Title 55, Motor and Other Vehicles

It is unlawful for a county clerk to accept an application for a certificate of title as provided for in chapters 1-6 of this title, unless the applicant presents evidence that a sales or use tax at the rate specified in title 67, chapter 6, part 2 and § 67-6-501 has been paid on…

Section 55-3-105 does not apply to applications filed for motor vehicles belonging to the United States, the state of Tennessee, or any of its political subdivisions, or to any nonprofit institution exempt from the payment of the sales or use tax under title 67, chapter 6, part 3…

Except as indicated in § 55-3-106, the commissioner shall issue a certificate to an applicant, which may be used by the applicant to file an application for a certificate of title when it appears that the applicant is not required to pay any sales or use tax on any motor vehicle …

It is unlawful for any person to alter or to indicate on any bill of sale or any other documents that a sales or use tax has been paid when the tax has in fact not been paid.

A violation of §§ 55-3-105 – 55-3-108 is a Class C misdemeanor.

Prior to the issuance of a certificate of title for a motor vehicle, the department shall determine, by computer or otherwise, if the vehicle has been stolen.

(a) The department shall keep a record of all outstanding certificates of title issued by it in suitable books as follows:(1) Numerically, under the certificate of title number assigned, which entry shall show, in addition to title number, all the information required to be set o…

(1) The department shall refuse to issue a certificate of title upon any of the following grounds:(1) The application contains any false or fraudulent statement, or the applicant has failed to furnish required information or reasonable additional information requested by the depa…

An action of the commissioner in issuing or refusing to issue any certificate of title, in discharging or refusing to discharge any lien, and in issuing or refusing to issue any replacement certificate of title applied for shall be reviewed in the manner provided for in the Unifo…

(a) (1) The commissioner shall, upon receipt of an application for a certificate of title, and after determining by an examination of its records that the applicant is entitled to a certificate of title, issue the same.(2) Except as provided by subdivision (a)(3), the several cou…

(a) In the event any certificate of title is lost, mutilated, or becomes illegible, the owner or a legal representative or successor in interest of the owner of the vehicle for which the same was issued, as shown by the records of the department, shall immediately make applicatio…

(a) The department shall assign a new and distinguishing number to a motor vehicle whenever the serial and/or motor number on the motor vehicle is destroyed or obliterated, which distinguishing number shall be stamped on the vehicle in a position to be determined by the commissio…

The commissioner is authorized to adopt and enforce reasonable rules and regulations as may be deemed necessary and compatible with the public interest with respect to the change or substitution of one (1) engine in place of another in any motor vehicle.

(a) In order to transfer titling to any motor vehicle coming within the title provisions of chapters 1-6 of this title, the owner shall endorse an assignment and warranty of title upon the certificate of title, if in such owner's possession, for such vehicle, with a statement of …

The transferee, before operating or permitting the operation of a transferred vehicle upon a highway, shall apply for and obtain a registration and apply for a certificate of title for the transferred vehicle in the manner provided in § 55-4-101, except as otherwise permitted in …

(a) When the transferee of a vehicle is a dealer who holds the same for resale and lawfully operates the same under dealer's registration plates, the transferee shall not be required to obtain a new registration of the vehicle or be required to obtain a new certificate of title, …

(a) Whenever the title or interest of an owner in or to a registered vehicle passes to another otherwise than by voluntary transfer, the vehicle registration shall expire and the vehicle shall not be operated upon the highways unless and until the person entitled to possession of…

(a) The department, upon receipt of a properly endorsed certificate of title, accompanied by the required fee, and when satisfied as to the genuineness and regularity of the transfer and of the right of the transferee to a certificate of title, shall issue a new certificate of ti…

(a) When any new lien, other than a lien dependent solely upon possession, or a lien of the state for taxes established pursuant to title 67, chapter 1, part 14, is placed on any motor vehicle coming within the title provisions of chapters 1-6 of this title in a transaction not i…

(a) Any person holding a lien or encumbrance upon a vehicle, other than a lien dependent solely upon possession, may assign title or interest in and to the motor vehicle to a person other than the owner, without the consent and without affecting the interest of the owner, of the …

No conditional sales contract, chattel mortgage, or other lien or encumbrance or title retention instrument upon a registered vehicle, other than a lien dependent upon possession entered into after March 1, 1951, or a lien of the state for taxes established pursuant to title 67, …

(a) Except as provided for manufactured homes complying with the requirements of § 55-3-128, a lien or security interest in a vehicle of the type for which a certificate is required shall be perfected and shall be valid against subsequent creditors of the owner, subsequent transf…

(a) It is a Class C misdemeanor for any person to fail or neglect to properly endorse or deliver any certificate of title to the department, a transferee, or other person lawfully entitled to the certificate of title. (b) It is a Class C misdemeanor for any lienor, including a mo…

(a) If a manufactured home is affixed to a parcel of real property, as provided in the affidavit of affixation, and the legal ownership of the manufactured home and real property is identical, upon the recording of the affidavit of affixation as provided in subsection (c), the ow…

(1) If the legal owner of a manufactured home, and the real property to which the manufactured home has become affixed, desires a cancelled certificate of title to be reissued, the legal owner shall:(1) Reapply for a new certificate pursuant to this chapter;(2) Provide an abstrac…

Title to a custom-built car for which no certificate of title has ever been issued by the division may be titled as the make, model and year of the manufactured motor vehicle that the custom-built car most closely resembles; provided, however, that the car is intended to replicat…

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Automotive dismantler and recycler” means a person who engages in the business of acquiring salvage vehicles for the purpose of recovering parts for resale;(2) “Flood vehicle” means any passenger motor vehicle w…

(a) Any owner dismantling or wrecking any registered vehicle shall immediately forward to the department the certificate of title issued to the owner for the vehicle, but may retain the certificate of registration and registration plates for the purpose of transferring the certif…

(a) (1) Any motor vehicle dismantler and recycler required to be licensed pursuant to § 55-17-109 or scrap metal processor as defined in § 55-3-201, who purchases motor vehicles for parts, dismantling, or scrap, shall, notwithstanding the requirements of title 62, chapter 9, be g…

(1) A motor vehicle dealer's license shall not be required for a person to sell motor vehicles to licensed automotive dismantlers and recyclers, as defined in § 55-17-102, or to registered scrap metal dealers or scrap metal processors, if:(1) The motor vehicle has been designated…

(a) The department is authorized to accept applications for rebuilt certificates of title that are supported by a salvage title and other evidence of reconstruction as is required, without the applicant first submitting this evidence through one (1) of the county clerks. In these…

(a) Prior to the issuance of a rebuilt certificate of title for a vehicle on which a salvage title has been issued, a representative of the department shall inspect the vehicle at a place and time to be designated by the commissioner. The person inspecting the vehicle shall certi…

Sections 55-3-120(c), 55-3-201, 55-3-202(b), 55-3-205, 55-3-206, and 55-3-209, apply equally to vehicles reconstructed out of state and sought to be titled in this state.

There shall be a brand affixed to a certificate of title issued by the department for a motor vehicle which has sustained substantial water damage.

(a) For any passenger motor vehicle, the ownership of which is transferred on or after October 1, 1996, the department shall disclose in writing on the certificate of title whenever records readily accessible to the state indicate that the passenger motor vehicle was previously i…

(a) Any law enforcement agency that impounds a motor vehicle due to the manufacture of methamphetamine on or within the motor vehicle, determined to be contaminated pursuant to the standards developed pursuant to title 68, chapter 212, part 5, shall submit a notice of motor vehic…