Iowa Code 321.45 – Title must be transferred with vehicle
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1. a. No manufacturer, importer, dealer, or other person shall sell or otherwise dispose of a new vehicle subject to registration under the provisions of this chapter to a dealer to be used by such dealer for purposes of display and lease or resale without delivering to such dealer a manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate duly executed and with such assignments thereon as may be necessary to show title in the purchaser thereof; nor shall such dealer purchase or acquire a new vehicle that is subject to registration without obtaining from the seller thereof such manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate. In addition to the assignments stated herein, such manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate shall contain thereon the identification and description of the vehicle delivered and the name and address of the dealer to whom said vehicle was originally sold over the signature of an authorized official of the manufacturer or importer who made the original delivery.
b. For each new mobile home, manufactured home, travel trailer, and camping trailer said manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate shall also contain thereon the exterior length and exterior width of said vehicle not including any area occupied by any hitching device, and the manufacturer’s shipping weight.
c. Completed motor vehicles, other than class “B” motor homes, which are converted, modified, or altered shall retain the identity and model year of the original manufacturer of the vehicle. Motor homes and all other motor vehicles manufactured from chassis or incomplete motor vehicles manufactured by another may have the identity and model year assigned by the final manufacturer.
d. Notwithstanding paragraph “c”, a glider kit vehicle shall take the identity of the new cab and the new frame used in the assembly of the glider kit vehicle.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 321.45
- Days: means calendar days. See Iowa Code 322G.2
- dealer: means every person engaged in the business of buying, selling, or exchanging vehicles of a type required to be registered under this chapter. See Iowa Code 321.24
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Manufacturer: means a person engaged in the business of constructing or assembling all-terrain vehicles required to be registered under this chapter and who has an established place of business for that purpose in this state. See Iowa Code 321I.1
- Operate: means to ride in or on, other than as a passenger, use, or control the operation of an all-terrain vehicle in any manner, whether or not the all-terrain vehicle is moving. See Iowa Code 321I.1
- Owner: means a person, other than a lienholder, having the property right in or title to an all-terrain vehicle. See Iowa Code 321I.1
- Person: includes any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, joint adventure, or association, and the plural as well as the singular number. See Iowa Code 321H.2
- Selling: includes bartering, exchanging, or otherwise dealing in. See Iowa Code 321H.2
- Signature: includes an electronic signature as defined in section 554D. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
- Vehicle: means any vehicle as defined in chapter 321. See Iowa Code 321H.2
- Vehicle subject to registration: means any vehicle that is of a type required to be registered under chapter 321 when operated on a public highway, including but not limited to a vehicle that is inoperable, salvage, or rebuilt. See Iowa Code 321H.2
- Warranty: means any written warranty issued by the manufacturer; or any affirmation of fact or promise made by the manufacturer, excluding statements made by the dealer, in connection with the sale or lease of a motor vehicle to a consumer, which relates to the nature of the material or workmanship and affirms or promises that the material or workmanship is free of defects or will meet a specified level of performance. See Iowa Code 322G.2
- year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
2. a. A person shall not acquire any right, title, claim, or interest in or to any vehicle subject to registration under this chapter from the owner thereof except by virtue of a certificate of title issued or assigned to the person for such vehicle or by virtue of a manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate delivered to the person for such vehicle and waiver or estoppel shall not operate in favor of any person claiming title to or interest in any vehicle against a person having possession of the certificate of title or manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate for such vehicle for a valuable consideration except in the following cases:
(1) The perfection of a lien or security interest as provided in section 321.50.
(2) The perfection of a security interest in new or used vehicles held as inventory for sale as provided in uniform commercial code, chapter 554, article 9.
(3) A dispute between a buyer and the selling dealer who has failed to deliver or procure the certificate of title as promised.
(4) Except for the purposes of section 321.493.
(5) The vehicle is disposed of pursuant to section 321.52, subsection 2, paragraph “b”.
(6) An insurer obtains a salvage certificate of title for a vehicle pursuant to section 321.52, subsection 4, paragraph “a”.
b. Except in the cases enumerated in paragraph “a”, no court in any case at law or equity shall recognize the right, title, claim, or interest of any person in or to any vehicle subject to registration sold or disposed of, or mortgaged or encumbered, unless evidenced by a certificate of title or manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate duly issued or assigned in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
3. Upon the transfer of any registered vehicle, the owner, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, shall endorse an assignment and warranty of title upon the certificate of title for such vehicle with a statement of all liens and encumbrances thereon, and the owner shall deliver the certificate of title to the purchaser or transferee at the time of delivering the vehicle except as otherwise provided in this chapter. The owner shall indicate to the transferee the name of the county in which the vehicle was last registered and the registration expiration date.
4. After acquiring a used mobile home or manufactured home to be titled in Iowa, a manufactured or mobile home retailer, as defined in section 103A.51, shall within thirty days apply for and obtain from the county treasurer of the county where the mobile home or manufactured home is located a new certificate of title for the mobile home or manufactured home. In the event that there is a prior lien or encumbrance to be released, as required by section 321.50, subsection 5, the thirty-day time period in this subsection does not begin to run until the lien or encumbrance is released.