Title 56, Motor Vehicles

(A) Any liens or encumbrances on a motor vehicle or titled mobile home must be noted on the printed title or electronically through the Department of Motor Vehicles' Electronic Title and Lien System. The department shall transmit the lien to the first lienholder and notify the fi…

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall refuse issuance of a certificate of title if any required fee is not paid or if it has reasonable grounds to believe that: (1) The applicant is not the owner of the vehicle; (2) The application contains a false or fraudulent statement; or (3…

When the theft or conversion of a vehicle is reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to Sections 56-19-810 or 56-19-820, until the department learns of its recovery or that the report of its theft or conversion was erroneous, it must not issue a certificate of title…

Each certificate of title issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles 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, and dates of the liens, or if the …

A distinctive certificate of title shall be issued for a vehicle last previously registered in another state or country, the laws of which do not require that lienholders be named on a certificate of title to perfect their security interests. The certificate shall contain the leg…

The certificate of title issued to the first owner of a new vehicle must be designated by the letter suffix "A" after the title number. Titles issued to subsequent owners of such a vehicle must be designated "B", "C", "D", and "E" in the order of ownership. Titles issued to subse…

A certificate of title issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles is prima facie evidence of the facts appearing on it.

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall maintain a record of all certificates of title issued by it.

The certificate of title must be mailed to the first lienholder named in it or given to the lienholder's authorized agent or, if none, to the owner.

If a certificate of title is lost, stolen, mutilated or destroyed or becomes illegible, the owner or legal representative of the owner named in the certificate, as shown by the records of the Department of Motor Vehicles, shall promptly make application for and may obtain a dupli…

If an owner, manufacturer or dealer transfers his interest in a vehicle other than by the creation of a security interest, he shall, at the time of the delivery of the vehicle, execute an assignment and warranty of title to transferee in the space provided therefor on the certifi…

(A) If a dealer buys a vehicle and holds it for resale and procures the certificate of title from the owner within forty-five days after delivery to him of the vehicle, he need not send the certificate to the Department of Motor Vehicles, but, upon transferring the vehicle to ano…

The Department of Motor Vehicles, upon receipt of a properly assigned certificate of title, with an application for a new certificate of title, the required fee and any other documents required by law, shall issue a new certificate of title in the name of the transferee as owner …

(1) If the interest of an owner in a vehicle passes to another other than by voluntary transfer, the transferee shall, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, promptly mail or deliver to the Department of Motor Vehicles the last certificate of title, if available, p…

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall examine and determine the genuineness, regularity and legality of every application for registration of a vehicle or for a certificate of title therefor and of any other application lawfully made to the Department and may in all cases make i…

The Department of Motor Vehicles, upon receipt of an application for a new certificate of title by a transferee other than by voluntary transfer, with proof of the transfer, the required fee and any other documents required by law, shall issue a new certificate of title in the na…

A person holding a certificate whose interest in the vehicle has been extinguished or transferred other than by voluntary transfer shall mail or deliver the certificate to the Department of Motor Vehicles upon request of the Department. The delivery of the certificate pursuant to…

(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall charge fifteen dollars for: (1) the issuance of a certificate of title; (2) the transfer of a certificate of title; (3) the issuance of a duplicate certificate of title; or (4) the establishment, modification, or revocation of Transfer o…

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall be authorized to charge a fee of three dollars for furnishing the odometer reading or other odometer information concerning a particular vehicle to a requesting party.

The Department of Motor Vehicles may assign a new identifying number to a vehicle if it has none, its identifying number is destroyed or obliterated or its motor is changed and shall either issue a new certificate of title showing the new identifying number or make an appropriate…

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall suspend or revoke a certificate of title: (1) If it finds (a) the certificate of title was fraudulently procured or erroneously issued or (b) the vehicle has been scrapped, dismantled or destroyed; (2) When the Department determines that the…

Suspension or revocation of a certificate of title does not, in itself, affect the validity of a security interest noted on it.

When the Department of Motor Vehicles suspends or revokes a certificate of title, the owner or person in possession of it shall, immediately upon receiving notice of the suspension or revocation, mail or deliver the certificate to the Department.

The Department of Motor Vehicles may seize and impound any certificate of title which has been suspended or revoked.

(A) An owner who scraps, dismantles, destroys, or in any manner disposes to another, except to a demolisher or secondary metals recycler, as salvage, a motor vehicle otherwise required to be titled in this State immediately shall mail or deliver to the Department of Motor Vehicle…

(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever any motor vehicle with a vehicle title brand as defined in Section 56-1-10 is transferred in this State pursuant to Section 56-19-480, whether the vehicle was, immediately before such transfer, titled in this State or in an…

(A) In every sale or transfer of a motor vehicle returned to the manufacturer under the provisions of Chapter 28, Title 56, a similar statute of another state, or as the result of a legal action, the title must have the following sentence printed on its face in large, bold, upper…

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall convene a working group chaired by the Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, or the director's designee, for the purpose of assisting in the development of a process to be used for the titling of vehicles in this State for which no t…

The Department of Motor Vehicles may take possession of any certificate of title, registration card, permit, license or registration plate issued by it (a) upon expiration, revocation, cancellation or suspension thereof, (b) which is fictitious or (c) which has been unlawfully or…

As used in this article: (1) "Affixed" means that the manufactured home is installed in accordance with the state required installation standards, with wheels, axles, and towing hitch removed, and with the owner of the home having an intention that the manufactured home becomes a…

(A) An owner of a manufactured home may affix the home to real property by: (1) installing the home in accordance with the required installation standards and removing the wheels, axles, and towing hitch; and (2) filing with the register of deeds or clerk of court, as appropriate…

(A) Commencing nine months following the effective date of this article, the Department of Motor Vehicles must retire the title certificate to the manufactured home upon receipt of the following: (1) a clocked and stamped copy of the Manufactured Home Affidavit for the Retirement…

The Department of Motor Vehicles must maintain a record of each manufactured home title certificate retired under this article, and provide written confirmation of the retirement of the title certificate to the homeowner.

(A) If at the time of the filing of the Manufactured Home Affidavit for the Retirement of Title Certificate by the Register of Deeds or Clerk of Court, the manufactured home is subject to a lien reflected on the affidavit but not otherwise evidenced by a mortgage, then a separate…

(A) A manufactured home for which the title certificate has been retired may be severed from real property only in accordance with the procedures prescribed in this article. Any person who removes a manufactured home for which the title certificate has been retired from the real …

Upon an owner of a manufactured home meeting all requirements of this article for retiring the title certificate on his manufactured home and having the manufactured home and the real property to which it is affixed classified as real property, the register of deeds or clerk of c…

Whenever the Department of Motor Vehicles is authorized or required to give any notice under this chapter or Chapter 21 of Title 16, unless a different method of giving such notice is otherwise expressly prescribed, such notice shall be given either by personal delivery thereof t…

This chapter does not apply to or affect: (1) A lien given by statute or rule of law to a supplier of services or materials for the vehicle; (2) A lien given by statute to the United States, this State or any political subdivision of this State, if such lien is recorded on the ti…

Unless excepted by Section 56-19-610, a security interest in a vehicle of a type for which a certificate of title is required is not valid against creditors of the owner or subsequent transferees or lienholders of the vehicle unless perfected as provided in this article. No other…

A security interest is perfected by the delivery to the Department of Motor Vehicles of the existing certificate of title, if any, an application for a certificate of title containing the name and address of the lienholder and the date of his security agreement and the required f…

If an owner creates a security interest in a vehicle: (1) The owner immediately shall execute the application, in the space provided for on the certificate of title or on a separate form the Department of Motor Vehicles prescribes, to name the lienholder on the certificate, showi…

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall file each notice of security interest received by it with the required fee and maintain a record of all notices of security interests filed by it.

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 protected in dealing wi…

(1) Upon the satisfaction of a security interest in a vehicle for which the certificate of title is in the possession of the lienholder, he shall, within ten days after demand and, in any event, within thirty days, execute a release of his security interest, in the space provided…

Whenever any application to the Department of Motor Vehicles is accompanied by any fee as required by law and such application is refused or rejected, the fee shall be returned to the applicant. Whenever the Department through error collects any fee not required to be paid under …

This chapter shall in no wise affect or impair any chattel mortgage, lien or other security interest in a previously registered vehicle for which no certificate of title or application for a certificate of title is required under this chapter.