Montana Code 61-3-221. Involuntary transfer
61-3-221. Involuntary transfer. (1) (a) An involuntary transfer of title to or any interest in a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile may occur by operation of law through inheritance, devise, bequest, order in bankruptcy or insolvency, execution sale, or repossession upon default in the performance of the terms of a lease, executory sales contract, or security agreement or in any other manner other than by voluntary act of the person whose title or interest is transferred. Upon the involuntary transfer, the executor, administrator, receiver, trustee, sheriff, secured party, or other representative or successor in interest of the person whose interest is transferred shall send to the department:
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-3-221
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- Bequest: Property gifted by will.
- 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
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Devise: To gift property by will.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
- 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
- Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
- 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
- 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
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
- 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
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- 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
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- 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
(i)an application for a certificate of title; and
(ii)a verified or certified statement of the transfer of interest or a transfer statement, as defined in 30-9A-619.
(b)The statement of transfer of interest must state the reason for the involuntary transfer, the interest transferred, the name of the person to whom the interest is to be transferred, the process or procedure creating the transfer, and other information requested by the department. A transfer statement submitted under this section must meet the requirements of 30-9A-619. Evidence and instruments that are required by law in order to effect a transfer of legal or equitable title to or an interest in chattels must be submitted with the statement.
(c)Except as provided in subsection (2), if the department determines that the transfer is regular and that all legal requirements have been complied with, the department shall send notice of the intended transfer to the owner, conditional sales vendor, lessor, mortgagee, and other lienholder, as shown in the department’s records. Deposit in the U.S. mail of the notice, postage prepaid, addressed to the person at the respective address shown in the department’s records satisfies the notice required by this section. Not less than 5 days after sending the notice, the department shall issue a new certificate of title to the transferee.
(2)(a) Except as provided in subsection (2)(b), if an interest in a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile that is not registered in this state is involuntarily transferred to a person in this state, the person to whom the interest is transferred shall follow the procedure provided in subsection (1).
(b)In lieu of the statement required in subsection (1), the department may accept an affidavit of repossession as executed by the person seeking the involuntary transfer.
(3)The department is not required to send notice for a transfer of interest occurring under subsection (2).