Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                         CHAPTER 85-S.F.No. 737 
           An act relating to motor vehicles; requiring vehicle 
          owner to transfer certificate of title upon gaining 
          ownership to motor vehicle; allowing registrar to 
          research records before responding to phone request; 
          amending Minnesota Statutes 1992, sections 168.10, 
          subdivision 1; 168.34; and 168A.30, subdivision 2. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 168.10, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [APPLICATION.] Except as provided in 
subdivisions 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1g, and 1h, every registered owner 
of any motor vehicle in this state, not exempted by section 
168.012 or 168.26, shall as soon as registered ownership of a 
motor vehicle is acquired and annually thereafter during the 
period provided in section 168.31, file with the commissioner of 
public safety on a blank provided by the commissioner a listing 
for taxation and application for the registration of such 
vehicle, stating the first, middle and last names, the date of 
birth, and the address of the primary residence of each 
registered owner thereof who is a natural person or mailing 
address if the address of the primary residence has been 
classified as private data under this chapter, the full name and 
address of any other registered owner, the name and address of 
the person from whom purchased, make of motor vehicle, year and 
number of the model, manufacturer's identification number or 
serial number, type of body, the weight of the vehicle in 
pounds, for trailers only, its rated load carrying capacity and 
for buses only, its seating capacity, and such other information 
as the commissioner may require.  Any false statement willfully 
and knowingly made in regard thereto shall be deemed perjury and 
punished accordingly.  The listing and application for 
registration by dealers or manufacturers' agents within the 
state, of motor vehicles received for sale or use within the 
state shall be accepted as compliance with the requirements of 
this chapter, imposed upon the manufacturer. 
     Registration shall be refused a motor vehicle if the 
original identification or serial number has been destroyed, 
removed, altered, covered, or defaced.  However, if the 
commissioner is satisfied on the sworn statements of the 
registered owner or registered owners or such other persons as 
the commissioner may deem advisable that the applicant is the 
legal owner, a special identification number in the form 
prescribed by the commissioner shall be assigned to the motor 
vehicle.  When it has been determined that the number had been 
affixed to such vehicle in a manner prescribed by the 
commissioner, the vehicle may thereafter be registered in the 
same manner as other motor vehicles.  In the case of a new or 
rebuilt motor vehicle manufactured or assembled without an 
identification or serial number, the commissioner may assign an 
identification number to the motor vehicle in the same manner as 
prescribed heretofore. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 168.34, is 
amended to read: 
    168.34 [INFORMATION TO BE FURNISHED.] 
    The registrar shall maintain in the registrar's office an 
information bureau to immediately answer such questions, through 
personal inquiry, telephone, or letter, as may be answered from 
the registrar's files, and, when authorized by an inquirer to 
telegraph collect, shall so answer.  Sheriffs and police 
departments shall promptly report stolen motor vehicles and 
motor vehicles recovered, on forms provided by the registrar, 
and each month the registrar shall print and send a list of such 
motor vehicles to such officials and to the motor vehicle 
department in each of the several states.  Initial applications 
for registration shall be checked against the list.  
Registrations shall be completed with the utmost dispatch, in 
such manner as to render the most efficient service to the 
public, on the same day that the application is received.  The 
telephone and telegraph shall be immediately used in all cases 
where reverse or collect charges are authorized.  The registrar, 
or any deputy or employee, shall not be liable to any person for 
mistake or negligence in the giving of information not willfully 
calculated to injure such person.  The registration system shall 
be so conducted, and the requirements thereof so construed, as 
to furnish to the public immediate, accurate information as to 
any single car about which the inquiry may be made, and to 
furnish the registrar a means of checking back during any year 
to determine that all motor vehicles subject to taxation and 
licensing have had the proper tax or fee paid thereon.  The mail 
or carriers by express may be used for any notice for delivery 
required of the registrar.  
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 168A.30, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [WILLFUL OR FRAUDULENT ACTS; FAILURE TO NOTIFY.] 
A person is guilty of a misdemeanor who: 
    (1) With fraudulent intent permits another, not entitled 
thereto, to use or have possession of a certificate of title; 
    (2) Willfully fails to mail or deliver a certificate of 
title to the department within ten days after the time required 
by sections 168A.01 to 168A.31; 
    (3) Willfully fails to deliver to the transferee a 
certificate of title within ten days after the time required by 
sections 168A.01 to 168A.31; 
    (4) Commits a fraud in any application for a certificate of 
title; 
    (5) Fails to notify the department of any fact as required 
by sections 168A.01 to 168A.31; or 
    (6) Willfully violates any other provision of sections 
168A.01 to 168A.31 except as otherwise provided in sections 
168A.01 to 168A.31. 
    Presented to the governor May 3, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 5, 1993, 6:12 p.m.