§ 429 — Junk and salvage vehicles

§ 429. Junk and salvage vehicles. 1. Requirements upon acquisition of\njunk or salvage vehicles. (a) By an insurance company. Whenever an\ninsurance company acquires a motor vehicle in settlement of a claim for\ndamage thereto or theft thereof, such company shall deliver a statement\nconcerning such acquisition to the commissioner as provided in this\nsection. Such company shall deliver the certificate of title or any\nother ownership documents relating to such motor vehicle properly\nexecuted to transfer title from the insured to the company and notices\nof release of security interest from any lienholder whose lien has been\nsatisfied to the commissioner with the required statement of\nacquisition.\n (b) By a vehicle dismantler. Whenever a person who is engaged in a\nbusiness requiring him to be registered as a vehicle dismantler or an\nitinerant vehicle collector acquires a motor vehicle which has been sold\nor otherwise disposed of as junk or for salvage, such person shall\ndeliver a statement concerning such acquisition to the commissioner as\nprovided in this section. Such person shall deliver the certificate of\ntitle or any other ownership documents relating to such motor vehicle\nproperly executed to transfer title by the transferor to the vehicle\ndismantler or itinerant vehicle collector and notices of release of\nsecurity interest from any lienholder whose lien has been satisfied to\nthe commissioner with the required statement of acquisition. However,\nthe provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to a vehicle which\nhas been transferred to a vehicle dismantler registered under section\nfour hundred fifteen-a of this chapter by means of a document issued\npursuant to this section. The commissioner may, by regulation, allow the\nrequirements of this subdivision with respect to the delivery of\ndocuments to be satisfied by an electronic filing of the necessary\ninformation by or on behalf of the person to whom such requirements\napply.\n (c) By other persons. Whenever a person other than a person described\nin paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision acquires ownership of a\nmotor vehicle which has been sold or otherwise disposed of as junk or\nsalvage or which is to be dismantled for use other than as a motor\nvehicle, such person shall deliver a statement concerning such\nacquisition to the commissioner as provided in this section. Such person\nshall deliver the certificate of title and any other ownership documents\nrelating to such motor vehicle properly executed to transfer title by\nthe transferor to such person and notices of release of security\ninterest from any lienholder whose lien has been satisfied to the\ncommissioner with the required statement of acquisition. However, the\nprovisions of this subdivision shall not apply to a vehicle which has\nbeen transferred to any such person by means of a document issued\npursuant to this section or to a scrap processor by a person registered\nor certified pursuant to section four hundred fifteen-a of this chapter.\n (d) A statement of acquisition and all documents required to be\nsubmitted to the commissioner pursuant to this section or regulations\npromulgated thereunder must be so submitted within the time specified by\nregulation of the commissioner. Any person who, knowingly and willfully,\nand with intent to defraud a subsequent purchaser as to the applicable\nstatus of a motor vehicle, makes any false statement on an application\nfor title or duplicate title for a motor vehicle pursuant to this\nsection or fails to submit the statement of acquisition and supporting\ndocumentation to the commissioner within the time specified by\nregulation shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to two thousand\ndollars for each offense found to have been committed. Such penalty may\nonly be imposed if such person has had the opportunity to be heard\nbefore an officer or employee of the department designated for such\npurpose by the commissioner, upon any charge of a violation of this\nparagraph or regulations promulgated by the commissioner with respect to\nthis paragraph.\n 1-a. Requirements for certain fleet vehicles. (a) Whenever a motor\nvehicle titled or registered by a fleet owner becomes a severely damaged\nfleet vehicle, prior to the transfer of such vehicle or any major\ncomponent part thereof, the fleet owner shall deliver a statement\nconcerning such occurrence to the commissioner as provided in this\nsection. Such fleet owner shall deliver the certificate of title in its\nname or any other ownership documents relating to such motor vehicle and\nnotices of release of security interest from any lienholder whose lien\nhas been satisfied to the commissioner with the required statement\nconcerning such occurrence. Such a statement shall be subject to all\nprovisions of law applicable to a statement of acquisition except as may\notherwise be specified by regulation of the commissioner.\n (b) For the purposes of this section, a fleet owner shall mean a\nperson who has twenty-five or more vehicles titled or registered in his\nname in this state and who does not have such vehicles insured for\ndamage or theft by an insurance company duly authorized to transact\nbusiness in this state.\n (c) For the purposes of this section, a severely damaged fleet vehicle\nshall mean a motor vehicle titled or registered in the name of a fleet\nowner in this state or in any other state or province of Canada which\nhas received damage and which has not been placed back in fleet use by\nthe fleet owner subsequent to receipt of such damage. However, it shall\nnot include a motor vehicle titled and registered in another state or a\nprovince of Canada if the damage was incurred outside of this state and\nthe vehicle is sold by the fleet owner outside of this state, or shall\ninclude a motor vehicle which has a fair market value after such damage\nof at least sixty percent of the fair market value of an undamaged\nsimilar model vehicle unless such motor vehicle requires the replacement\nof the engine in order to be made operable.\n (d) If a severely damaged fleet vehicle is sold by a fleet owner in\nviolation of this section, the purchaser or any subsequent good faith\npurchaser, may rescind such sale and recover the price he paid to his\ntransferor for the vehicle from the fleet owner. Recovery of the\npurchase price may be enforced in a civil action to recover damages.\n (e) The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to any vehicle\ntitled or registered in the name of a public utility subject to the\nauthority of the public service commission for which such utility has\nobtained an exemption in accordance with the following provisions of\nthis subdivision. In order to obtain such exemption, the utility must\nforward to the commissioner a listing, including model year, make and\nvehicle identification number of any or all vehicles for which exemption\nis requested not more than sixty and not less than thirty days prior to\nthe date of proposed sale of such vehicle or vehicles. Such listing\nshall contain the date, time and place of such proposed sale. Any\nvehicle contained on such listing shall be exempt from the provisions of\nthis subdivision, but such exemption shall be applicable only with\nrespect to a sale of any such vehicle made upon the date contained on\nthe listing.\n 2. Transfer of junk and salvage vehicles. (a) When an insurance\ncompany, vehicle dismantler, fleet owner, or any other person submits a\nstatement of acquisition for a junk or salvage vehicle or a severely\ndamaged fleet vehicle, as provided in subdivision one or one-a of this\nsection, such insurance company, vehicle dismantler, or other person\nshall prepare and distribute a statement of acquisition in accordance\nwith regulations promulgated by the commissioner. A copy of such\nstatement of acquisition designated by the commissioner shall serve as\nproof of ownership for the vehicle and shall provide a method of\ntransfer of such a vehicle as a junk vehicle and may serve as an\napplication for title if the vehicle is subsequently rehabilitated or\nrepaired for the purpose of being operated upon the public highways.\n (b) The provisions of section four hundred twenty-one of this chapter\nprohibiting the sale of a motor vehicle with a removed, altered or\ndefaced vehicle identification number plate shall not apply to the sale\nof any junk or salvage vehicle or any severely damaged fleet vehicle\nfrom an insurance company, a vehicle dismantler, a local authority,\nfleet owner or a dealer registered under section four hundred fifteen of\nthis chapter provided the proof of ownership for such vehicle consists\nof a valid statement of acquisition and such statement of acquisition\nwhich transfers ownership of such vehicle indicates that the vehicle\nidentification number plate is missing, altered or defaced.\n (c) No person shall sell or advertise for sale or solicit a bid for\nthe purchase of a junk or salvage vehicle without notifying any\nprospective purchaser or bidder of the existence or non-existence of any\nsecurity interest with respect to such junk or salvage vehicle. If a\nsecurity interest exists with respect to such vehicle, the name or names\nand address or addresses of the secured party or parties must also be\nprovided to the prospective purchaser or bidder.\n 3. Items to be surrendered before intentional destruction of motor\nvehicles. A certified scrap processor or registered vehicle dismantler\nmay crush a motor vehicle still displaying a vehicle identification\nnumber plate. The crushing must be so complete that the vehicle\nidentification number plate cannot be readily removed. No other person\nshall cause or permit a motor vehicle to be scrapped, permanently\ndismantled or otherwise intentionally destroyed unless the vehicle\nidentification number plate of such motor vehicle has been removed\ntherefrom and either destroyed or delivered to the commissioner together\nwith all title or any other ownership documents pertaining to such motor\nvehicle as provided in this section. If the vehicle identification\nnumber plate is not delivered to the commissioner, a notice indicating\nthe disposition of such plate must accompany the ownership documents\nrequired to be submitted to the commissioner.\n 4. Forms and documents. Any forms or documents used in conjunction\nwith this section shall be in a form prescribed by the commissioner and\nshall set forth a complete description of the motor vehicle, the name\nand address of the person to whom such motor vehicle was sold or\ntransferred or from whom such motor vehicle was acquired together with\nany other information deemed necessary or desirable by the commissioner\nto effectuate the provisions and purposes of this section. Any such\nstatement, document or item required to be delivered to the commissioner\nby any provision of this section shall be deemed to have been so\ndelivered when it has been either personally delivered or sent by mail\nto the office of the commissioner at the address designated by him.\n 4-a. Fees for statement of acquisition. The statement of acquisition\nprovided for in this section shall be issued as prescribed by regulation\nof the commissioner upon payment of a fee of five dollars for each such\nstatement. Such fee shall be paid to the commissioner for deposit in the\ngeneral fund.\n 5. Motor vehicle subject to requirements. The provisions of this\nsection shall apply to all motor vehicles sold, surrendered or otherwise\ndisposed of, or acquired, or intentionally destroyed, within this state\nfor which a certificate of title has been issued by the commissioner or\nwhich would be eligible to have such a certificate of title issued.\n 6. Penalties. A violation of any provision of this section shall be a\nmisdemeanor.\n