An Act To Amend the Motor Vehicle Laws Relating to the Assignment of Security Interests
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1576
Committee: Transportation
Sponsors: SAVAGE
Amends: 29-A MRSA §704

Legislative Document 
No. 1576 
S.P.554 
In Senate, April 26, 2005 
An Act To Amend the Motor Vehicle Laws Relating to the 
Assignment of Security Interests 
(EMERGENCY) 
Reference to the Committee on Transportation suggested and ordered printed . 
Presented by Senator SAVAGE of Knox. 
Printed on recycled paper 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted 
as emergencies; and 
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 
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 
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 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts 
create an emergency wi thin 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, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. I. 29-A MRSA §704, sub-§I, as amended by PL 2001, c. 67!, 
§15, is further amended to read: 
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- Except 
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. 
Sec. 2. 29-A MRSA §704, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2001, c. 671, 
§15, is further amended to read: 
4. 
Endorsement. 
Se~iBBiB~--~-~r--6GG6 Except 
as 
provided 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 
Page l-LR2127(1) 
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lienholder, by delivering to the Secretary of State within 30 
days of the assignment the certificate and an assignment by the 
lienholder named in the certificate in the form the Secretary of 
State prescribes, together with an application and the required 
fee. 
Sec. 3. 29-A MRSA §704, sub-§5 is enacted to read: 
5. 
Exceptions. 
The 
notice 
requirement 
described 
in 
~ubsection 1 and the filing requirement described in subsection 4 
do 
not apply to an 
assignment of 
a 
security interest by 
a 
lienholder if the lienholder retains the obligation to perform 
servicing functions in connection with the security interest. 
As 
used in this subsection. "seryicing functions" includes. without 
limitation, the obligations to release the lien upon satisfaction 
of the security interest as provided in section 705, to furnish 
jnf~ation as provided in section 706 
and to respond to 
a 
request for information concerning the security interest from the 
Secretary of State. 
Emergency clause. 
In view of the emergency cited in the 
preamble, this Act takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill provides an exemption to the requirements that a 
lienholder who assigns a security interest in a motor vehicle 
must notify the Secretary of State and have a certificate of 
title 
issued 
with 
the 
assignee 
named 
as 
lienholder 
for 
a 
lienholder who assigns 
a 
security interest if the lienholder 
retains 
the 
obligation 
to 
perform 
servicing 
functions 
in 
connection with the security interest .