Chapter 90D

Section 1. In this chapter, except when the context otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings:— ''Dealer'', any person who is engaged principally in the business of buying, selling, or exchanging vehicles and who has a place of business within the …

Section 10. (a) Each certificate of title issued by the registrar shall contain: (1) The date issued; (2) The name and address of the owner; (3) The names and addresses of any lienholders, in the order of priority as shown on the application; (4) The title number assigned to the …

Section 11. The certificate of title shall be mailed to the first lienholder named in it or, if none, to the owner.

Section 11A. The registrar is authorized to develop, establish and maintain an electronic data and communication system with banks, credit or other financial institutions for the purpose of electronically recording the existence of security interests under the provisions of this …

Section 12. If the registrar is not satisfied as to the ownership of the vehicle or that there are no undisclosed security interests in it, the registrar may register the vehicle but shall either: (a) Withhold issuance of a certificate of title until the applicant presents docume…

Section 13. The registrar shall refuse issuance of a certificate of title if any required fee is not paid or if he has reasonable grounds to believe that: (a) Except as provided for in subsection (e) of section 20, the applicant is not the owner of the vehicle; or (b) The applica…

Section 14. (a) If a certificate of title is lost, stolen, mutilated or destroyed or becomes illegible, the first lienholder or, if none, the owner or legal representative of the owner named in the certificate, or any other transferee who has sufficient proof of ownership as dete…

Section 15. (a) Except as provided for in subsection (e) of section 20, if an owner of a vehicle for which a certificate of title has been issued under this chapter transfers the owner's interest therein, other than by the creation of a security interest, the owner shall, at the …

Section 15A. Upon the death of a married resident owner of a motor vehicle registered as a pleasure vehicle in the commonwealth, and unless otherwise provided in a will, said motor vehicle, if used for such purpose, shall be deemed to have been jointly held property with right of…

Section 16. (a) If a dealer buys a vehicle and holds it for resale and procures the certificate of title from the owner or the lienholder after delivery to him of the vehicle, he need not send the certificate to the registrar but, upon transferring the vehicle to another person o…

Section 17. (a) If the interest of any owner in a vehicle passes to another other than by voluntary transfer, the transferee shall, except as provided in paragraph (b), promptly mail or deliver to the registrar the last certificate of title, if available, proof of the transfer, a…

Section 18. (a) An application for a certificate of title shall be accompanied by the required fee when mailed or delivered to the registrar. (b) An application for the naming of a lienholder or his assignee on a certificate of title shall be accompanied by the required fee when …

Section 19. (a) The registrar, upon receipt of a properly assigned certificate of title, except as provided for in subsection (e) of section 20, with an application for a new certificate of title, the required fee and any other documents required by law, shall issue a new certifi…

Section 2. (a) No certificate of title need be obtained for: (1) A vehicle owned by the United States unless it is registered in accordance with the provisions of chapter ninety; provided, that a vehicle on loan from the United States or from a motor vehicle manufacturer or distr…

Section 20. (a) Except as provided for in subsection (e), whenever an insurer acquires ownership of a motor vehicle which it has determined to be a total loss salvage motor vehicle, it shall, within ten days from the date of acquisition, surrender the certificate of title to the …

Section 20A. (a) The application for the salvage title shall be made by the owner, except as provided for in subsection (e) of section 20, to the registrar on such form or forms as the registrar shall prescribe and shall be accompanied by: (1) a properly assigned certificate of t…

Section 20B. No salvage title need be obtained for: (1) a vehicle owned by the United States unless it is registered in accordance with the provisions of chapter ninety; (2) a vehicle moved solely by animal power; (3) an implement of husbandry; (4) special mobile equipment; (5) t…

Section 20C. (a) If an owner of a vehicle for which a salvage title has been issued under this chapter transfers his interest therein, he shall execute the assignment to the transferee on the space provided therefor on the salvage title or on such other form as the registrar shal…

Section 20D. (a) Any owner who reconstructs or restores a total loss salvage motor vehicle to its operating condition which existed prior to the event which caused a salvage title to issue under this chapter or the laws of another state, or who recovers a total loss salvage motor…

Section 20E. (a) Any person who takes possession of a motor vehicle for the purpose of junking or scrapping shall within ten days after receipt of delivery, cause the certificate of title, salvage title or any other document required by the registrar as proof of ownership, to be …

Section 20F. (a) Any person, including a person licensed under section fifty-nine of chapter one hundred and forty, who reassembles a motor vehicle by means of welding together or connecting the frames or unit bodies of two or more motor vehicles, which are not total loss salvage…

Section 21. A security interest in a vehicle for which a certificate of title is issued under this chapter is perfected by the delivery to the registrar of the existing certificate of title, if any, an application for a certificate of title containing the name and address of the …

Section 21A. In the case of motor vehicles or trailers, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a transaction does not create a sale or security interest merely because it provides that the rental price is permitted or required to be adjusted under the agreeme…

Section 22. If an owner creates a security interest in a vehicle:— (a) The owner shall immediately execute the application, in the space provided therefor on the certificate of title or on such separate form as the registrar shall prescribe, to name the lienholder on the certific…

Section 23. (a) A lienholder may assign, absolutely or otherwise, his security interest in the vehicle to a person other than the owner without affecting the interest of the owner or the validity of the security interest, but any person without notice of the assignment is protect…

Section 24. Upon the satisfaction of a security interest in a vehicle for which the certificate of title is in the possession of the lienholder, the lienholder shall, within three days after demand and, in any event, within ten days, execute a release of his security interest, in…

Section 24A. (a) If a lienholder fails to comply with section 24, an aggrieved party may file a complaint against the lienholder with the registrar. For the purposes of this section, an aggrieved party shall be the owner or any person who delivers to the lienholder an authorizati…

Section 25. A lienholder named in a certificate of title shall, upon written request of the owner or of another lienholder named on the certificate, disclose any pertinent information as to his security agreement and the indebtedness secured by it.

Section 26. The method provided in this chapter of perfecting and giving notice of security interests in vehicles for which certificates of title are issued, or are required to be issued, under this chapter is exclusive.

Section 27. The registrar shall suspend or revoke a certificate of title, upon notice and reasonable opportunity to be heard in accordance with section thirty, when authorized by any other provision of law, or if he finds that the certificate of title was fraudulently procured or…

Section 28. The registrar shall collect fees, as determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven, for the following: (1) For filing an application for a first certificate of title, a certificate of title after a tr…

Section 29. The registrar shall prescribe and provide suitable forms of applications, certificates of title, notices of security interests and all other notices and forms necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. The registrar may make necessary investigations to pro…

Section 3. This chapter shall not apply to or affect: (a) A lien given by statute or rule of law to a supplier of services or materials for the vehicle; (b) A lien given by statute to the United States, the commonwealth, or any political subdivision of the commonwealth; and (c) A…

Section 30. Any person aggrieved by a ruling or decision of the registrar under this chapter shall be entitled to review thereof in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-eight of chapter ninety.

Section 31. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be deemed to impose any liability whatsoever upon the registrar of motor vehicles or upon the commonwealth for any damage which may result from, or be connected with, any act or omission in the issuance of any certificate of tit…

Section 32. (a) Whoever falsely makes, alters, forges, or counterfeits a certificate of title or salvage title; or alters or forges an assignment of a certificate of title or salvage title, or supporting documents, or an assignment or release of a security interest on a certifica…

Section 33. A police officer, as defined in section one of chapter ninety C, who learns of the theft of a vehicle not since recovered, or of the recovery of a vehicle whose theft or conversion he knows or has reason to believe has been reported to the registrar, shall forthwith r…

Section 34. A ''previously registered vehicle'' means a vehicle registered by the registrar when this chapter takes effect or a vehicle whose last registration before this chapter takes effect was by the registrar.

Section 35. This chapter shall not apply to a previously registered vehicle until: (a) there is a change in the ownership thereof, after this chapter takes effect; or, (b) the registrar issues a certificate of title for the vehicle; or, (c) the owner creates a security interest i…

Section 36. If the registrar questions the existence of undisclosed security interests, created before this chapter takes effect, in a previously registered vehicle, he may, in addition to the provisions of section ten, issue a distinctive certificate of title of the vehicle cont…

Section 37. The perfection of a security interest, created prior to the date this chapter takes effect, shall be governed by the provisions of chapter one hundred and six, until a certificate of title is issued naming the secured party as lienholder therein.

Section 38. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be deemed to impair the validity of any certificate of registration issued by the registrar prior to September first, nineteen hundred and seventy-two or within a period of two years next following said date, regardless of the v…

Section 39. Electronic signatures as prescribed in section 9 of chapter 110G shall be accepted by the registrar through the electronic process prescribed under section 24. The registrar may promulgate rules and regulations for the requirements for electronic signature authenticat…

Section 4. (a) Except for vehicles referred to in section two, whoever acquires a motor vehicle or trailer after the effective date of this chapter, shall be required to make application for a certificate of title. Such application shall be made within ten days from the acquisiti…

Section 5. The owner of an implement of husbandry or special mobile equipment may apply for and obtain a certificate of title. All of the provisions of this chapter shall be applicable to a certificate of title so issued, except that a person who receives a transfer of an interes…

Section 6. When a new vehicle is delivered in the commonwealth by a manufacturer to an agent or a franchised dealer, the manufacturer shall execute and deliver to such agent or franchised dealer a certificate of origin in such form as the registrar shall prescribe; and effective …

Section 7. (a) The application for the first certificate of title of a vehicle in the commonwealth shall be made by the owner to the registrar on such form or forms as the registrar shall prescribe, and which shall contain: (1) The name, residence and mail address of the owner; (…

Section 8. The registrar, upon receiving an application for a first certificate of title, shall check the identifying number of the vehicle shown in the application against the records of vehicles required to be maintained by section nine and against the record of stolen and conv…

Section 9. (a) The registrar shall file each application received and, when satisfied as to its genuineness and regularity and that the applicant is entitled to the issuance of a certificate of title, shall issue a certificate of title of the vehicle. (b) The registrar shall main…