§ 28-2092 — Vehicle seizure

Employees of the department and peace officers, as defined by section 1-215, may seize a vehicle:

1. From which the serial or other identification number or mark is removed, defaced, obliterated or changed unless either of the following:

(a) An application has been made to the department as provided in this article.

(b) All of the conditions prescribed in subdivision (c) of this paragraph are met.

(c) The vehicle is not a salvage vehicle and the department has not issued a salvage certificate of title or a nonrepairable certificate of title, and all of the following apply:

(i) The frame of the vehicle is the component part replaced.

(ii) The frame replacement is performed by the manufacturer or the manufacturer’s authorized agent.

(iii) If the original frame contained a vehicle identification number or serial number, the original vehicle identification number or serial number, in a similar size and style, is restamped in the replacement frame by the manufacturer or the manufacturer’s authorized agent.

(iv) Any existing manufacturer's warranty remaining on the vehicle has not been voided.

(v) The manufacturer or the manufacturer’s authorized agent obliterates all vehicle identification numbers or serial numbers contained on the original frame.

(vi) Notification of the frame replacement is entered onto the national insurance crime bureau database.

2. For which the registration or license plates are fictitious.

3. That is being dismantled, scrapped or destroyed by a person who does not have a dismantle certificate of title, nonrepairable vehicle certificate of title or salvage certificate of title issued to the person or if an application for any of those certificates of title has not been made.

4. If it is a salvage vehicle that is being reconstructed or repaired by a person who does not have in the person's possession a salvage certificate of title in the person's name or assigned to the person or a work or repair order signed by the owner or agent of the vehicle.