CO Code § 42-3-115 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 42 - Vehicles and Traffic|Article 3 - Registration, Taxation, and License Plates|Part 1 - Registration and Taxation|§ 42-3-115. Registration Upon Transfer

  Repealed.      Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection (2), the transferee, before operating or permitting the operation of a motor vehicle upon a highway, shall register the vehicle. (2) (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection (2), the transferee, before operating or permitting the operation of a motor vehicle upon a highway, shall register the vehicle.    A transferee may operate a motor vehicle on the highway before registering it if:   The vehicle is exempt from registration pursuant to section 42-3-103 or 42-3-104; or    The vehicle has been temporarily registered pursuant to section 42-3-203 (3); or    (A) The transferee has purchased the motor vehicle within the last thirty-six hours from a person who is not a motor vehicle dealer under part 1 of article 20 of title 44;    Full-use dealer plates may be used in lieu of, in the same manner as, and to the same extent as number plates issued pursuant to section 42-3-201.    The annual fee for full-use dealer plates shall be established and adjusted annually by the department based on the average of specific ownership taxes and registration fees paid for passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks that are seven model years old or newer and that were registered during the one-year period preceding January 1 of each year. Such annual fee shall be prorated on a monthly basis. The annual fee for full-use dealer plates for motorcycles shall be established and adjusted annually by the department based on the average of specific ownership taxes and registration fees paid for motorcycles that are seven model years old or newer and that were registered during the one-year period preceding January 1 of each year. Such annual fee for motorcycles shall be prorated on a monthly basis.    Full-use dealer plates shall be valid for a period not to exceed one year.    Each full-use dealer plate shall be returned to the department within ten days after the sale or closure of a motor vehicle dealership or wholesale business listed in an application submitted pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (b).          If a title to or interest in a motor vehicle is transferred by operation of law, as upon inheritance, devise, or bequest, order in bankruptcy of insolvency, execution, sale, repossession upon default in performing the terms of a lease or executory sales contract, chattel mortgage, secured transaction, or otherwise, the registration thereof shall expire, and the vehicle shall not be operated upon the highways unless the vehicle is registered; except that a person repossessing the vehicle pursuant to rights granted by a mortgage or applicable law may operate the vehicle upon the highways from the place of repossession to the vehicle's new place of storage, either upon displaying upon such vehicle the number plates issued to the former owner or without displaying number plates but under a written permit obtained from the department or the police authorities with jurisdiction over such highways and upon displaying upon such vehicle a placard bearing the name and address of the person authorizing and directing such movement, plainly readable from a distance of one hundred feet during daylight.    The owner of a motor vehicle who has made a bona fide sale or transfer of such owner's title or interest and who has delivered possession of such vehicle and the certificate of title, properly endorsed, to the purchaser or transferee shall not be liable for any damages thereafter resulting from negligent operation of such vehicle by another.     History. Source: L. 2005: (2) amended, p. 800, § 1, effective July 1; entire article amended with relocations, p. 1098, § 2, effective August 8. L. 2006: (2)(b)(II) amended, p. 1510, § 68, effective June 1. L. 2017: (2)(b)(III)(A) amended, (SB 17-240), ch. 395, p. 2065, § 49, effective July 1. L. 2018: (2)(b)(III)(A) amended, (SB 18-030), ch. 7, p. 141, § 15, effective October 1. L. 2019: (1) repealed, (HB 19-1138), ch. 231, p. 2319, § 2, effective January 1, 2020.    Editor's note:    This section is similar to former § 42-3-126 as it existed prior to 2005, and portions of the former § 42-3-115 were relocated to § 42-3-212.    Subsection (2) was originally numbered as § 42-3-126 (2), and the amendments to it in Senate Bill 05-014 were harmonized with § 42-3-115 (2) as it appears in House Bill 05-1107.     ANNOTATION   Annotator's note. Since § 42-3-115 is similar to § 42-3-126 as it existed prior to the 2005 amendment to article 3 of title 42, which resulted in the relocation of provisions, relevant cases construing former provisions similar to that section have been included in the annotations to this section.   The registration of vehicles is primarily a taxing scheme whereby the owner of a vehicle is assessed an annual fee in lieu of an ad valorem tax on his vehicle. Sifuentes v. Weed, 186 Colo. 109 , 525 P.2d 1157.   Taxing scheme applies to vehicles to be operated on Colorado highways. The taxing scheme applies, with some exceptions, to all vehicles which are owned by Colorado residents and are primarily designed to be operated on Colorado highways. Sifuentes v. Weed, 186 Colo. 109 , 525 P.2d 1157 (1974).   If the vehicle is not to be operated on Colorado highways, the owner is not required to pay the ownership tax. Sifuentes v. Weed, 186 Colo. 109 , 525 P.2d 1157 (1974).   The law is designed to be equitable. Sifuentes v. Weed, 186 Colo. 109 , 525 P.2d 1157 (1974).   The taxing scheme is equitably tailored to tax those who have an opportunity to operate a vehicle on Colorado highways. Sifuentes v. Weed, 186 Colo. 109 , 525 P.2d 1157 (1974).   Plaintiff not deprived of property right by enforcement of law. Sifuentes v. Weed, 186 Colo. 109 , 525 P.2d 1157 (1974).   How this section implements taxing scheme. To implement the taxing scheme, this section provides for a pro rata credit of the registration tax when an owner of a registered vehicle transfers his interest in the vehicle. This transfer can be by operation of law. Sifuentes v. Weed, 186 Colo. 109 , 525 P.2d 1157 (1974).   “Registered in the name of” should be construed to have the meaning accorded it by the applicable state law, especially where the phrase is used on an insurance company form given multi-state distribution. Waggoner v. Wilson, 31 Colo. App. 518, 507 P.2d 482 (1972).