Registration: Transfer of Motor Vehicle. (a) An owner upon transferring a registered motor vehicle shall endorse the name and address of the transferee and the date of transfer upon the reverse side of the registration card issued for the motor vehicle and immediately forward the card to the bureau. At the same time, the owner (transferor) and the new owner (transferee) shall sign a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (NTRL). The Director shall develop the NTRL and make it readily available. Upon execution and filing of the NTRL with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the transferor shall not be liable for any parking citation, traffic infraction, or administrative penalty arising under this title that occurs after the date and time of transfer stated on the NTRL. (b) An owner upon transferring a registered motor vehicle, shall state on the form provided by the bureau: “I certify that I am the legal owner entitled to transfer ownership of this vehicle and that its odometer reading is ______ miles and, to the best of my knowledge, reflects the actual mileage of the vehicle described herein, unless one of the following statements is checked. (1) The amount of mileage stated is in excess of 99,999 miles. (2) The mileage stated is not the actual mileage. (3) The motor vehicle is a truck with a gross vehicle weight rating of 16,000 pounds or more.” (c) The transferee, before operating or permitting the operation of the motor vehicle upon a highway, shall apply and obtain the registration thereof as upon an original registration. In the event of a transfer by inheritance, devise, bequest, execution, sale or repossession upon default of performance of an agreement of sale of a registered motor vehicle, the registration shall expire and the motor vehicle may not be operated upon the highways until and unless the person entitled to it applies for and obtains the registration thereof. (d) Notwithstanding any provision of the Uniform Commercial Code (title 5 of this code [5 CMC §§ 1101 et seq.]), until the chief has issued the new registration card, delivery of the vehicle shall be deemed not to have been made, title to it shall be deemed not to have passed, and the intended transfer shall be deemed not to be valid or effective for any purpose. (e) A security interest in a motor vehicle required to be registered under this title may be perfected only by registration of the security interest by notation upon the certificate of title of the motor vehicle. The validity, attachment, priority, and enforcement of the perfected security interest shall be governed by article 9 of title 5 of this code (the Uniform Commercial Code) [5 CMC §§ 9101 et seq.]. Source: PL 3-61, § 1 (§ 203); amended by PL 3-80, § 3; amended by PL 2435, § 2 (July 30, 2026).
Commission Comment: In codifying PL 24-35, the Commission omitted drafting marks and corrected what appears to be a clerical error under subsec. (c), pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(g).