SF 300 (LSB 2538XS (3) 91)

SENATE FILE 300

BY  ROWLEY

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to replacement certificates of title for vehicles, providing fees, and including retroactive applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.42, subsection 2, paragraphs a, b, and d, Code 2025, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  If a certificate of title is lost or destroyed, the owner or lienholder shall apply for a replacement copy of the original certificate of title. The owner or lienholder of a motor vehicle may also apply for a replacement copy of 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 any county treasurer. The application shall be signed by the owner or lienholder and accompanied by a fee of thirty dollars.
   b.  After five days, the department or county treasurer shall issue a replacement copy certificate of title using the applicant’s most recent bona fide address; however, the five-day waiting period does not apply to an applicant who is a lienholder or to an applicant who has surrendered the original certificate of title to the department or county treasurer. The replacement copy certificate of title shall be clearly marked “replacement” and shall include security interests and liens. When a replacement copy certificate of title has been issued, the previous certificate is void. The department or county treasurer is not authorized to refund fees collected for a replacement certificate of title under this section or section 321.52A.
   d.  A new purchaser or transferee is entitled to receive an original certificate of title upon presenting the assigned replacement copy certificate of title to any county treasurer. 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 of title. A person recovering an original certificate of title for which a replacement has been issued shall surrender the original certificate of title to the county treasurer or the department.
    Sec. 2.  Section 321.152, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   c.  Forty percent of all fees Eighteen dollars of each fee collected for certified copies of replacement certificates of title.
    Sec. 3.  RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies retroactively to replacement copies of an original certificate of title applied for on or after January 1, 2025.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under current law, if a vehicle’s certificate of title is lost or destroyed, the owner or lienholder is required to apply for a replacement copy of the original certificate of title. The owner or lienholder of a motor vehicle may also apply for a replacement copy of the original certificate of title upon surrender of the original certificate of title with the application. Some Code references to a “replacement copy of the original certificate of title” instead use “certified copies” or “replacement certificate of title”. The fee for a replacement copy is $30 (increased from $20 in 2024). A county treasurer who issues a replacement copy of an original certificate of title is authorized to retain 40 percent of the fee collected for deposit in the county general fund (increased to $12 from $8 in 2024 by operation of law).
   This bill harmonizes all references in Code to a “replacement certificate of title”, or the plural thereof.
   The bill increases the fee a county treasurer is authorized to retain for deposit in the county general fund from $12 (40 percent of the $30 fee) to $18.
   The bill applies retroactively to replacement copies of an original certificate of title applied for on or after January 1, 2025.