§ 20-73. New owner must get new certificate of title.
§ 20‑73. New owner mustget new certificate of title.
(a) Time Limit. Aperson to whom a vehicle is transferred, whether by purchase or otherwise, mustapply to the Division for a new certificate of title. An application for acertificate of title must be submitted within 28 days after the vehicle istransferred. A person who must follow the procedure in G.S. 20‑76 to geta certificate of title and who applies for a title within the required 20‑daytime limit is considered to have complied with this section even when theDivision issues a certificate of title to the person after the time limit haselapsed.
A person may apply directlyfor a certificate of title or may allow another person, such as the person fromwhom the vehicle is transferred or a person who has a lien on the vehicle, toapply for a certificate of title on that person's behalf. A person to whom avehicle is transferred is responsible for getting a certificate of title withinthe time limit regardless of whether the person allowed another to apply for acertificate of title on the person's behalf.
(b) Exceptions. Thissection does not apply to any of the following:
(1) A dealer or aninsurance company to whom a vehicle is transferred when the transfer meets therequirements of G.S. 20‑75.
(2) A State agency thatassists the United States Department of Defense with purchasing, transferring,or titling a vehicle to another State agency, a unit of local government, avolunteer fire department, or a volunteer rescue squad.
(c) Penalties. A personto whom a vehicle is transferred who fails to apply for a certificate of titlewithin the required time is subject to a civil penalty of fifteen dollars($15.00) and is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. A person who undertakes toapply for a certificate of title on behalf of another person and who fails toapply for a title within the required time is subject to a civil penalty offifteen dollars ($15.00). When a person to whom a vehicle is transferred failsto obtain a title within the required time because a person who undertook toapply for the certificate of title did not do so within the required time, theDivision may impose a civil penalty only on the person who undertook to applyfor the title. Civil penalties collected under this subsection shall becredited to the Highway Fund. (1937, c. 407, s. 37; 1939, c. 275; 1947, c. 219, s.6; 1961, c. 360, s. 9; 1975, c. 716, s. 5; 1991, c. 689, s. 332; 1993, c. 539,s. 339; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 2005‑276, s. 44.1(j); 2009‑81,s. 1; 2009‑550, s. 2(b).)