ENROLLED
Committee Substitute
for
H. B. 2099
(By Delegates Farris, Beane and Kelley)
[Passed March 11, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact sections two, three and five, article
four-a, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to
modifying the method by which liens may be perfected against
vehicles held as inventory by a registered dealer holding
title by assignment; providing for notice to purchases for
value or lien creditors; providing for notice to state and
federal governmental agencies, creditors and purchasers;
exceptions; and making certain technical revisions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, three and five, article four-a, chapter
seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 4A. LIENS AND ENCUMBRANCES ON VEHICLES TO BE SHOWN ON
CERTIFICATE OF TITLE; NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND PURCHASERS.
§17A-4A-2. Liens and encumbrances subsequently created.
(a) Liens or encumbrances placed on vehicles by the voluntary
act of the owner after the original issue of title to be properly
recorded must be shown on the certificate of title. In such cases,
the owner or lienholder shall file application with the department
on a blank furnished for that purpose, setting forth the lien or
liens and such information and evidence of the lien in connection
therewith as the department may deem necessary. Such information
shall include the name and address of the lienholder, the kind of
and nature of the lien, the date thereof, and the amount thereby
secured. However, only the name and address of the lienholder shall
be endorsed on the title certificate with the endorsement of the
fact of such lien as hereinafter provided. The department, if
satisfied that it is proper that the same be recorded, and upon
surrender of the certificate of title covering the vehicle, shall
thereupon issue a new certificate of title, showing the liens or
encumbrances in the order of their filing being according to the
date, hour and minute of receipt by the department of the
application for same. For the purpose of recording a subsequent
lien on a certificate of title, the subsequent lienholder shall
make a written request upon the lienholder in possession of the certificate of title, accompanied by proof of the existence of the
subsequent lien, stating his need to have possession of the
certificate of title for the purpose of having his lien recorded
thereon by the division of motor vehicles. Thereupon, the
lienholder in possession of the certificate shall within a
reasonable time, not to exceed ten days from the receipt of said
written request, deliver the certificate of title to the requesting
subsequent lienholder.
Upon delivery of the certificate of title, the subsequent
lienholder shall immediately forward it and the lienholder's own
application to the division of motor vehicles for the filing of the
lien and for the recording of the same on the certificate of title.
Upon issuing the new certificate, the department shall thereupon
send or deliver it to the holder of the first lien.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall
not apply to vehicles held as inventory for sale by a registered
dealer holding title by assignment entered upon a certificate of
title. Any lien or encumbrance placed on such vehicles by the
voluntary act of the owner shall be created and perfected in
accordance with the provisions of article nine, chapter forty-six
of this code.
17A-4A-3. Notice of lien; noninventory lien created by voluntary
act of the owner not shown on certificate of title void as to subsequent purchasers and lien creditors; exceptions.
(a) A certificate of title, when issued by the department
showing a lien or encumbrance, shall be deemed from and after the
filing with the department of the application therefor adequate
notice to the state and its agencies, boards and commissions, to
the United States government and its agencies, boards and
commissions, to creditors and to purchasers that a lien against the
vehicle exists and the recording of such reservation of title, lien
or encumbrance in the county wherein the purchaser or debtor
resides or elsewhere is not necessary and shall not be required or
have any effect. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code
to the contrary, and subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of
this section and of section four of this article, any lien or
encumbrance placed upon a vehicle by the voluntary act of the owner
but not shown on such certificate of title shall be void as to any
purchaser for value or lien creditor, who, in either case, without
notice of such lien or encumbrance, purchases such vehicle or
acquires by attachment, levy or otherwise a lien thereupon.
(b) The creation and perfection of a lien against a vehicle
held as inventory for sale by a registered dealer holding title by
assignment in accordance with the provisions of article nine,
chapter forty-six of this code shall be deemed adequate notice to
the state and its agencies, boards and commissions, to the United States government and its agencies, boards and commissions, to
creditors and to purchasers that a lien against the vehicle exists,
subject to the provisions of section three hundred seven, article
nine, chapter forty-six of this code, except that any lien or
encumbrance on such a vehicle shall not be effective against the
rights of any purchaser for value who purchases such vehicle
primarily for personal, family, household or agricultural purposes
unless such lien or encumbrance is recorded on the certificate of
title or specified on the bill of sale.
§17A-4A-5. Priority of liens shown on certificate.
The liens shown upon a certificate of title issued by the
department pursuant to applications for same shall have priority
over any other liens against such vehicle, however created and
recorded, except as otherwise provided in this article.