Bill Text: CA AB2571 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Total loss salvage vehicles.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - Died at Desk. [AB2571 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2571-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2571 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 11515 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2571, as introduced, Jones-Sawyer. Total loss salvage vehicles.
Existing law requires, if the owner of a total loss salvage
vehicle retains possession of the vehicle, the insurance company to
notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of the retention, as
specified. Existing law requires the owner, within 10 days from the
settlement of loss, to forward to the department the properly
endorsed certificate of ownership or other evidence of ownership
acceptable to the department, the license plates, and a specified
fee. Upon receipt of these items, existing law requires the
department to issue a salvage certificate for the vehicle. Prior to
the sale or disposal of a total loss salvage vehicle, existing law
requires the owner, the owner's agent, or salvage pool to obtain a
properly endorsed salvage certificate and deliver the certificate to
the purchaser within 10 days after payment in full for the salvage
vehicle, as specified. A violation of these provisions is punishable
as a misdemeanor.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to this
provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 11515 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
11515. (a) (1) Whenever If an
insurance company makes a total loss settlement on a total loss
salvage vehicle, the insurance company, an occupational licensee of
the department authorized by the insurance company, or a salvage pool
authorized by the insurance company, within 10 days from the
settlement of the loss, shall forward the properly endorsed
certificate of ownership or other evidence of ownership acceptable to
the department, the license plates, and a fee in the amount of
fifteen dollars ($15), to the department. An occupational licensee of
the department may submit a certificate of license plate destruction
in lieu of the actual license plate.
(2) If an insurance company, an occupational licensee of the
department authorized by the insurance company, or a salvage pool
authorized by the insurance company is unable to obtain the properly
endorsed certificate of ownership or other evidence of ownership
acceptable to the department within 30 days following oral or written
acceptance by the owner of an offer of an amount in settlement of a
total loss, that insurance company, licensee, or salvage pool, on a
form provided by the department and signed under penalty of perjury,
may request the department to issue a salvage certificate for the
vehicle. The request shall include and document that the requester
has made at least two written attempts to obtain the certificate of
ownership or other acceptable evidence of title, and shall include
the license plates and fee described in paragraph (1).
(3) The department, upon receipt of the certificate of ownership,
other evidence of title, or properly executed request described in
paragraph (2), the license plates, and the fee, shall issue a salvage
certificate for the vehicle.
(b) Whenever If the owner of a total
loss salvage vehicle retains possession of the vehicle, the
insurance company shall notify the department of the retention on a
form prescribed by the department. The insurance company shall also
notify the insured or owner of the insured's or owner's
responsibility to comply with this subdivision. The owner shall,
within 10 days from the settlement of the loss, forward the properly
endorsed certificate of ownership or other evidence of ownership
acceptable to the department, the license plates, and a fee in the
amount of fifteen dollars ($15) to the department. The department,
upon receipt of the certificate of ownership or other evidence of
title, the license plates, and the fee, shall issue a salvage
certificate for the vehicle.
(c) Whenever If a total loss salvage
vehicle is not the subject of an insurance settlement, the owner
shall, within 10 days from the loss, forward the properly endorsed
certificate of ownership or other evidence of ownership acceptable to
the department, the license plates, and a fee in the amount of
fifteen dollars ($15) to the department.
(d) Whenever If a total
loss salvage vehicle is not the subject of an insurance settlement, a
self-insurer, as defined in Section 16052, shall, within 10 days
from the loss, forward the properly endorsed certificate of ownership
or other evidence of ownership acceptable to the department, the
license plates, and a fee in the amount of fifteen dollars ($15) to
the department.
(e) Prior to the sale or disposal of a total loss salvage vehicle,
the owner, owner's agent, or salvage pool, shall obtain a properly
endorsed salvage certificate and deliver it
the certificate to the purchaser within 10 days after payment
in full for the salvage vehicle and shall also comply with Section
5900. The department shall accept the endorsed salvage certificate in
lieu of the certificate of ownership or other evidence of ownership
when accompanied by an application and other documents and fees,
including, but not limited to, the fees required by Section 9265, as
may be required by the department.
(f) This section does not apply to a vehicle that has been driven
or taken without the consent of the owner thereof, until the vehicle
has been recovered by the owner and only if the vehicle is a total
loss salvage vehicle.
(g) A violation of subdivision (a), (b), (d), or (e) is a
misdemeanor, pursuant to Section 40000.11. Notwithstanding Section
40000.11, a violation of subdivision (c) is an infraction, except
that, if committed with the intent to defraud, a violation of
subdivision (c) is a misdemeanor.
(h) (1) A salvage certificate issued pursuant to this section
shall include a statement that the seller and subsequent sellers that
transfer ownership of a total loss vehicle pursuant to a properly
endorsed salvage certificate are required to disclose to the
purchaser at, or prior to, the time of sale that the vehicle has been
declared a total loss salvage vehicle.
(2) Effective on and after the department includes in the salvage
certificate form the statement described in paragraph (1), a seller
who fails to make the disclosure described in paragraph (1) shall be
subject to a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars
($500).
(3) Nothing in this subdivision affects any other civil remedy
provided by law, including, but not limited to, punitive damages.
