LD 290
pg. 1
LD 290 Title Page An Act To Ensure That Title Applications are Timely Delivered LD 290 Title Page
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LR 1113
Item 1

 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

 
Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §603, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 683, Pt.
A, §2 and affected by Pt. B, §5, is amended to read:

 
4. Penalties. If an application, certificate of title or
other document required to be delivered to the Secretary of
State is not delivered to the Secretary of State within 20
days, the Secretary of State shall collect, as a penalty, an
amount equal to the fee required for the transaction. If a
dealer fails to deliver an application to the Secretary of
State in accordance with section 654, subsection 2, the dealer
shall pay to the Secretary of State, as an additional penalty
for each such failure, the sum of $250, plus an additional
$100 for every 10 days that the dealer fails to deliver the
application, and shall pay actual damages to the lienholder.

 
SUMMARY

 
Under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 11, section 9-1317,
subsection 5 and section 9-1324, subsection 1, if a lender
loans money for the purchase of a motor vehicle, the lender
must ensure that the motor vehicle is covered by a certificate
of title within 20 days of the purchase in order to have
priority over other claims to the vehicle. The vehicle
becomes covered by a certificate of title only when a valid
application and the applicable fee are delivered to the
Secretary of State. Current law requires motor vehicle
dealers to deliver applications for title to purchased
vehicles to the Secretary of State within 20 days in order to
ensure that lenders' liens or security interests are
protected. Some dealers fail to comply with this 20-day time
period, thereby putting lenders at risk. This bill penalizes
those dealers by imposing an initial $250 penalty, with
additional penalties for continued failure to comply with the
law, and requiring restitution to lenders whose liens are
affected by the dealer's failure to comply with the law.


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