BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1515
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          Date of Hearing:   May 20, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                     AB 1515 (Eng) - As Amended:  April 29, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                               
          TransportationVote:13-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill authorizes the establishment of a mandatory Electronic  
          Lien and Title (ELT) Program.  Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), on or before  
            January 1, 2012, and in consultation with lienholders, to  
            develop an ELT program that requires all lienholders' title  
            information to be held in an electronic format, if DMV  
            determines the program is cost effective compared to the  
            current paper title and registration system.  

          2)Allows DMV to establish an auto loan business volume threshold  
            below which a lienholder is not required to participate in  
            ELT.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)DMV indicates that, while the potential scope of a mandatory  
            electronic lien program may be beyond the capacity of its  
            computer system, the bill does provide flexibility to DMV with  
            regard to setting business volume thresholds and determining  
            cost-effectiveness. Thus, the costs of the program would  
            appear to be absorbable.

          2)Longer term administrative savings to DMV related to expanded  
            use of ELT program. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . The purpose of this bill is to expand usage of the  
            ELT program. The author asserts the program provides  








                                                                  AB 1515
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            significant benefits, in terms of reduced data entry and  
            storage costs, to both lienholders and the DMV.

           2)Background.  An auto title, also known as a "pink slip," is a  
            legal certificate of ownership issued by the DMV. For most  
            cars financed using loans, the title is issued to the lender  
            until the car is loan is paid off. Among other information,  
            the certificate lists the current owner's name and address,  
            the make, model and year of the vehicle, and the first date  
            sold. 

            The Electronic Lien and Title Program (ELT) is a voluntary  
            program for lienholders (normally auto lenders), which  
            provides an electronic ownership record in lieu of a paper  
            title. Under the ELT program, DMV suppresses the printing of  
            paper title certificates for participating lienholders, but a  
            paper registration card is issued to the registered owner.  
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081