2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-2350. Application for special registration for business of facilitating movement of vehicles from manufacturer to dealer or distributor, or movement for further construction of cabs or bodies, or for foreclosure or repossession of such motor vehicles; fees.

(A) For purposes of this section "financial institution" means a supervised financial organization as defined in Section 37-1-301(27) or a supervised lender as defined in Section 37-3-501(2).
(B) A financial institution engaged in the business of repossessing vehicles or accepting voluntary repossession or relinquishment of vehicles for which the financial institution has exercised rights under a valid security agreement or lien may apply for special registration only for the purpose of repossession of such vehicles; acceptance of voluntary repossession or reclamation of such vehicles; transport of such vehicles to locations of repair, cleaning, or reconditioning; storage of such vehicles; or demonstration of such vehicles for purposes of potential resale. Transporter plates must not be used to operate wreckers or service vehicles. The use of transporter plates for demonstration purposes is limited to prospective purchasers and limited to seven days. The financial institution must provide the prospective purchaser with a dated demonstration certificate approved by the department.
(C) A person engaged in the business of limited operation of motor vehicles to facilitate the movement of vehicles from a manufacturer to a dealer or distributor, or from a railroad terminal yard to a temporary storage facility prior to delivery to a dealer, or for the movement of vehicles to further the construction of cabs or bodies, or in connection with the foreclosure or repossession of these motor vehicles may apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for special registration to be issued to and used by the person upon the following conditions:
(1) The application must be in a form prescribed by the department to include the applicable liability insurance as prescribed by statute and filed with the department each year. If the applicant is an entity with multiple branches, then an application may be made for each branch, not to exceed two registrations. The application must include the name and residence address of the applicant as follows:
(a) if an individual, the name under which he intends to conduct business;
(b) if a partnership, the name and residence address of each member of the partnership and the name under which the business is to be conducted, and if multiple branches are intended to have registrations, an appropriate identifier for each branch;
(c) if a corporation, the name and company address of the corporation and the name and residence address of its responsible officer.
(2) The application must be certified by the applicant and by an agent of the department to verify the facts set forth in the application.
(3) The annual fee for registration is fifty dollars, plus an annual fee of ten dollars for each license plate.
(4) License plates authorized by this section must not be used on vehicles that are loaned, rented, or leased by the licensed registrants to employees or any other individuals.
(D) All records relating to registration must be open at all reasonable times for inspection and copying by the department or any of its duly authorized agents. The vehicles for which special registrations are issued must be made available to the department or any of its duly authorized agents at the place where the vehicles may be located at the time that the department or any of its duly authorized agents request an opportunity to inspect them.
HISTORY: 1982 Act No. 371, Section 2; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 105C; 1994 Act No. 497, Part II, Section 37B; 1997 Act No. 155, Part II, Section 32A; 2004 Act No. 288, Section 2; 2018 Act No. 255 (H.4973), Section 2, eff June 28, 2018.
Effect of Amendment
2018 Act No. 255, Section 2, inserted (A), relating to the definition of "financial institution"; inserted (B), providing that a financial institution engaged in the business of repossession vehicles under certain circumstances may apply for special registration; redesignated the former first undesignated paragraph as (C); in (C)(1), inserted the second sentence, in (b), inserted ", and if multiple branches are intended to have registrations, an appropriate identifier for each branch", and in (c), substituted "its responsible officer" for "each of its officers"; in (C)(4), substituted "licensed registrants" for "licensed transporter"; and added (D), providing that all registration records and registered vehicles must be available to the department for inspection.