Montana Code 61-4-104. Record of purchase or sale
61-4-104. Record of purchase or sale. (1) (a) A dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction licensed under this part shall keep:
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-4-104
- 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
- Dealer: means a person that, for commission or profit, engages in whole or in part in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, or accepting on consignment new or used motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, or special mobile equipment that is not registered in the name of the person. 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
- Owner: means each person who holds the legal title to a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- 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
- 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
- Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- Sell: means to transfer ownership from one person to another person or from a dealer to another person for consideration. 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
- Special mobile equipment: means a vehicle not designed for the transportation of persons or property on the highways but incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including road construction or maintenance machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, and well-boring apparatus. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Trailer: has the meaning provided in 61-1-101 but does not include a trailer that has an unloaded weight of less than 500 pounds. See Montana Code 61-4-131
- 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
- Vehicle identification number: means the number, letters, or combination of numbers and letters assigned by the manufacturer, by the department, or in accordance with the laws of another state or country for the purpose of identifying the motor vehicle or a component part of the motor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Wholesaler: means a person that for a commission or with intent to make a profit or gain of money or other thing of value sells, exchanges, or attempts to negotiate a sale or exchange of an interest in a used motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, travel trailer, motorboat, snowmobile, off-highway vehicle, or special mobile equipment only to dealers and auto auctions licensed under chapter 4, part 1. See Montana Code 61-1-101
(i)a book or record of the purchases, sales or exchanges, or receipts for the purpose of sale of used vehicles; and
(ii)for each used vehicle, a description of the vehicle, the date of purchase, sale, or consignment of the vehicle, and the name and address of:
(A)the person from whom the dealer or wholesaler acquired the vehicle’s ownership or, if consigned, possessory interest in the vehicle;
(B)the person to whom the dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction assigned the vehicle; and
(C)a secured party with a perfected security interest in the vehicle to which the dealer’s, wholesaler’s, or auto auction’s interest is subordinate, if any.
(b)If the vehicle is a trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or special mobile equipment, the record must include the manufacturer‘s number and other numbers or identification marks that appear on the vehicle.
(c)The vehicle description must also include the vehicle identification number, if any, and must include a statement that a number has been obliterated, defaced, or changed if that has occurred.
(2)(a) Except as provided in subsection (2)(b), a dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction must also have the actual or a readily accessible photocopy, electronic copy, or digital copy of the actual assigned certificate of ownership, certificate of title, or manufacturer’s certificate of origin from the owner of each vehicle in which the dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction acquires a property interest that transfers ownership of the vehicle to the dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction from the time the vehicle is delivered to the dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction until it has been disposed of by the dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction.
(b)A dealer may offer for sale or may sell or exchange a vehicle without having the assigned certificate of ownership, certificate of title, or manufacturer’s certificate of origin if:
(i)the dealer has applied for the title as provided in Title 61, chapter 3, part 2; or
(ii)the vehicle is financed by the dealer as inventory through a financial institution, the financial institution holds the certificate of ownership, certificate of title, or manufacturer’s certificate of origin as collateral, and the dealer has a readily accessible photocopy, electronic copy, or digital copy of the certificate of ownership, certificate of title, or manufacturer’s certificate of origin.
(3)It is a violation of this part for a dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction to fail to:
(a)take assignment of the certificate of ownership, certificate of title, or manufacturer’s certificate of origin for a vehicle acquired by the dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction; or
(b)assign the certificate of ownership, certificate of title, or manufacturer’s certificate of origin for any vehicle sold in which the dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction has a property interest.
(4)(a) Except as provided in subsection (4)(b), all records required to be kept in accordance with this section and the odometer disclosure information required to be retained under 61-3-206(5) must be physically located and maintained at or readily accessible within the building referred to in 61-4-101.
(b)A dealer, wholesaler, or auto auction that does not maintain the actual certificate of ownership, certificate of title, or manufacturer’s certificate of origin at the building referred to in 61-4-101 shall maintain a readily accessible record of the certificate of ownership, certificate of title, or manufacturer’s certificate of origin at the building.
(c)For the purposes of this section, “readily accessible” means available in paper form or in an electronic or digital format.
(5)An authorized representative of the department, upon presentation of the representative’s credentials, may inspect and have access to and copy any records required under this chapter.