(1) Upon the sale or transfer of a motor or off-highway vehicle for which a certificate of title has been issued or filed, the person in whose name the certificate of title is registered, if the person is not a dealer, shall execute a formal transfer of the vehicle described in the certificate. The person in whose name the certificate of title is registered or the person's agent or attorney shall affirm the sale or transfer, accompanied by a written declaration that the statement is made under the penalties of perjury in the second degree, as defined in section 18-8-503, C.R.S. The purchaser or transferee, within sixty days thereafter, shall present the certificate, together with an application for a new certificate of title, to the director or one of the authorized agents, accompanied by the fee required in section 42-6-137 to be paid for the filing of a new certificate of title; except that, if no title can be found and the motor vehicle is not roadworthy, the purchaser or transferee may wait until twenty-four months after the motor vehicle was purchased to apply for a certificate of title.
(1.5) (a) If an insurer, as defined in section 10-1-102 (13), C.R.S., or a salvage pool authorized by an insurer is unable to obtain the properly endorsed certificate of ownership or other evidence of ownership acceptable to the department within thirty days following oral or written acceptance by the owner of an offer of settlement of a total loss, that insurer or salvage pool may request, on a form provided by the department and signed under penalty of perjury, the department to issue a salvage or nonrepairable title for the vehicle. The request must include information declaring that the insurer or salvage pool has made at least two written attempts to obtain the certificate of ownership or other acceptable evidence of title and must include the fee for a duplicate title. The form requesting a salvage or nonrepairable title is the only evidence required to obtain a salvage or nonrepairable title.
(b) Upon receiving the fee for a duplicate title and the certificate of ownership, other evidence of title, or a properly executed request described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1.5), the department shall issue the salvage or nonrepairable title for the vehicle.
(1.7) (a) The department shall allow an insurer, as defined in section 10-1-102 and that is regulated under title 10, an agent of the insurer, a salvage pool that is licensed as a used motor vehicle dealer, a motor vehicle dealer licensed under article 20 of title 44, a used motor vehicle dealer licensed under article 20 of title 44, or any person approved by the department to use the electronic systems created in section 42-4-2103 (3)(c)(III) to access owner and lienholder information of a motor vehicle in the department's records if:
The motor vehicle is the subject of an insurance claim being processed by the insurer;
The motor vehicle is possessed by a salvage pool;
The access is related to a motor vehicle transaction with a motor vehicle dealer orused motor vehicle dealer; or
The access is authorized by section 24-72-204 (7).
The department shall ensure that the information available to the insurer, the insurer'sagent, the salvage pool, a motor vehicle dealer, a used motor vehicle dealer, or a person approved by the department is correct and is limited to the information needed to verify and contact the owner and lienholder of the motor vehicle.
The department may charge the insurer, the insurer's agent, the salvage pool, a motorvehicle dealer, a used motor vehicle dealer, or a person approved by the department a fee in an amount not to exceed the lesser of five dollars or the direct and indirect costs of implementing this subsection (1.7). The department shall deposit the fee in the special purpose account created in section 42-1-211.
The department may promulgate rules establishing standards for verifying:
(I) The identity of the person accessing the records; and (II) That the access is authorized by section 24-72-204 (7).
(e) In allowing access to the electronic system under this subsection (1.7), the department shall ensure that the addresses of program participants under part 21 of article 30 of title 24 are not released.
(2) A person who violates subsection (1) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than ten days nor more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Source: L. 94: Entire title amended with relocations, p. 2453, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 2000: (1) amended, p. 1658, § 5, effective July 1, 2001. L. 2005: Entire section amended, p. 812, § 8, effective August 8. L. 2009: (1) amended, (SB 09-107), ch. 143, p. 606, § 1, effective August 5. L. 2013: (1) amended, (SB 13-280), ch. 407, p. 2381, § 7, effective June 5. L. 2014: (1.5) added, (HB 14-1100), ch. 122, p. 434, § 4, effective August 6. L. 2017: (1.7) added, (SB 17-251), ch. 309, p. 1671, § 1, effective August 9. L. 2018: IP(1.7)(a), (1.7)(b), and (1.7)(c) amended, (SB 18-183), ch. 131, p. 856, § 1, effective April 12; (1.7) amended, (HB 181299), ch. 297, p. 1812, § 8, effective July 1, 2019.
Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 42-6-109 as it existed prior to 1994, and the former § 42-6-110 was relocated to § 42-6-111.
(2) Amendments to subsection (1.7) by HB 18-1299 and SB 18-183 were harmonized, effective July 1, 2019.