TITLE 49

MOTOR VEHICLES

CHAPTER 5

VEHICLE TITLES

49-504.  Applications to department for certificates — Procedure — Identification numbers. (1) Application for a certificate of title shall be made upon a form furnished by the department and shall contain the owner’s Idaho driver’s license number, Idaho identification card number or social security number or individual taxpayer identification number. In the case of a business, the employer tax identification number is required. Every application shall also contain the owner’s true and full legal name. In the event that the owner does not possess a social security number, Idaho driver’s license number, Idaho identification card number or individual taxpayer identification number, the owner shall present written documentation sufficient to the department to determine that no social security number has been issued. In the event that a business, trust, or other statutorily created entity is not required to have and does not possess an employer tax identification number, the applicant shall provide a written statement certifying that the entity does not possess an employer tax identification number. The form must contain the owner’s physical domicile address or, in the case of a business, trust or other statutorily created entity, such entity’s physical address and any mailing address if different from the physical address. If the owner has submitted an application pursuant to the provisions of chapter 58, title 19, Idaho Code, then the owner may state, in the application required pursuant to this section, the applicant’s alternative Idaho mailing address in place of his or her physical domicile address. Such application must be signed by the owner and contain a full description of the vehicle, including the make, identification numbers, and the odometer reading at the time of sale or transfer, and whether the vehicle is new or used, together with a statement of the applicant’s title and of any liens or encumbrances upon the vehicle, and the name and address of the person to whom the certificate of title shall be delivered, and any other information as the department may require. The application shall be filed with the department and, if a certificate of title has previously been issued for that vehicle in this state, shall be accompanied by the certificate of title duly assigned, unless otherwise provided for in this chapter. The department may promulgate rules to provide for exceptions to the odometer requirement. Social security numbers collected shall not appear on certificates of title, and all applications on file shall be exempt from disclosure, except as provided in sections 49-202, 49-203 and 49-203A, Idaho Code.

(2)  If the current certificate of title was not issued for the vehicle in this state, the application, unless otherwise provided for in this chapter, shall be accompanied by a certificate of title, bill of sale or other evidence of ownership required by the law of any other jurisdiction from which the vehicle was brought into this state and a vehicle identification number inspection completed by any city, county or state peace officer or other special agent authorized by the department.

(3)  In the case of a new vehicle being titled for the first time, no certificate of title or registration shall be issued unless the application is endorsed by a franchised new vehicle dealer licensed to sell a new vehicle. Each application shall be accompanied by a statement completed by the franchised new car dealer that it is authorized to transfer the vehicle to the purchaser. The dealer shall retain in its records a manufacturer’s certificate of origin or manufacturer’s statement of origin executed by the manufacturer and delivered to his agent or his franchised vehicle dealer. The certificate or statement of origin shall be in a form prescribed by the board and shall contain the year of manufacture or the model year of the vehicle, the manufacturer’s vehicle identification number, the name of the manufacturer, the number of cylinders, a general description of the body, if any, and the type or model. Upon sale of a new vehicle, the manufacturer or his agent or franchised dealer shall execute and deliver to the purchaser an assignment of the certificate or statement, together with any lien or encumbrance to which the vehicle is subject. The certificate or statement will be retained by the dealer for five (5) years so that it is available for inspection by the department.

(4)  The department shall retain the evidence of title presented by the applicant and on which the certificate of title is issued. The department shall maintain an identification numbers index of registered vehicles except that said index is not required to include operators who have been issued a certificate of number or nonresident user certificate pursuant to sections 67-7122 and 67-7124, Idaho Code, and, upon receiving an application for a certificate of title shall first check the identification number shown in the application against the index. The department, when satisfied that the applicant is the owner of the vehicle and that the application is in proper form, shall issue in the name of the owner of the vehicle a certificate of title bearing a title number, the date issued and a description of the vehicle as determined by the department, together with a statement of the owner’s title and of all liens or encumbrances upon the vehicle, and whether possession is held by the owner under a lease, contract or conditional sale, or other like agreement.

(5)  In all cases of transfer of vehicles, the application for certificates of title shall be filed within thirty (30) calendar days after the delivery of the vehicles. Licensed dealers need not apply for certificate of title for vehicles in stock or when they are acquired for stock purposes.

(6)  In the case of the sale of a vehicle by a dealer to a general purchaser or user, the certificate of title shall be obtained in the name of the purchaser by the dealer upon application signed by the purchaser. If a lien is to be recorded, the title documentation as required in this section shall be submitted to the department by the dealer or the lienholder upon application signed by the purchaser. A copy of this application shall be given to the purchaser to be used as a seventy-two (72) hour temporary permit, unless the application is submitted by an electronic means approved by the department, in which case a forty-five (45) calendar day temporary permit may be issued. In all other cases, the certificates shall be obtained by the purchaser and the certificate of title properly assigned and dated by the seller, or the seller’s bill of sale shall serve as a seventy-two (72) hour permit. The seventy-two (72) hour time period for temporary permits shall be calculated excluding weekend days and legal holidays observed by the state of Idaho. These temporary permits allow operation of any noncommercial vehicle or unladened commercial vehicle or vehicle combination without license plates for the period of time specified in the permit. A ladened commercial vehicle or vehicle combination may also operate without license plates for the period of time specified in the temporary permit, provided that the owner or operator has also obtained a permit issued under the provisions of section 49-432, Idaho Code.

(7)  If the vehicle has no identification number, then the department shall designate an identification number for that vehicle at the time of issuance of the certificate of title. The identification number shall be permanently affixed to or indented upon the frame of the vehicle and legibly maintained by the owner at all times while a certificate of title to the vehicle shall be issued and outstanding.

(8)  An EVC provider authorized pursuant to section 49-401C, Idaho Code, may act on behalf of the department in receiving, processing, and transmitting applications for title and any related fees to the department. The security, oversight, and processing requirements in chapter 4, title 49, Idaho Code, shall also apply to titling transactions conducted by an EVC provider.

(9)  The department may allow a person to submit a required document by using electronic media deemed feasible by the department instead of requiring an original document. If a signature on a document is required by law and the document is submitted electronically, the signature requirement will be satisfied by an authenticated electronically submitted signature. An electronically submitted document, once accepted by the department, shall be deemed the same as an original document and shall be admissible in all administrative, quasi-judicial, and judicial proceedings.

History:

[49-504, added 1988, ch. 265, sec. 119, p. 644; am. 1989, ch. 35, sec. 1, p. 45; am. 1991, ch. 153, sec. 1, p. 362; am. 1993, ch. 321, sec. 1, p. 1179; am. 2000, ch. 55, sec. 1, p. 109; am. 2000, ch. 418, sec. 14, p. 1351; am. 2009, ch. 141, sec. 2, p. 424; am. 2010, ch. 225, sec. 6, p. 512; am. 2010, ch. 258, sec. 2, p. 659; am. 2014, ch. 38, sec. 11, p. 79; am. 2021, ch. 149, sec. 30, p. 421; am. 2021, ch. 180, sec. 3, p. 497; am. 2023, ch. 68, sec. 1, p. 229.]