Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/bill_status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB2150%20intr.htm&yr=2012&sesstype=RS&i=2150
Timestamp: 2018-02-23 03:21:11
Document Index: 388389257

Matched Legal Cases: ['§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§17', '§5401', '§501', '§17', '§17']

A BILL to amend and reenact §17A-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §17A-3-4 and §17A-3-7 of said code; to amend and reenact §17A-3A-2 and §17A-3A-3 of said code; to amend and reenact §17A-4-3 of said code; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §17A-10-1a, all relating to registration and operation of mini trucks.
That §17A-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that §17A-3-4 and §17A-3-7 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §17A-3A-2 and §17A-3A-3 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §17A-4-3 of said code be amended and reenacted; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §17A-10-1a, all to read as follows:
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the following words and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings: respectively ascribed to them in this article:
(a) "Vehicle" means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
(b) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires but not operated upon rails.
(c) "Motorcycle" means every motor vehicle, including motor-driven cycles and mopeds as defined in sections five and five-a, article one, chapter seventeen-c of this code, having a saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground but excluding a tractor.
(e) "Bus" means every motor vehicle designed to carry more than seven passengers and used to transport persons and every motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used to transport persons for compensation.
(l) "Pole trailer" means every vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach, or a pole or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes or structural members capable, generally, of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections.
(r) "Special mobile equipment" means every self-propelled vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including, without limitation, road construction or maintenance machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, stone crushers, air compressors, power shovels, graders, rollers, well-drillers, wood-sawing equipment, asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, earth-moving carryalls, scrapers, drag lines, rock-drilling equipment and earth-moving equipment. The foregoing This enumeration shall be deemed is partial and may not operate to does not exclude other such vehicles which are within the general terms of this subdivision.
(y) "Owner" means a person who holds the legal title to a vehicle. or in the event If a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the a conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee or in the event if a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee, or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed is the owner for the purpose of this chapter.
(aa) "Dealer" or "dealers" is a general term meaning, depending upon the context, in which used, either a new motor vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle dealer, factory-built home dealer, recreational vehicle dealer, trailer dealer or motorcycle dealer as defined in section one, article six of this chapter. or The term may mean all of the dealers or a combination thereof and, in some instances, a new motor vehicle dealer or dealers in another state.
(bb) "Registered dealer" or "registered dealers" is a general term meaning, depending upon the context, in which used, either a new motor vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle dealer, house trailer dealer, trailer dealer, recreational vehicle dealer, or motorcycle dealer, or all of the dealers or a combination thereof of dealers, licensed under the provisions of article six of this chapter.
(cc) "Licensed dealer" or "licensed dealers" is a general term meaning, depending upon the context, in which used, either a new motor vehicle dealer, used motor vehicle dealer, house trailer dealer, trailer dealer, recreational vehicle dealer, or motorcycle dealer, or all of the dealers or a combination thereof, of dealers, licensed under the provisions of article six of this chapter.
(ff) "Street" or "highway" means the entire width between boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public is open for public use for purposes of vehicular travel.
(gg) "Motorboat" means any vessel propelled by an electrical, steam, gas, diesel or other fuel propelled or driven motor, whether or not the motor is the principal source of propulsion, but may not include a vessel which has a valid marine document issued by the Bureau of Customs of the United States government or any federal agency successor thereto. federal agency successor.
(jj) "Travel trailer" means every vehicle, mounted on wheels, designed to provide temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use; of such a size or weight as not to require that does not require special highway movement permits when towed by a motor vehicle; and of gross trailer area less than four hundred square feet.
(ll) "Motor home" means every vehicle, designed to provide temporary living quarters, built into an integral part of or permanently attached to a self-propelled motor vehicle, chassis or van including:
(1) Type A motor home built on an incomplete truck chassis with the truck cab constructed by the second stage manufacturer; (2) Type B motor home consisting of a van-type vehicle which has been altered to provide temporary living quarters; and
(3) Type C motor home built on an incomplete van or truck chassis with a cab constructed by the chassis manufacturer.
(qq) "Manufactured home" has the same meaning as the term is defined in section two, article nine, chapter twenty-one of this code which meets the federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. §5401, et seq.), effective June 15, 1976, and the federal manufactured home construction and safety standards and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(ss) "House trailers" means all trailers designed and used for human occupancy on a continual nonrecreational basis but may not include fold down camping and travel trailers, mobile homes or manufactured homes.
(vv) “Utility terrain vehicle” means any a motor vehicle with four or more low-pressure tires designed for off-highway use having bench or bucket seating for each occupant and a steering wheel for control.
(ww) “Mini-truck” means an imported truck manufactured for use in Japan or other foreign country typically weighing less than two thousand pounds.
(a) Certificates of registration of any a vehicle or registration plates for the vehicle, whether original issues or duplicates, may not be issued or furnished by the Division of Motor Vehicles or any other officer or agent charged with the duty, unless the applicant already has received, or at the same time makes application for and is granted, an official certificate of title of the vehicle in either an electronic or paper format. The application shall be upon a blank form to be furnished by the Division of Motor Vehicles and shall contain a full description of the vehicle which description shall contain including a manufacturer’s serial or identification number or other number as determined by the commissioner, and any distinguishing marks, together with a statement of the applicant’s title, and of any liens or encumbrances upon the vehicle and the names and addresses of the holders of the liens and any other information as the Division of Motor Vehicles may require. If a mini-truck does not have a manufacturer’s serial number, identification number or other number as determined by the commissioner, the division may assign the mini-truck a number. The application shall be signed and sworn to by the applicant. A duly certified copy of the division’s electronic record of a certificate of title is admissible in any civil, criminal or administrative proceeding in this state as evidence of ownership.
(1) If the vehicle is new, the actual purchase price or consideration to the purchaser of the vehicle is the value of the vehicle. If the vehicle is a used or secondhand vehicle, the present market value at time of transfer or purchase is the value of the vehicle for the purposes of this section: Provided, That so much of the purchase price or consideration as is represented by the exchange of other vehicles on which the tax imposed by this section has been paid by the purchaser shall be deducted from the total actual price or consideration paid for the vehicle whether the vehicle be new or secondhand. If the vehicle is acquired through gift or by any manner, whatsoever, unless specifically exempted in this section, the present market value of the vehicle at the time of the gift or transfer is the value of the vehicle for the purposes of this section.
(2) No certificate of title for any vehicle may be issued to any applicant unless the applicant has paid to the Division of Motor Vehicles the tax imposed by this section which is five percent of the true and actual value of the vehicle whether the vehicle is acquired through purchase, by gift or by any other manner, whatsoever, except gifts between husband and wife or between parents and children Provided, That so long as the husband or wife or the parents or children previously have paid have previously paid the tax on the vehicles transferred to the State of West Virginia.
(4) The Division of Motor Vehicles shall issue a certificate of registration and title to an applicant without payment of the tax imposed by this section if the applicant is a corporation, partnership or limited liability company transferring the vehicle to another corporation, partnership or limited liability company when the entities involved in the transfer are members of the same controlled group and the transferring entity has previously paid the tax on the vehicle transferred. For the purposes of this section, control means ownership, directly or indirectly, of stock or equity interests possessing fifty percent or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of the stock of a corporation or equity interests possessing fifty percent or more of the value of the corporation, partnership or limited liability company.
(5) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to vehicles to be registered as Class H vehicles or Class M vehicles, as defined in section one, article ten of this chapter, which are used or to be used in interstate commerce. Nor does The tax imposed by this section does not apply to the titling of Class B vehicles registered at a gross weight of fifty-five thousand pounds or more or to the titling of Class C semitrailers, full trailers, pole trailers and converter gear. Provided, That If an owner of a Class B vehicle has previously titled the vehicle at a declared gross weight of fifty-five thousand pounds or more and the title was issued without the payment of the tax imposed by this section, then before the owner may obtain registration for the vehicle at a gross weight less than fifty-five thousand pounds, the owner shall surrender to the commissioner the exempted registration, the exempted certificate of title and pay the tax imposed by this section based upon the current market value of the vehicle. Provided, however, That However, notwithstanding the provisions of section nine, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code, the exemption from tax under this section for Class B vehicles in excess of fifty-five thousand pounds and Class C semitrailers, full trailers, pole trailers and converter gear does not subject the sale or purchase of the vehicles to the consumers sales and service tax.
(6) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to titling of vehicles leased by residents of West Virginia. A tax is imposed upon the monthly payments for the lease of any a motor vehicle leased by a resident of West Virginia which tax is equal to five percent of the amount of the monthly payment, applied to each payment, and continuing for the entire term of the initial lease period. The tax shall be remitted to the Division of Motor Vehicles on a monthly basis by the lessor of the vehicle.
(7) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to titling of vehicles by a registered dealer of this state for resale only. nor does The tax imposed by this section does not apply to titling of vehicles by this state or any political subdivision thereof, or by any volunteer fire department or duly chartered rescue or ambulance squad organized and incorporated under the laws of this state as a nonprofit corporation for protection of life or property. The total amount of revenue collected by reason of this tax shall be paid into the State Road Fund and expended by the Commissioner of Highways for matching federal funds allocated for West Virginia. In addition to the tax, there is a charge of five dollars for each original certificate of title or duplicate certificate of title so issued Provided, except that this state, or any a political subdivision of this state, or any a volunteer fire department or a duly chartered rescue squad is exempt from payment of the charge.
(8) The certificate is good for the life of the vehicle so long as the vehicle is owned or held by the original holder of the certificate and need not be renewed annually, or any other time, except as provided in this section.
(9) If, by will or direct inheritance, a person becomes the owner of a motor vehicle and the tax imposed by this section previously has been has previously been paid to the Division of Motor Vehicles on that vehicle, he or she is not required to pay the tax.
(10) A person who has paid the tax imposed by this section is not required to pay the tax a second time for the same motor vehicle but is required to pay a charge of five dollars for the a certificate of retitle of that motor vehicle. except that The tax shall be paid by the person when the title to the vehicle has been transferred either in this or another state from the person to another person and transferred back to the person.
(11) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to any passenger vehicle offered for rent in the normal course of business by a daily passenger rental car business as licensed under the provisions of article six-d of this chapter. For purposes of this section, a daily passenger car means a Class A motor vehicle having a gross weight of eight thousand pounds or less and is registered in this state or any other state. In lieu Instead of the tax imposed by this section, there is hereby imposed a tax of not less than $1 nor more than $1.50 for each day or part of the rental period is imposed. The commissioner shall propose an emergency rule in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to establish this tax.
(12) The tax imposed by this article does not apply to the titling of any vehicle purchased by a senior citizen service organization which is exempt from the payment of income taxes under the United States Internal Revenue Code, Title 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3) and which is recognized to be a bona fide senior citizen service organization by the senior services bureau Bureau of Senior Services existing under the provisions of article five, five-p, chapter sixteen of this code.
(13) The tax imposed by this section does not apply to the titling of any vehicle operated by an urban mass transit authority as defined in article twenty-seven, chapter eight of this code or a nonprofit entity exempt from federal and state income tax under the Internal Revenue Code and whose purpose is to provide mass transportation to the public at large designed for the transportation of persons and being and operated for the transportation of persons in the public interest.
(B) Presents evidence as the commissioner may require of having titled the vehicle as required by the commissioner that the vehicle was titled in the applicant's previous state of residence;
(C) Has relocated to this state and can present such evidence as the commissioner may require can present evidence as required by the commissioner to show bona-fide residency in this state;
(E) Makes application to the division for a title and registration and pays all other fees required by this chapter within thirty days of establishing residency in this state as prescribed in subsection (a), section one-a of this article. Provided, That a period of amnesty of three months be established by the commissioner during the calendar year 2007, during which time any resident of this state, having titled his or her vehicle in a previous state of residence, may pay without penalty any fees required by this chapter and transfer the title of his or her vehicle in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(c) Notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the contrary, the owners of trailers, semitrailers, recreational vehicles and other vehicles not subject to the certificate of title tax prior to the enactment of this chapter are subject to the privilege tax imposed by this section Provided, That except as follows:
(1) The certification of title of any recreational vehicle owned by the applicant on June 13, 1989, is not subject to the tax imposed by this section; Provided, however,
(2) That mobile homes, manufactured homes, modular homes and similar nonmotive propelled vehicles, except recreational vehicles and house trailers, susceptible of being moved upon the highways but primarily designed for habitation and occupancy rather than for transporting persons or property are not subject to the tax imposed by this section but are taxable under the provisions of articles fifteen-a, chapter eleven of this code; and
(3) or Any vehicle operated on a nonprofit basis and used exclusively for the transportation of mentally retarded or physically handicapped children when the application for certificate of registration for the vehicle is accompanied by an affidavit stating that the vehicle will be operated on a nonprofit basis and used exclusively for the transportation of mentally retarded and physically handicapped children, are is not subject to the tax imposed by this section but are is taxable under the provisions of articles fifteen and fifteen-a, chapter eleven of this code.
(d) Beginning July 1, 2008, the tax imposed under this subsection (b) of this section is abolished and after that date no certificate of title for any motor vehicle may be issued to any applicant unless the applicant provides sufficient proof to the Division of Motor Vehicles that the applicant has paid the fees required by this article and the tax imposed under section three-b, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code.
(e) Any A person making any an affidavit required under any a provision of this section who knowingly swears falsely, or any a person who counsels, advises, aids or abets another in the commission of false swearing, or any a person, while acting as an agent of the Division of Motor Vehicles, issues a vehicle registration without first collecting the fees and taxes or fails to perform any other duty required by this chapter or chapter eleven of this code to be performed before a vehicle registration is issued under this chapter or chapter eleven of this code is, on the first offense, guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $500 or be confined in jail for a period not to exceed not more than six months, or in the discretion of the court, both fined and confined. For a second or any subsequent conviction within five years, that the person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or be imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than five years, or in the discretion of the court, both fined and imprisoned.
(1) Any person who fails to provide a certificate of title upon the transfer, purchase or sale of a factory-built home is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall for the first offense, be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 or be confined in jail for not more than one year or both fined and confined. For each subsequent offense, the fine may be increased to not more than $2,000 with confinement in jail not more than one year or both fined and confined.
(2) Failure of the seller to transfer a certificate of title upon sale or transfer of the a factory-built home gives rise to a cause of action upon prosecution thereof, and allows for the recovery of damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, whenever reference is made to the application for or issuance of any a title or the recordation or release of any a lien, it includes the application, transmission, recordation, transfer of ownership and storage of information in an electronic format.
(i) Notwithstanding any other provision contained in this section, nothing herein shall be considered to this section does not include modular homes as defined in subsection (i), section two, article fifteen, chapter thirty-seven of this code and built to the State Building Code as established by legislative rules promulgated by the State Fire Commission pursuant to section five-b, article three, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
(1) That the application contains any a false or fraudulent statement, or that the applicant has failed to furnish required information or reasonable additional information requested by the division or that the applicant is not entitled to the issuance of a certificate of title or registration of the vehicle under this chapter;
(2) That the applicant fails to present a statement of insurance or proof of other security as required pursuant to under the provisions of section three of this article;
(3) That the vehicle is mechanically unfit or unsafe to be operated or moved upon the highways except that a mini-truck shall be titled and registered without regard to federal safety or emission standards;
Before a motor vehicle not originally manufactured in accordance with the laws and regulations of the United States Clean Air Act and the Motor Vehicle Safety Act can be sold to a consumer in this state, the seller must provide the purchaser with full written disclosure of all modifications performed to the vehicle. This disclosure consists of a description phrased in terms reasonably understandable to a consumer with no specialized technical training, accompanied by a copy of the technical submissions made to the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation in order to obtain certification of compliance. Failure to make this disclosure renders the sale voidable. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the seller of a mini-truck is not required to modify the vehicle to comply with any federal laws or regulations nor is the seller required to make any disclosure to the purchaser.
(a) Before any an imported vehicle which has not previously been titled or registered in the United States may be titled in this state, the applicant must submit:
(1) A manufacturer’s certificate of origin issued by the actual vehicle manufacturer together with a notarized translation thereof; or
(2) the Documents constituting valid proof of ownership by an individual owner or exporter and evidencing a change of such ownership to the applicant together with a notarized translation of any document; or
(3) With regard to vehicles imported from countries which cancel the vehicle registration and title for export, the documents assigned to such vehicle after the registration and title have been canceled together with a notarized translation thereof, and proof satisfactory to the division that the motor vehicle complies with the United States Clean Air Act and the Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
(c) Mini-trucks are exempt from the provisions of this section.
The transferee before operating or permitting the operation of such vehicle upon a highway shall apply for and obtain the a registration thereof, as upon an original registration, before operating or permitting the operation of a transferred vehicle upon a highway except as otherwise permitted in sections thirteen and fifteen, article six, or by any other provisions of this chapter Provided, except that such the transferee may operate such the vehicle under the registration of its previous owner for a period of not more than ten days as provided in section one, article three of this chapter.
A transferee shall At the same time, a transferee shall present the certificate of title, endorsed and assigned, as hereinbefore provided to the department division and make application for and obtain a new certificate of title for such the vehicle except as otherwise permitted in sections four and five of this article. A transferee of a mini-truck is only required to present the certificate of title endorsed and assigned by the transferor if the mini-truck was previously titled in this state. In all other circumstances, the transferee of a mini-truck need only submit a bill of sale as proof of transfer of ownership.
§17A-10-1a. Classification of unique vehicles.
The commissioner is authorized to create new registration classifications or subclassifications for vehicles that:
(1) Meet more than one definition in section one, article one of this chapter;
(2) Are not defined; or
(3) Are unique or distinct from other vehicles in classifications in section one of this article. The registration fee for any classification or subclassification created is the same as Class A vehicles.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow mini-trucks to be licensed in West Virginia for limited use on public highways.
§17A-10-1a is new; therefore, it has been completely underscored.