§286-52.5  Procedure when registration of a trailer transferred.  (a)  Upon transfer of registered ownership in or to a trailer, the person whose interest is to be transferred and the transferee shall write their signatures with pen and ink upon the certificate of registration issued for the trailer, together with the address of the transferee in the appropriate space provided upon the certificate.

     (b)  Within thirty calendar days of the transfer of registered ownership of a trailer, the transferee shall forward the certificate of registration to the director of finance who shall file the certificate.  Whenever a transferee fails to comply with this section, the director of finance shall charge the transferee a fee of $50, in addition to the fee provided in this section, for the issuance of a new certificate of registration.

     (c)  If the director of finance has ascertained as of the date of the application that the registered owner has not deposited or paid bail with respect to any summons or citation issued to the registered owner for stopping, standing, or parking in violation of traffic ordinances within the county or has outstanding charges and fines owed to the county relating to the disposition of an abandoned vehicle under the registered owner, including for costs related to towing, storage, processing, and disposal, the director may require, as a condition precedent to the transfer, that the registered owner deposit or pay bail with respect to all such summonses or citations or pay all outstanding charges and fines relating to the disposition of the abandoned vehicle; provided that payment of all outstanding charges and fines relating to the disposition of the abandoned vehicle shall not be a condition precedent to the transfer if the abandoned vehicle was stolen or taken from the registered owner without permission or authorization and a police report for the abandoned vehicle is filed within a period of time, to be determined by the director of finance of each county, after discovery of the abandoned vehicle.

     (d)  The director of finance, upon receipt of the certificate of registration properly endorsed, shall register the trailer and shall issue to the owner thereof by reason of the transfer a new certificate of registration in the manner and form provided for original registration.

     (e)  Until the director of finance has issued the new certificate of registration as provided in subsection (d), delivery of such trailer shall be deemed not to have been made and registration thereto shall be deemed not to have passed, and the intended transfer shall be deemed to be incomplete and not to be valid or effective for any purpose.

     (f)  In the event of the transfer by operation of law in or to a trailer registered under section 286-47.2, as upon inheritance, devise, or bequest, order in bankruptcy, or insolvency, execution sale, repossession upon default in performance of the terms of a lease or executory sales contract, or otherwise than by the voluntary act of the person whose interest is to be transferred, the certificate of registration shall be signed upon the spaces provided by the personal representative of, or successor in interest of the person whose registered ownership or interest is so transferred in lieu of such person.  Every personal representative, receiver, trustee, sheriff, or other personal representative hereinabove referred to shall file with the director of finance a notice of any transfer by sale, lease, or otherwise by the person, of any such trailer, together with evidence satisfactory to the director of finance of all facts entitling such representative to make the transfer.

     (g)  Any person who refuses or neglects to deliver a certificate of registration to a transferee entitled thereto under this section, shall be punished as provided in section 286-61.

     (h)  Every dealer or manufacturer, upon transferring a trailer, whether by sale, lease, or otherwise, shall immediately give notice of the transfer to the director of finance upon the official form provided by the director of finance.  Every such notice shall contain the date of transfer, the names and addresses of the transferor and transferee, and such description of the trailer as may be called for in the official form.

     (i)  Every person, other than a dealer or manufacturer, upon transferring a trailer, whether by sale, lease, or otherwise, shall within ten days give notice of the transfer to the director of finance upon the official form provided by the director of finance.  Every notice shall contain the date of transfer, the names and addresses of the transferor and transferee, and such description of the trailer as may be called for in the official form.  Any person who violates this subsection shall be fined not more than $100.

     (j)  Whenever the registered owner of any trailer or any dealer or manufacturer has given notice to the director of finance of a transfer of the registered ownership to the trailer, as provided in subsections (h) and (i), and has delivered the certificate of registration bearing the transferor's signature to the transferee as required by subsection (a), the transferor shall be relieved from liability, civil or criminal, which the transferor might subsequently incur by reason of being the registered owner of the trailer.

     (k)  A dealer or manufacturer who has forwarded a properly endorsed certificate of registration to the director of finance shall be relieved of any civil liability, only if, in addition to the requirement of subsection (j), the dealer or manufacturer obtains from the transferee a specific written authorization to forward the certificate.

     (l)  Any person who falsely or fraudulently gives notice to the director of finance of a transfer of registered ownership to a trailer shall be subject to the penalty provided in section 286-61.

     (m)  The director of finance may charge a fee which shall be deposited in the general fund for each new certificate of registration issued.  The fee charged to issue a new certificate of registration shall be established by the county's legislative body. [L 1985, c 27, pt of §1; am L 1989, c 211, §10; am L 1990, c 281, §11; am L 1999, c 219, §1; am L 2022, c 229, §5]