Montana Code 61-3-107. Identification number for trailers, campers, and other motor vehicles
61-3-107. Identification number for trailers, campers, and other motor vehicles. (1) A trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or camper that does not have a manufacturer‘s or other identifying number on the trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or camper must be assigned an identification number by the department.
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-3-107
- Camper: means a structure designed to be mounted in the cargo area of a truck or attached to an incomplete vehicle for the purpose of providing shelter for persons. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Certificate of title: means the paper record issued by the department or by the appropriate agency of another jurisdiction that establishes a verifiable record of ownership between an identified person or persons and the motor vehicle specifically described in the record and that provides notice of a perfected security interest in the motor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Manufacturer: includes any person engaged in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, or off-highway vehicles as a regular business. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Motor vehicle: means :
(i)a vehicle propelled by its own power and designed or used to transport persons or property on the highways of the state;
(ii)a quadricycle if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9; or
(iii)a golf cart only if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9 and is operated pursuant to 61-8-391 or by a person with a low-speed restricted driver's license. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Motorboat: means a vessel, including a personal watercraft or pontoon, propelled by any machinery, motor, or engine of any description, whether or not the machinery, motor, or engine is the principal source of propulsion. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Owner: means each person who holds the legal title to a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Peace officer: has the meaning as defined in 46-1-202. See Montana Code 1-1-207
- person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Personal watercraft: means a vessel that uses an outboard motor or an inboard engine powering a water jet pump as its primary source of propulsion and that is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel rather than by the conventional method of sitting or standing in the vessel. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Pole trailer: means a vehicle without power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes, or structural members capable generally of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Sailboat: means a vessel that uses a sail and wind as its primary source of propulsion. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Semitrailer: means a vehicle, with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that some part of its weight and that of its load rests on or is carried by another vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Snowmobile: means a self-propelled vehicle of an overall width of 48 inches or less, excluding accessories, that is designed primarily for travel on snow or ice, that may be steered by skis or runners, and that is not otherwise registered or licensed under the laws of the state of Montana. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Trailer: means a vehicle, with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that no part of its weight rests on the towing vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
(2)The department may not issue a certificate of title or reissue a certificate of title covering a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile on which the identification number has been altered, removed, obliterated, defaced, omitted, or is otherwise absent unless the owner or other person lawfully in possession of the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile files an application with the department, accompanied by a fee of $5. The application must be on a form provided by the department and must contain information required by the department for the assignment of a special identification number for a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile. Upon receipt of the application and if the department is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to the assignment of an identification number, the department shall designate a special identification number for the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile. The department shall note the special identification number on the application and on records to be kept by the department. This assigned identification number must be stamped or securely attached in a conspicuous position on the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile in the manner and form prescribed by the department.
(3)If the true identity of a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile can be established by restoring the original manufacturer’s serial number or other distinguishing numbers or identification marks, the department may not assign a special identification number and shall replace the motor vehicle’s, trailer’s, semitrailer’s, pole trailer’s, camper’s, motorboat’s, personal watercraft’s, sailboat’s, or snowmobile’s identification mark by duplicating the manufacturer’s full numeric or alphanumeric identification sequence. The department may replace an identification mark only after conducting an inquiry to determine that ownership of the motor vehicle bearing a restored identification mark has been lawfully transferred to the applicant. The applicant shall apply for and the department shall replace the identification mark on the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile as required under subsection (2).
(4)Upon receipt by the department of a certificate of inspection completed by a peace officer or authorized member of the department verifying that the identification number has been stamped or securely attached in a conspicuous position upon the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile, accompanied by an application for a certificate of title and the required fee, the department shall use the number as the numeric or alphanumeric identification mark for the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile in any certificate of title that may be issued.