Relating to replacement certificates of title for vehicles, providing fees, and including retroactive applicability provisions

Under current law, if a vehicle’s certificate of title is lost or destroyed, the owner or lienholder is required to apply for a replacement copy of the original certificate of title. The owner or lienholder of a motor vehicle may also apply for a replacement copy of the original certificate of title upon surrender of the original certificate of title with the application. Some Code references to a “replacement copy of the original certificate of title” instead use “certified copies” or “replacement certificate of title”. The fee for a replacement copy is $30 (increased from $20 in 2024). A county treasurer who issues a replacement copy of an original certificate of title is authorized to retain percent of the fee collected for deposit in the county general fund (increased to $12 from $8 in 2024 by operation of law). This bill harmonizes all references in Code to a “replacement certificate of title”, or the plural thereof. The bill increases the fee a county treasurer is authorized to retain for deposit in the county general fund from $12 (40 percent of the $30 fee) to $18. The bill applies retroactively to replacement copies of an original certificate of title applied for on or after January 1, 2025.