vehicle, mounted on wheels, designed to provide temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use of such size or weight as not to require special highway movement permits when towed by a motor vehicle and of gross trailer area less than four hundred square feet.
(kk) "Fold down camping trailer" means every vehicle consisting of a portable unit mounted on wheels and constructed with collapsible partial sidewalls which fold for towing by another vehicle and unfold at the camp site to provide temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use.
(ll) "Motor home" means every vehicle, designed to provide temporary living quarters, built into an integral part of or permanently attached to a self-propelled motor vehicle, chassis or van including: (1) Type A motor home built on an incomplete truck chassis with the truck cab constructed by the second stage manufacturer; (2) Type B motor home consisting of a van-type vehicle which has been altered to provide temporary living quarters; and (3) Type C motor home built on an incomplete van or truck chassis with a cab constructed by the chassis manufacturer.
(mm) "Snowmobile" means a self-propelled vehicle intended for travel primarily on snow and driven by a track or tracks in contact with the snow and steered by a ski or skis in contact with the snow.
(nn) "Recreational vehicle" means a motorboat, motorboat trailer, all-terrain vehicle, travel trailer, fold down camping trailer, motor home or snowmobile.
(oo) "Mobile equipment" means every self-propelled vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property over the highway but which may infrequently or incidentally travel over the highways among job sites, equipment storage sites or repair sites, including farm equipment, implements of husbandry, well-drillers, cranes and wood-sawing equipment.
(pp) "Factory-built home" includes mobile homes, house trailers and manufactured homes.
(qq) "Manufactured home" has the same meaning as the term is defined in section two, article nine, chapter twenty-one of this code which meets the federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. §5401, et seq.), effective on June 15, 1976, and the federal manufactured home construction and safety standards and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(rr) "Mobile home" means a transportable structure that is wholly, or in substantial part, made, fabricated, formed or assembled in manufacturing facilities for installation or assembly and installation on a building site and designed for long-term residential use and built prior to enactment of the federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. §5401, et seq.), effective on June 15, 1976, and usually built to the voluntary industry standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) - A119.1 standards for mobile homes.
(ss) "House trailers" means all trailers designed and used for human occupancy on a continual nonrecreational basis, but may not include fold down camping and travel trailers, mobile homes or manufactured homes.
(tt) "Parking enforcement vehicle" means a motor vehicle which does not fit into any other classification of vehicle in this chapter, has three or four wheels and is designed for use in an incorporated municipality by a city, county, state or other governmental entity primarily for parking enforcement or other governmental purposes with an operator area with sides permanently enclosed with rigid construction and a top which may be convertible, sealed beam headlights, turn signals, brake lights, horn, at least one rear view mirror on each side and such other equipment that will enable it to pass a standard motorcycle vehicle inspection.
(uu) "Low-speed vehicle" means a four-wheeled motor vehicle whose attainable speed in one mile on a paved level surface is more than twenty miles per hour but not more than twenty-five miles per hour.
(vv) "Minitruck" means a vehicle manufactured abroad and designed primarily for off-road use with engines ranging in size from 550cc to 660cc and weighing approximately one thousand eight hundred pounds.
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.

§17A-3-4. Application for certificate of title; fees; abolishing privilege tax; prohibition of issuance of certificate of title without compliance with consumers sales and service tax provisions; exceptions.

(a) Certificates of registration of any vehicle or registration plates for the vehicle, whether original issues or duplicates, may not be issued or furnished by the Division of Motor Vehicles or any other officer or agent charged with the duty, unless the applicant already has received, or at the same time makes application for and is granted, an official certificate of title of the vehicle in either an electronic or paper format. The application shall be upon a blank form to be furnished by the Division of Motor Vehicles and shall contain a full description of the vehicle, which description shall contain a manufacturer's serial or identification number or other number as determined by the commissioner and any distinguishing marks, except that the division may assign a number for a minitruck if one is not available, together with a statement of the applicant's title and of any liens or encumbrances upon the vehicle, the names and addresses of the holders of the liens and any other information as the Division of Motor Vehicles may require. The application shall be signed and sworn to by the applicant. A duly certified copy of the division's electronic record of a certificate of title is admissible in any civil, criminal or administrative proceeding in this state as evidence of ownership.
(b) A tax is imposed upon the privilege of effecting the certification of title of each vehicle in the amount equal to five percent of the value of the motor vehicle at the time of the certification, to be assessed as follows:
(1) If the vehicle is new, the actual purchase price or consideration to the purchaser of the vehicle is the value of the vehicle. If the vehicle is a used or secondhand vehicle, the present market value at time of transfer or purchase is the value of the vehicle for the purposes of this section: Provided, That so much of the purchase price or consideration as is represented by the exchange of other vehicles on which the tax imposed by this section has been paid by the purchaser shall be deducted from the total actual price or consideration paid for the vehicle, whether the vehicle be new or secondhand. If the vehicle is acquired through gift or by any manner whatsoever, unless specifically exempted in this section, the present market value of the vehicle at the time of the gift or transfer is the value of the vehicle for the purposes of this section.
(2) No certificate of title for any vehicle may be issued to any applicant unless the applicant has paid to the Division of Motor Vehicles the tax imposed by this section which is five percent of the true and actual value of the vehicle whether the vehicle is acquired through purchase, by gift or by any other manner whatsoever, except gifts between husband and wife or between parents and children: Provided, That the husband or wife, or the parents or children, previously have paid the tax on the vehicles transferred to the State of West Virginia.
(3) The Division of Motor Vehicles may issue a certificate of registration and title to an applicant if the applicant provides sufficient proof to the Division of Motor Vehicles that the applicant has paid the taxes and fees required by this section to a motor vehicle dealership that has gone out of business or has filed bankruptcy proceedings in the United States bankruptcy court and the taxes and fees so required to be paid by the applicant have not been sent to the division by the motor vehicle dealership or have been impounded due to the bankruptcy proceedings: Provided, That the applicant makes an affidavit of the same and assigns all rights to claims for money the applicant may have against the motor vehicle dealership to the Division of Motor Vehicles.
(4) The Division of Motor Vehicles shall issue a certificate of registration and title to an applicant without payment of the tax imposed by this section if the applicant is a corporation, partnership or limited liability company transferring the vehicle to another corporation, partnership or limited liability company when the entities involved in the transfer are members of the same controlled group and the transferring entity has previously paid the tax on the vehicle transferred. For the purposes of this section, control means ownership, directly or indirectly, of stock or equity interests possessing fifty percent or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of the stock of a corporation or equity interests of a partnership or limited liability company entitled to vote or ownership, directly or indirectly, of stock or equity interests possessing fifty percent or more of the value of the corporation, partnership or limited liability company.
(5) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to vehicles to be registered as Class H vehicles or Class M vehicles, as defined in section one, article ten of this chapter, which are used or to be used in interstate commerce. Nor does the tax imposed by this section apply to the titling of Class B vehicles registered at a gross weight of fifty-five thousand pounds or more, or to the titling of Class C semitrailers, full trailers, pole trailers and converter gear: Provided, That if an owner of a vehicle has previously titled the vehicle at a declared gross weight of fifty- five thousand pounds or more and the title was issued without the payment of the tax imposed by this section, then before the owner may obtain registration for the vehicle at a gross weight less than fifty-five thousand pounds, the owner shall surrender to the commissioner the exempted registration, the exempted certificate of title and pay the tax imposed by this section based upon the current market value of the vehicle: Provided, however, That notwithstanding the provisions of section nine, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code, the exemption from tax under this section for Class B vehicles in excess of fifty-five thousand pounds and Class C semitrailers, full trailers, pole trailers and converter gear does not subject the sale or purchase of the vehicles to the consumers sales and service tax.
(6) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to titling of vehicles leased by residents of West Virginia. A tax is imposed upon the monthly payments for the lease of any motor vehicle leased by a resident of West Virginia, which tax is equal to five percent of the amount of the monthly payment, applied to each payment, and continuing for the entire term of the initial lease period. The tax shall be remitted to the Division of Motor Vehicles on a monthly basis by the lessor of the vehicle.
(7) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to titling of vehicles by a registered dealer of this state for resale only, nor does the tax imposed by this section apply to titling of vehicles by this state or any political subdivision thereof, or by any volunteer fire department or duly chartered rescue or ambulance squad organized and incorporated under the laws of this state as a nonprofit corporation for protection of life or property. The total amount of revenue collected by reason of this tax shall be paid into the State Road Fund and expended by the Commissioner of Highways for matching federal funds allocated for West Virginia. In addition to the tax, there is a charge of $5 for each original certificate of title or duplicate certificate of title so issued: Provided, That this state or any political subdivision of this state or any volunteer fire department or duly chartered rescue squad is exempt from payment of the charge.
(8) The certificate is good for the life of the vehicle, so long as the vehicle is owned or held by the original holder of the certificate and need not be renewed annually, or any other time, except as provided in this section.
(9) If, by will or direct inheritance, a person becomes the owner of a motor vehicle and the tax imposed by this section previously has been paid to the Division of Motor Vehicles on that vehicle, he or she is not required to pay the tax.
(10) A person who has paid the tax imposed by this section is not required to pay the tax a second time for the same motor vehicle, but is required to pay a charge of $5 for the certificate of retitle of that motor vehicle, except that the tax shall be paid by the person when the title to the vehicle has been transferred either in this or another state from the person to another person and transferred back to the person.
(11) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to any passenger vehicle offered for rent in the normal course of business by a daily passenger rental car business as licensed under the provisions of article six-d of this chapter. For purposes of this section, a daily passenger car means a Class A motor vehicle having a gross weight of eight thousand pounds or less and is registered in this state or any other state. In lieu of the tax imposed by this section, there is hereby imposed a tax of not less than $1 nor more than $1.50 for each day or part of the rental period. The commissioner shall propose an emergency rule in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to establish this tax.
(12) The tax imposed by this article does not apply to the titling of any vehicle purchased by a senior citizen service organization which is exempt from the payment of income taxes under the United States Internal Revenue Code, Title 26 U. S. C. §501(c)(3) and which is recognized to be a bona fide senior citizen service organization by the senior services bureau existing under the provisions of article five five-p, chapter sixteen of this code.
(13) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to the titling of any vehicle operated by an urban mass transit authority as defined in article twenty-seven, chapter eight of this code or a nonprofit entity exempt from federal and state income tax under the Internal Revenue Code and whose purpose is to provide mass transportation to the public at large designed for the transportation of persons and being operated for the transportation of persons in the public interest.
(14) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to the transfer of a title to a vehicle owned and titled in the name of a resident of this state if the applicant:
(A) Was not a resident of this state at the time the applicant purchased or otherwise acquired ownership of the vehicle;
(B) Presents evidence as the commissioner may require of having titled the vehicle in the applicant's previous state of residence;
(C) Has relocated to this state and can present such evidence as the commissioner may require to show bona-fide residency in this state;
(D) Presents an affidavit, completed by the assessor of the applicant's county of residence, establishing that the vehicle has been properly reported and is on record in the office of the assessor as personal property; and
(E) Makes application to the division for a title and registration, and pays all other fees required by this chapter within thirty days of establishing residency in this state as prescribed in subsection (a), section one-a of this article: Provided, That a period of amnesty of three months be established by the commissioner during the calendar year 2007, during which time any resident of this state, having titled his or her vehicle in a previous state of residence, may pay without penalty any fees required by this chapter and transfer the title of his or her vehicle in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(c) Notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the contrary, the owners of trailers, semitrailers, recreational vehicles and other vehicles not subject to the certificate of title tax prior to the enactment of this chapter are subject to the privilege tax imposed by this section: Provided, That the certification of title of any recreational vehicle owned by the applicant on June 30, 1989, is not subject to the tax imposed by this section: Provided, however, That mobile homes, manufactured homes, modular homes and similar nonmotive propelled vehicles, except recreational vehicles and house trailers, susceptible of being moved upon the highways but primarily designed for habitation and occupancy, rather than for transporting persons or property, or any vehicle operated on a nonprofit basis and used exclusively for the transportation of mentally retarded or physically handicapped children when the application for certificate of registration for the vehicle is accompanied by an affidavit stating that the vehicle will be operated on a nonprofit basis and used exclusively for the transportation of mentally retarded and physically handicapped children, are not subject to the tax imposed by this section, but are taxable under the provisions of articles fifteen and fifteen-a, chapter eleven of this code.
(d) Beginning July 1, 2008, the tax imposed under subsection (b) of this section is abolished and after that date no certificate of title for any motor vehicle may be issued to any applicant unless the applicant provides sufficient proof to the Division of Motor Vehicles that the applicant has paid the fees required by this article and the tax imposed under section three-b three-c, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code.
(e) Any person making any affidavit required under any provision of this section who knowingly swears falsely, or any person who counsels, advises, aids or abets another in the commission of false swearing, or any person, while acting as an agent of the Division of Motor Vehicles, issues a vehicle registration without first collecting the fees and taxes or fails to perform any other duty required by this chapter or chapter eleven of this code to be performed before a vehicle registration is issued is, on the first offense, guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $500 or be confined in jail for a period not to exceed six months or, in the discretion of the court, both fined and confined. For a second or any subsequent conviction within five years, that person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or be imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than five years or, in the discretion of the court, both fined and imprisoned.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any person in the military stationed outside West Virginia or his or her dependents who possess a motor vehicle with valid registration are exempt from the provisions of this article for a period of nine months from the date the person returns to this state or the date his or her dependent returns to this state, whichever is later.
(g) No person may transfer, purchase or sell a factory-built home without a certificate of title issued by the commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this article:
(1) Any person who fails to provide a certificate of title upon the transfer, purchase or sale of a factory-built home is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall, for the first offense, be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, or be confined in jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined. For each subsequent offense, the fine may be increased to not more than $2,000, with confinement in jail not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(2) Failure of the seller to transfer a certificate of title upon sale or transfer of the factory-built home gives rise to a cause of action, upon prosecution thereof, and allows for the recovery of damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees.
(3) This subsection does not apply to a mobile or manufactured home for which a certificate of title has been canceled pursuant to section twelve-b of this article.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, whenever reference is made to the application for or issuance of any title or the recordation or release of any lien, it includes the application, transmission, recordation, transfer of ownership and storage of information in an electronic format.
(i) Notwithstanding any other provision contained in this section, nothing herein shall be considered to include modular homes as defined in subsection (i), section two, article fifteen, chapter thirty-seven of this code and built to the State Building Code as established by legislative rules promulgated by the State Fire Commission pursuant to section five-b, article three, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary minitrucks may be operated within city limits of municipalities at speeds at or under twenty-five miles per hour for official use by the municipality.
ARTICLE 3A. VEHICLE COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL CLEAN AIR STANDARDS AND VEHICLE SAFETY.

§17A-3A-2. Consumer disclosure.
Before a motor vehicle not originally manufactured in accordance with the laws and regulations of the United States Clean Air Act and the Motor Vehicle Safety Act can be sold to a consumer in this state, the seller must provide the purchaser with full written disclosure of all modifications performed to the vehicle. This disclosure consists of a description phrased in terms reasonably understandable to a consumer with no specialized technical training, accompanied by a copy of the technical submissions made to the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation in order to obtain certification of compliance. Failure to make this disclosure renders the sale voidable. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the seller of a minitruck is not required to modify the vehicle to comply with any federal laws or regulations, nor is the seller required to make any disclosures to the purchaser.
§17A-3A-3. Certificates of title.
(a) Before any imported vehicle which has not previously been titled or registered in the United States may be titled in this state, the applicant must submit: (1) A manufacturer's certificate of origin issued by the actual vehicle manufacturer together with a notarized translation thereof; or (2) the documents constituting valid proof of ownership by an individual owner or exporter and evidencing a change of such ownership to the applicant, together with a notarized translation of any document; or (3) with regard to vehicles imported from countries which cancel the vehicle registration and title for export, the documents assigned to such vehicle after the registration and title have been canceled, together with a notarized translation thereof, and proof satisfactory to the division that the motor vehicle complies with the United States Clean Air Act and the Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
(b) In the event that the documents submitted as required by subsection (a) of this section do not name as owner the current applicant for a certificate of title, the applicant must also submit reliable proof of a chain of title. For those countries which utilize documents of registration rather than a certificate of title, proof of a chain of title for purposes of this subsection shall be accomplished by presenting the change of ownership certificate referred to in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Minitrucks are exempt from the provisions of this section.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill concerns the registration of minitrucks and their operation by municipalities. The bill exempts minitrucks from title requirements. The bill also exempts sellers from any requirement to modify minitrucks to comply with any federal law and from making certain disclosures to purchasers. The bill further defines the term "minitruck."

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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