A bill for an act relating to replacement certificates of title for vehicles, providing fees, and including retroactive applicability provisions.(See SF 447 .)

Senate

File

300

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

300

BY

ROWLEY

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

replacement

certificates

of

title

for

1

vehicles,

providing

fees,

and

including

retroactive

2

applicability

provisions.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

TLSB

2538XS

(3)

91

th/ns

S.F.

300

Section

1.

Section

321.42,

subsection

2,

paragraphs

a,

b,

1

and

d,

Code

2025,

are

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

a.

If

a

certificate

of

title

is

lost

or

destroyed,

the

3

owner

or

lienholder

shall

apply

for

a

replacement

copy

of

the

4

original

certificate

of

title.

The

owner

or

lienholder

of

a

5

motor

vehicle

may

also

apply

for

a

replacement

copy

of

the

6

original

certificate

of

title

upon

surrender

of

the

original

7

certificate

of

title

with

the

application.

The

application

8

shall

be

made

to

the

department

or

any

county

treasurer.

The

9

application

shall

be

signed

by

the

owner

or

lienholder

and

10

accompanied

by

a

fee

of

thirty

dollars.

11

b.

After

five

days,

the

department

or

county

treasurer

12

shall

issue

a

replacement

copy

certificate

of

title

using

13

the

applicant’s

most

recent

bona

fide

address;

however,

the

14

five-day

waiting

period

does

not

apply

to

an

applicant

who

is

a

15

lienholder

or

to

an

applicant

who

has

surrendered

the

original

16

certificate

of

title

to

the

department

or

county

treasurer.

17

The

replacement

copy

certificate

of

title

shall

be

clearly

18

marked

“replacement”

and

shall

include

security

interests

and

19

liens.

When

a

replacement

copy

certificate

of

title

has

been

20

issued,

the

previous

certificate

is

void.

The

department

or

21

county

treasurer

is

not

authorized

to

refund

fees

collected

22

for

a

replacement

certificate

of

title

under

this

section

or

23

section

321.52A

.

24

d.

A

new

purchaser

or

transferee

is

entitled

to

receive

25

an

original

certificate

of

title

upon

presenting

the

assigned

26

replacement

copy

certificate

of

title

to

any

county

treasurer.

27

At

the

time

of

purchase,

a

purchaser

may

require

the

seller

28

to

indemnify

the

purchaser

and

all

future

purchasers

of

the

29

vehicle

against

any

loss

which

may

be

suffered

due

to

claims

30

on

the

original

certificate

of

title

.

A

person

recovering

an

31

original

certificate

of

title

for

which

a

replacement

has

been

32

issued

shall

surrender

the

original

certificate

of

title

to

the

33

county

treasurer

or

the

department.

34

Sec.

2.

Section

321.152,

subsection

1,

paragraph

c,

Code

35

-1-

LSB

2538XS

(3)

91

th/ns

1/

2

S.F.

300

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

1

c.

Forty

percent

of

all

fees

Eighteen

dollars

of

each

fee

2

collected

for

certified

copies

of

replacement

certificates

of

3

title.

4

Sec.

3.

RETROACTIVE

APPLICABILITY.

This

Act

applies

5

retroactively

to

replacement

copies

of

an

original

certificate

6

of

title

applied

for

on

or

after

January

1,

2025.

7

EXPLANATION

8

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

9

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

10

Under

current

law,

if

a

vehicle’s

certificate

of

title

11

is

lost

or

destroyed,

the

owner

or

lienholder

is

required

to

12

apply

for

a

replacement

copy

of

the

original

certificate

of

13

title.

The

owner

or

lienholder

of

a

motor

vehicle

may

also

14

apply

for

a

replacement

copy

of

the

original

certificate

of

15

title

upon

surrender

of

the

original

certificate

of

title

with

16

the

application.

Some

Code

references

to

a

“replacement

copy

17

of

the

original

certificate

of

title”

instead

use

“certified

18

copies”

or

“replacement

certificate

of

title”.

The

fee

for

19

a

replacement

copy

is

$30

(increased

from

$20

in

2024).

A

20

county

treasurer

who

issues

a

replacement

copy

of

an

original

21

certificate

of

title

is

authorized

to

retain

40

percent

of

the

22

fee

collected

for

deposit

in

the

county

general

fund

(increased

23

to

$12

from

$8

in

2024

by

operation

of

law).

24

This

bill

harmonizes

all

references

in

Code

to

a

25

“replacement

certificate

of

title”,

or

the

plural

thereof.

26

The

bill

increases

the

fee

a

county

treasurer

is

authorized

27

to

retain

for

deposit

in

the

county

general

fund

from

$12

(40

28

percent

of

the

$30

fee)

to

$18.

29

The

bill

applies

retroactively

to

replacement

copies

of

an

30

original

certificate

of

title

applied

for

on

or

after

January

31

1,

2025.

32

-2-

LSB

2538XS

(3)

91

th/ns

2/

2