BILL ANALYSIS
AB 873
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 873 (Price)
As Amended June 18, 2009
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 11, 2009) |SENATE: |36-0 |(July 16, |
| | | | | |2009) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS .
SUMMARY : Reenacts provisions that were allowed to sunset that
allow licensed registration services to apply for duplicate
certificates of ownership or duplicate license plates.
The Senate amendments make technical, non-substantive changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) from issuing
a copy, duplication, or substitution of a certificate of
ownership or license plate for a vehicle if, after a search of
the records of DMV, the registered owner's address, as
submitted with the application for that document, is different
from that which appears in the DMV records, unless the
registered owner applies for that document in person and
presents certain verifying documents.
2)Provides that this prohibition does not apply if the
registered owner's name, address, and driver's license or
identification card number submitted on the application match
the name, address, and driver's license or identification card
number contained in DMV records, or if an application for a
duplicate or substitute certificate of title or license plate
is submitted by or through a legal owner, a dealer, a
dismantler, an insurer, and agent of the insurer, or a salvage
pool.
3)Defines a "licensed registration service" as a person engaged
in the business of soliciting or receiving any application for
the registration, renewal, or transfer of registration or
ownership of any vehicle of a type subject to registration, or
of transmitting or presenting any of those documents DMV when
any compensation is solicited or received for the service.
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4)Requires DMV to process requests for duplicate certificates of
ownership within 72 hours, if the applicant pays an additional
$15 fee, in addition to any other fees that may exist.
5)Requires that a $25,000 bond be filed for the issuance or
renewal of a vehicle registration service license.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, DMV indicates that, since this bill
reinstates a process that DMV had previously had in place, any
costs to implement the bill are minor and absorbable. DMV may
realize ongoing savings by allowing registration services to
process transactions.
COMMENTS : The provisions in this bill were contained in AB 2606
(Plescia), Chapter 430, Statutes of 2004, which included a
sunset date of January 1, 2008. Since provisions were allowed
to expire and not renewed, this bill seeks to reenact previous
law prior to 2008.
According to the Coalition of Vehicle Registration Services, the
sponsor of this bill, previous law proved successful over the
three-year period in which it was in place.
Prior to the establishment of law that granted licensed
registration services the same privilege to submit duplicate
title or replacement license plate transactions, there was
hesitancy on the part of DMV to allow such entities to be given
that access. In a previous analysis of AB 2606, the DMV stated
that "as an industry, registration services have not
demonstrated that they should be allowed access to procedures
not available to the general public." The DMV pointed out that
it had revoked the licenses of 28 registration services for
serious offenses and had suspended or placed on probation the
licenses of another 21 services over a three year period.
Eventually, provisions were included in the previous bill
(before repeal) that required an individual who is not a
court-appointed bankruptcy referee or recognized business entity
utilizing a registration service, to submit his or her
application with a notarized signature. In addition,
registration services were required to maintain all paperwork
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and making it available to law enforcement for purposes of a
stolen vehicle investigation.
The sponsor adds that many of the concerns that were raised
during deliberation of the previous bill were addressed through
safeguards. DMV reports that many of the fraud concerns that
were previously raised did not materialize over the three year
period in which previous law was in place.
Analysis Prepared by : Alejandro Esparza / TRANS. / (916)
319-2093
FN: 0001783