Vehicle Titling. Ursula Terry, Department of Motor Vehicles 10/4/2016

Transcription

1 Bumper to Bumper: Common Clinic Auto Issues Presented By: Officer Jeff Thiel, Molly Gena, and Ursula Terry October 13, 2016 Online Viewers Problems streaming? Try using another browser. If slides appear small, they are also available as a handout on the website. Submit questions to the presenter by clicking on the speech bubble icon at the bottom of the screen. An attendance code will be read in two parts during the presentation. CLE credit is only available for live viewing. To be eligible for CLE credit, report both parts of the attendance code into the online attendance form immediately following the presentation. Vehicle Titling Ursula Terry, Department of Motor Vehicles 1

2 Selling Your Vehicle Title in your name Pay what you owe Keep the title until buyer pays you Give most recent title Complete the odometer statement Take your plates off the vehicle Photocopy title and/or bill of sale Certificate of Title (WI) Sign as Seller Add Odometer Info Add Brand Info (if needed) Purchaser Signs Make Copies MV1-Title License Plate Application 2

3 Bill of Sale Seller Notify Beginning January 1, 2016, law ( Identity of buyer) went into effect requiring a person who sells a motor vehicle to another person, including transferring a junk vehicle by bill of sale, to submit notification to the department that a sale has occurred. This law does not apply for transfer to or from dealers or other non-individuals, such as companies, charities and government agencies; this requirement is ONLY for sales from one individual to another individual. Within 30 days of a sale the seller needs to report to WisDOT the: Vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle Identity of the individual buyer Sale price Date of sale Questions? 3

4 Awareness Jeff Thiele, Police Officer MPD Investigations Division Pawn/Scrap/Auto The MOST common scenario: Person A has their vehicle stolen. For whatever reason, the title is in the car when stolen. Police are called and report is taken. Vehicle is entered into NCIC as stolen. A bad guy/girl, realizing that the title is in the vehicle, quickly puts the vehicle on Craigslist offering the vehicle for sale with the title. DO NOT LEAVE TITLE IN YOUR CAR!!! Person B finds the vehicle on Craigslist, and after negotiations, agrees to buy the vehicle and buys it with a title. Person B eventually goes to the DMV to attempt to register and title their newly purchased vehicle. Upon arrival at the DMV, the State takes tax, title and license fees and transfers the registration over to the new owner. 4

5 Please remember this key note: There is a difference between REGISTRATION and TITLING!! Upon checking the VIN, the DMV can see that there is an issue with the VIN and will not issue a title to the new owner. ---DMV does not have NCIC access as Law Enforcement does The DMV will notify Law Enforcement of the new owner to ascertain whether or not this is legitimate. Those notifications for MPD come to me. Problem #1: The vehicle s REGISTRATION lists to the new owner complete with a set of license plates. If stopped, police would commonly not realize the vehicle is stolen UNLESS the VIN is run though NCIC. The new registration also makes it difficult to simply recover and return the steal back to the original victim, but not entirely impossible. 5

6 If the new owner does not wish to sign the stolen vehicle back to the original victim, then police should be impounding the vehicle for evidence purposes and this particular part of the case shall be referred to civil court. The motor vehicle theft, forgery and fraud should be investigated and filed by the police for what is now BOTH victims. According to Chief Judge White and Judge DiMotto, the new owner, having purchased the car with a title, and not knowing any different, has consumer protection rights to the vehicle as well as the original victim. The courts will not simply return the vehicle by affidavit. It should be handled in civil court. This leads us to problem #2 Problem #2 [Because it must go through civil court] Numerous citizens have been turned away from the Clerk of Courts/Free Legal Aid because the employees that work there are not aware of this type of situation. One victim was turned away 3 times, even after explaining the case. He lived in Kenosha. This prompted the phone call to Marquette Law. 6

7 Problem #3: People aren t willing, can t afford to file the applicable small claims case against each other to get the car titled or returned. This makes the vehicle sit in impound for quite a long time. Small claims could take months to complete. Solutions so far: Problem #1-DMV registration For safety reasons, DMV will not change this process. It does allow LE to find the vehicles. Problem #2- Citizens are now being schooled to ask for REPLEVIN cases to be filed which has seemed to help the process a bit. Maybe alerting these employees to this issue would help too?? Problem #3-Designated time frame for filing small claims. Courts to not waive ALL fees?? This was really more about the awareness of this issue and what follows, not only for MVLC volunteer attorneys, but for the attorneys who may catch theses cases and the judges and commissioners handling them. Contact info: P.O. Jeff Thiele jthiel@milwaukee.gov DMV

8 Questions? Driver s License Recovery & Auto Insurance Issues Molly Gena, Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. Why a driver s license matters Many jobs and applications require a valid driver s license (even if they aren t driving jobs) Many Milwaukee residents have jobs outside of Milwaukee and need a license to get to them Understanding that a valid driver s license is necessary to obtain and retain most jobs, the Center for Driver s License Recovery and Employability (CDLRE) provides free case management and legal services to qualified individuals with a suspended or revoked Wisconsin driver s license 8

9 A few notes about auto insurance Liability insurance coverage became mandatory in Wisconsin on June 1, 2010 It is not required to show proof of insurance in order to obtain a driver s license, unless SR-22 insurance is required In 2015, there were 60,224 convictions of Operating without Insurance in Wisconsin. There were 51,184 convictions of Operating without Proof of Insurance in Wisconsin SAFETY RESPONSIBILITY LAW DOT Administrative Suspensions Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 344 imposes suspensions of driver s licenses and vehicle registrations against uninsured motorists who do not pay for damages they caused in a motor vehicle accident when the damages to property are $1,000 or more or someone is injured or dies. Wis. Stat DOT reviews accident report and determines the amount of security which is sufficient in the secretary's judgment to satisfy any judgment for damages resulting from such accident which may be recovered against either operator or owner of the vehicles involved in such accident. Wis. Stat (1) Notice sent to uninsured operator and/or owner of the vehicle that if they do not pay security amount, their license and/or registration will be suspended. Wis. Stat (3) If the uninsured driver or owner does not pay a security amount for the damages by the deadline, the DOT will suspend their driver s license and/or registration for one year. Options to avoid the suspension: Request a Hearing. Wis. Stat Hearings are held in Milwaukee and Madison by a DOT hearing examiner. Wis. Stat. Chapter 227 applies. Scope of hearing is whether or not there is a reasonable possibility of a judgment in the amount claimed or in a lesser amount being rendered against such operator as a result of the accident. Wis. Stat (2)(k) Enter into a payment plan with the other party or work out a settlement with them Provide proof that the vehicle was insured at the time of the accident File for bankruptcy Entitled to a 20-day extension of suspension date if requested- Wis. Stat (1) Pay the deposit amount in full 9

10 If no action is taken by the deadline, the DOT will suspend the driver s license of the operator and the vehicle registration of the owner of the vehicle. If the person was both the owner and operator of the vehicle at the time of the accident, the DOT will suspend their driver s license and their vehicle registration. See Wis. Stat (2) for exceptions to the suspensions May work out a payment plan, settlement, or file bankruptcy during the period of suspension, but will be required to carry SR-22 insurance in order to reinstate license and/or vehicle registration Will be re-suspended if default on a payment plan DAMAGE JUDGMENT SUSPENSIONS If an uninsured driver is sued in court for $500 or more in damages caused in an accident and doesn t pay the judgment within 30 days of the expiration of the time to appeal, the creditor may request the court to forward the judgment to the DOT. Wis. Stat (1) The DOT will then suspend both the driver s license and the vehicle registration of the defendant for 5 years from the date of judgment. Wis. Stat ; Options to avoid/lift 5-year suspension Payment plan agreement with judgment creditor- Wis. Stat (2) Court-ordered payment plan- Wis. Stat File for bankruptcy Reopen the judgment- See Wis. Stat (1); Pay the judgment and file satisfaction of judgment 10

11 SR-22 Insurance Required for 3 years to reinstate after Damage judgment and Safety Responsibility suspensions (whether the suspension is lifted or expires) Must continue to file the SR-22 insurance for 3 years or license will be suspended Referrals to CDLRE/Legal Action of Wisconsin Center for Driver s License Recovery and Employability MATC- Foundation Hall 8 th Floor, 1027 N. 7 th Street Legal Action of Wisconsin W. Wells Street, #800 Questions? 11