§ 321 — Procedure upon transfer

Upon the transfer of ownership of any registered motor vehicle, its registration shall expire. The person in whose name the transferred vehicle was registered shall immediately return to the Commissioner the registration certificate assigned to the transferred vehicle, with the date of transfer and the name and residence of the new owner endorsed on the back. However, the Commissioner may accept any other satisfactory evidence of the date of transfer and new ownership. The transferor shall immediately remove the registration number plates from the transferred vehicle and may attach the registration number plates to another unregistered motor vehicle owned by him or her and the owner or operator shall not, for a period of 60 days, be subject to a civil penalty for the operation of the latter motor vehicle without the proper registration certificate, provided he or she has, within 24 hours of the transfer, made application, as provided in section 323 of this title, for transfer of the registration number plates. If such application for transfer is not so received by the Commissioner, the number plates shall be returned to the Commissioner at the end of five days after the transfer of ownership. (Amended 1975, No. 68, § 1, eff. April 18, 1975; 1987, No. 112, § 8; 2017, No. 71, § 6; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 145.)