1. If a registration card, plate, or pair of plates is lost or becomes illegible, the owner shall immediately apply for replacement. The fee for a replacement registration card shall be three dollars. The fee for a replacement plate or pair of plates shall be five dollars. When the owner has furnished information required by the department and paid the proper fee, a duplicate, substitute, or new registration card, plate, or pair of plates may be issued.
2. a. If a certificate of title is lost or destroyed, the owner or lienholder shall apply for a certified copy of the original certificate of title. The owner or lienholder of a motor vehicle may also apply for a certified copy of the original certificate of title as a replacement for the original certificate of title upon surrender of the original certificate of title with the application. The application shall be made to the department or county treasurer who issued the original certificate of title. The application shall be signed by the owner or lienholder and accompanied by a fee of ten dollars.
b. After five days, the department or county treasurer shall issue a certified copy to the applicant at the applicant's most recent address, however, the five-day waiting period does not apply to an applicant who has surrendered the original certificate of title to the department or county treasurer. The certified copy shall be clearly marked "duplicate" and shall be identical to the original, including notation of liens or encumbrances. When a certified copy has been issued, the previous certificate is void.
c. If a security interest noted on the face of an original certificate of title was released by the lienholder on a separate form pursuant to section 321.50, subsection 4, and the signature of the lienholder, or the person executing the release on behalf of the lienholder, is notarized, but the lienholder has not delivered the original certificate to the appropriate party as provided in section 321.50, subsection 4, the owner may apply for and receive a replacement certificate of title without the released security interest noted thereon. The lienholder shall return the original certificate of title to the department or to the treasurer of the county where the title was issued.
d. A new purchaser or transferee is entitled to receive an original title upon presenting the assigned duplicate copy to the treasurer of the county where the new purchaser or transferee resides. At the time of purchase, a purchaser may require the seller to indemnify the purchaser and all future purchasers of the vehicle against any loss which may be suffered due to claims on the original certificate. A person recovering an original certificate of title for which a duplicate has been issued shall surrender the original certificate to the county treasurer or the department.
3. If a county treasurer mails vehicle registration documents which become lost or are damaged in transit through the United States postal service, the person to whom the documents were being sent may apply for reissuance without cost. The application shall be made with the county treasurer who originally issued the documents not less than twenty days from the date the documents were placed with the United States postal service. If the original documents are received after reissuance of duplicates, the original documents shall be surrendered to the county treasurer within five days of the time they are received.
[SS15, § 1571-m5; C24, 27, 31, 35, § 4886; C39, § 5001.26; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, S81, § 321.42; 81 Acts, ch 102, § 1]
84 Acts, ch 1305, § 51; 85 Acts, ch 209, §1; 99 Acts, ch 13, §6
Referred to in § 321.52A, 331.557, 555C.3, 648.22A
Surcharge imposed; § 321.52A
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