Virginia Code 46.2-1603.1: Duties of licensees
A. If a salvage vehicle is purchased by a salvage dealer and the vehicle is sold as a unit to anyone other than a demolisher, rebuilder, vehicle removal operator, or scrap metal processor, the purchaser shall obtain from the Department a salvage certificate. If the sale is to a demolisher or vehicle removal operator, the salvage vehicle shall be assigned in the space provided for such assignments on the existing salvage certificate. If a vehicle is purchased by a salvage dealer and disassembled for parts only or demolished by a demolisher, the salvage dealer shall immediately and conspicuously indicate on the salvage certificate or title that the vehicle was disassembled for parts only or demolished and immediately forward the salvage certificate or title to the Department for cancellation. The Department shall cancel the title or salvage certificate and issue a nonrepairable certificate for the vehicle to the salvage dealer.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 46.2-1603.1
- Demolisher: means any person whose business is to crush, flatten, bale, shred, log, or otherwise reduce a vehicle to a state where it can no longer be considered a vehicle. See Virginia Code 46.2-1600
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Late model vehicle: means the current-year model of a vehicle and the five preceding model years, or any vehicle whose actual cash value is determined to have been at least $10,000 prior to being damaged. See Virginia Code 46.2-1600
- Licensee: means any person who is licensed or is required to be licensed under this chapter. See Virginia Code 46.2-1600
- Nonrepairable certificate: means a document of ownership issued by the Department for any nonrepairable vehicle upon surrender or cancellation of the vehicle's title and registration or salvage certificate. See Virginia Code 46.2-1600
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Rebuilder: means any person who acquires and repairs, for use on the public highways, two or more salvage vehicles within a 12-month period. See Virginia Code 46.2-1600
- Salvage certificate: means a document of ownership issued by the Department for any salvage vehicle upon surrender or cancellation of the vehicle's title and registration. See Virginia Code 46.2-1600
- Salvage dealer: means any person who acquires any vehicle for the purpose of reselling any parts thereof or who acquires and sells any salvage vehicle as a unit except as permitted by subdivision B 2 of § Virginia Code 46.2-1600
- Salvage pool: means any person providing a storage service for salvage vehicles or nonrepairable vehicles who either displays the vehicles for resale or solicits bids for the sale of salvage vehicles or nonrepairable vehicles, but this definition shall not apply to an insurance company that stores and displays fewer than 100 salvage vehicles and nonrepairable vehicles in one location; however, any two or more insurance companies who display salvage and nonrepairable vehicles for resale, using the same facilities, shall be considered a salvage pool. See Virginia Code 46.2-1600
- Salvage vehicle: means (i) any late model vehicle that has been (a) acquired by an insurance company as a part of the claims process other than a stolen vehicle or (b) damaged as a result of collision, fire, flood, accident, trespass, or any other occurrence to such an extent that its estimated cost of repair, excluding charges for towing, storage, and temporary replacement/rental vehicle or payment for diminished value compensation, would exceed its actual cash value less its current salvage value; (ii) any recovered stolen vehicle acquired by an insurance company as a part of the claims process, whose estimated cost of repair exceeds 75 percent of its actual cash value; or (iii) any other vehicle that is determined to be a salvage vehicle by its owner or an insurance company by applying for a salvage certificate for the vehicle, provided that such vehicle is not a nonrepairable vehicle. See Virginia Code 46.2-1600
- Scrap metal processor: means any person who acquires one or more whole vehicles to process into scrap for remelting purposes who, from a fixed location, utilizes machinery and equipment for processing and manufacturing ferrous and nonferrous metallic scrap into prepared grades, and whose principal product is metallic scrap. See Virginia Code 46.2-1600
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Vehicle: means every device in, on or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a highway, except personal delivery devices and devices moved by human power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
- Vehicle removal operator: means any person who acquires a vehicle for the purpose of reselling it to a demolisher, scrap metal processor, or salvage dealer. See Virginia Code 46.2-1600
1. If a vehicle for which a title or salvage certificate or other ownership document has been issued by a foreign jurisdiction and is purchased by a salvage dealer or demolisher and disassembled for parts only or demolished by a demolisher, the salvage dealer or demolisher shall immediately and conspicuously indicate on the salvage certificate, title, or other ownership document that the vehicle was disassembled for parts only or demolished and immediately forward the salvage certificate, title or other ownership document to the Department for cancellation. The Department shall cancel the title, salvage certificate, or other ownership document and issue a nonrepairable certificate for the vehicle to the salvage dealer.
2. There shall be no fee for the issuance of a nonrepairable certificate.
B. If a licensee acquires any late model vehicle, he shall immediately compare the vehicle identification number assigned by the manufacturer or the Department or the identification number issued or assigned by another state with the title or salvage certificate of the vehicle and shall notify the Department as provided in subsection C. Such comparison and notification shall not be required of a demolisher if the vehicle was acquired from a licensed salvage dealer, rebuilder, salvage pool, or vehicle removal operator and such licensee delivers to the demolisher a title or salvage certificate for the vehicle.
C. If the vehicle identification number has been altered, is missing, or appears to have been otherwise tampered with, the licensee shall take no further action with regard to the vehicle except to safeguard it in its then-existing condition and shall promptly notify the Department. The Department shall, after an investigation has been made, notify the licensee whether the vehicle can be freed from this limitation. In no event shall the vehicle be disassembled, demolished, processed, or otherwise modified or removed prior to authorization by the Department. If the vehicle is a motorcycle, the licensee shall cause to be noted on the title or salvage certificate, certifying on the face of the document, in addition to the above requirements, the frame number of the motorcycle and motor number, if available.
D. Except as provided in § 46.2-1203, after a vehicle has been demolished, the demolisher shall, within five working days, deliver to the Department the salvage certificate or title, certifying on the face of the document that the vehicle has been destroyed.
E. Except as provided in § 46.2-1203, it shall be unlawful for any licensee to purchase, receive, take into inventory, or otherwise accept from any person any late model vehicle unless, as a part of any such transaction, the licensee also receives a title, salvage certificate, nonrepairable certificate, or other ownership documents, issued by an appropriate regulatory agency within or without the Commonwealth, relating to such vehicle. Every licensee shall maintain as a part of his business records a title, salvage certificate, nonrepairable certificate, or other ownership documents, issued by an appropriate regulatory agency within or without the Commonwealth, pertaining to every late model vehicle in his inventory or possession.
F. If a licensee intends to utilize machinery to crush, flatten, or otherwise reduce one or more vehicles to a state where it can no longer be considered a vehicle at a location other than the location specified on the license filed with the Department, the licensee shall apply to the Department for a permit of operation in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner. Each permit shall be valid for a period not to exceed 15 days and shall specify the location of intended operation. The cost of each permit shall be $15.
G. The licensee shall comply with all applicable federal title reporting requirements, including the reporting requirements of the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 25.56.
1992, c. 148; 1995, cc. 390, 394; 2004, c. 369; 2011, c. 824; 2014, c. 58.