Bill > S697

Introduced Session

This bill requires motor vehicle dealers to pay the remaining loan on a customer's trade-in within 15 days of accepting that trade-in. The bill also requires the dealer to provide proof of the payment to the customer upon request. A dealer who violates the bill's provisions is to be subject to a penalty of up to $1,000 for the first offense and up to $2,000 for each subsequent offense. In addition, the bill requires a secured party to release the title within 15 days of receipt of payment from the motor vehicle dealer. When the balance is paid by non-certified check, the secured parties are required to release the title within 15 days from the date the check is credited to their account. A secured party who fails to comply with these time requirements is to be subject to a civil penalty of up to $500 for the first offense and up to $1,000 for each subsequent offense. Under current law, a creditor that takes actual or constructive possession of a motor vehicle is required to notify the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. This bill invalidates levies placed on vehicles unless a creditor taking constructive possession of the vehicle seizes and takes actual possession of the vehicle within 30 days of providing notice to the chief administrator. The bill also exempts a subsequent purchaser of a trade-in vehicle from financial responsibility for a levy on a motor vehicle that is not in a creditor's actual possession. The chief administrator is to release title transfer restrictions on vehicles that have been legally, but not physically, seized after 30 days or upon request of the good faith purchaser.

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Jim Beach (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee (on 01/11/2022)

Official Document