| | | Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts of the Legislature do not become | | effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as | | emergencies; and |
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| | | Whereas, current Maine law requires assignees of motor vehicle | | liens to file new title applications with the Secretary of State | | within 30 days after the assignment of the lien; and |
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| | | Whereas, this statutory provision has had an unintended adverse | | effect on finance companies that purchase Maine motor vehicle | | contracts and, as a result, on the financing options that dealers | | can make available to consumers; and |
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| | | Whereas, this legislation exempts assignees from filing new | | title applications as long as the lienholder of record continues | | to accept payments from and service the contract for the | | consumer; and |
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| | | Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create | | an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and | | require the following legislation as immediately necessary for | | the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, | | therefore, |
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| | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | | Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §704, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2001, c. 671, §15, | | is further amended to read: |
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| | | 1. Assignment. A lienholder may assign a security interest | | to a person other than the owner without affecting the interest | of the owner or the validity of the security interest. A | | as provided in subsection 5, a lienholder who assigns a security | | interest to a person other than the owner must provide notice of | | the assignment to the Secretary of State within 30 days of the | | assignment. The notice must include the name, address and | | telephone number of the assignee, the name of the owner and the | | certificate of salvage, certificate of lien or certificate of | | title number. Failure to provide notice to the Secretary of | | State as required by this subsection is a civil violation for | | which the Secretary of State may assess a civil penalty of not | | more than $500 per violation. |
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| | | Sec. 2. 29-A MRSA §704, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2001, c. 671, §15, | | is further amended to read: |
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| | | 4. Endorsement. Beginning August 1, 2002 | | in subsection 5, the assignee must, in order to perfect the | | assignment, have a certificate of title, certificate of salvage | | or certificate of lien issued with the assignee named as |
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