§ 55-3-120 — Transfers to or from dealers or insurance companies - Salvage title, flood title, or nonrepairable vehicle certificate

(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, but the transferee, upon transferring title or interest to another person, shall execute an assignment and warranty of title upon the certificate of title, if in the transferee's possession or if in the possession of a lienor, or the transferee shall execute a bill of sale and deliver the same to the person to whom the transfer is made, together with evidence of ownership. (b) (1) When the vehicle is held for resale outside of the state, this exclusion from the title and registration requirements may be waived with respect to the title provision, and the dealer shall be permitted to obtain a new certificate of title in the name of the dealership for the vehicle so held. (2) Any dealer that resells more than five percent (5%) of the vehicles titled for foreign resale to residents of Tennessee during any given period of twelve (12) consecutive months shall, by so doing, forfeit the right to title vehicles without registering them. (c) An insurance company that obtains title to a motor vehicle as a result of paying a total loss claim resulting from collision, fire, or water damage shall obtain a salvage title, flood title, or nonrepairable vehicle certificate from the department. This subsection (c) shall not apply to vehicles ten (10) years old or older with a value of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) or less.

Legislative History

Acts 1951, ch. 70, § 50 (Williams, § 5538.150); T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 59-321; Acts 1981, ch. 2, § 1; 1986, ch. 791, § 5; 1987, ch. 443, § 1; 1989, ch. 377, § 1; 2006, ch. 517, § 1; 2007, ch. 484, § 21.