2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 66 - Motor Vehicles › Article 3 - Registration Laws; Security Interests; Anti-Theft Provisions; Bicycles; Equipment; Unsafe Vehicles; Off-Highway Motor Vehicles; Other Vehicles › Part 1 - REGISTRATION, CERTIFICATES OF TITLE AND REGISTRATION PLATES GENERALLY › Section 66-3-7 - Grounds for refusing, suspending or revoking registration or certificate of title.

The division may refuse, suspend or revoke registration or issuance of a certificate of title or a transfer of registration upon the ground that:
A. the application contains a false or fraudulent statement or that the applicant failed to furnish the 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 the Motor Vehicle Code [66-1-1 NMSA 1978];
B. the vehicle is mechanically unfit or unsafe to be operated or moved upon the highways;
C. a commercial motor vehicle is operated by a commercial motor carrier that is prohibited from operating the vehicle by order of a state or federal agency;
D. the division has a reasonable ground to believe that the vehicle is a stolen or embezzled vehicle or the granting of registration or the issuance of a certificate of title would constitute a fraud against the rightful owner or other person having valid lien upon the vehicle;
E. the registration of the vehicle stands suspended or revoked for any reason as provided in the motor vehicle laws of this state;
F. the required fee has not been paid;
G. the motor vehicle excise tax has not been paid;
H. the weight distance tax has not been paid;
I. international fuel tax agreement taxes have not been paid;
J. if the vehicle is a mobile home, the property tax has not been paid;
K. the owner's address, as shown in the records of the division, is within a class A county or within a municipality that has a vehicle emission inspection and maintenance program and the applicant has applied at an office outside the designated county or municipality; or
L. the owner is required to but has failed to provide proof of compliance with a vehicle emission inspection and maintenance program, if required in the county or municipality in which the owner resides.
History:
1953 Comp., § 64-3-7, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 27; 1985, ch. 95, § 4; 1986, ch. 75, § 1; 1995, ch. 127, § 1; 2004, ch. 59, § 5.
ANNOTATIONS
Cross references.
— For penalty for false or fraudulent statement in application,
see
66-8-1 NMSA 1978.
For classification of counties,
see
4-44-1 NMSA 1978.
The 2004 amendment,
effective March 4, 2004, added "suspend or revoke" after "refuse" in the introductory language, added Subsection C, redesignated Subsections C to F as Subsections D to G, added Subsections H and I and redesignated Subsections G to I as Subsections J to L.
The 1995 amendment,
effective June 16, 1995, substituted "within a county or within any municipality" for "within a class A county or municipality within a class A county" in Subsection H.
Lack of acknowledgment or verification not grounds.
— Section 64-3-6, 1953 Comp. (similar to this section) sets out specific grounds for which the division "may refuse registration or issuance of a certificate of title or any transfer of registration." Lack of an acknowledgment or lack of a verification are not grounds for refusal. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 62-142.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references.
— 60 C.J.S. Motor Vehicles § 100.