FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 1010

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES FAITH (Sponsor), JONES (117), ALLEN, FUNDERBURK, ZERR, SMITH (150), DENISON AND BRANDOM (Co-sponsors).

1997L.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To repeal sections 301.010 and 430.082, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to liens on motor vehicles.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Sections 301.010 and 430.082, RSMo, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 301.010 and 430.082, to read as follows:

301.010. As used in this chapter and sections 304.010 to 304.040, 304.120 to 304.260, RSMo, and sections 307.010 to 307.175, RSMo, the following terms mean:

(1) "Affidavit", written declaration made under oath before a notary public or authorized official which is required when prescribed by the director of the department of revenue for this chapter and chapter 306;

(2) "All-terrain vehicle", any motorized vehicle manufactured and used exclusively for off-highway use which is fifty inches or less in width, with an unladen dry weight of one thousand pounds or less, traveling on three, four or more low pressure tires, with a seat designed to be straddled by the operator, or with a seat designed to carry more than one person, and handlebars for steering control;

[(2)] (3) "Automobile transporter", any vehicle combination designed and used specifically for the transport of assembled motor vehicles;

[(3)] (4) "Axle load", the total load transmitted to the road by all wheels whose centers are included between two parallel transverse vertical planes forty inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle;

[(4)] (5) "Boat transporter", any vehicle combination designed and used specifically to transport assembled boats and boat hulls;

[(5)] (6) "Body shop", a business that repairs physical damage on motor vehicles that are not owned by the shop or its officers or employees by mending, straightening, replacing body parts, or painting;

[(6)] (7) "Bus", a motor vehicle primarily for the transportation of a driver and eight or more passengers but not including shuttle buses;

[(7)] (8) "Commercial motor vehicle", a motor vehicle designed or regularly used for carrying freight and merchandise, or more than eight passengers but not including vanpools or shuttle buses;

[(8)] (9) "Cotton trailer", a trailer designed and used exclusively for transporting cotton at speeds less than forty miles per hour from field to field or from field to market and return;

[(9)] (10) "Dealer", any person, firm, corporation, association, agent or subagent engaged in the sale or exchange of new, used or reconstructed motor vehicles or trailers;

[(10)] (11) "Director" or "director of revenue", the director of the department of revenue;

[(11)] (12) "Driveaway operation":

(a) The movement of a motor vehicle or trailer by any person or motor carrier other than a dealer over any public highway, under its own power singly, or in a fixed combination of two or more vehicles, for the purpose of delivery for sale or for delivery either before or after sale;

(b) The movement of any vehicle or vehicles, not owned by the transporter, constituting the commodity being transported, by a person engaged in the business of furnishing drivers and operators for the purpose of transporting vehicles in transit from one place to another by the driveaway or towaway methods; or

(c) The movement of a motor vehicle by any person who is lawfully engaged in the business of transporting or delivering vehicles that are not the person's own and vehicles of a type otherwise required to be registered, by the driveaway or towaway methods, from a point of manufacture, assembly or distribution or from the owner of the vehicles to a dealer or sales agent of a manufacturer or to any consignee designated by the shipper or consignor;

[(12)] (13) "Dromedary", a box, deck, or plate mounted behind the cab and forward of the fifth wheel on the frame of the power unit of a truck tractor-semitrailer combination. A truck tractor equipped with a dromedary may carry part of a load when operating independently or in a combination with a semitrailer;

[(13)] (14) "Farm tractor", a tractor used exclusively for agricultural purposes;

[(14)] (15) "Fleet", any group of ten or more motor vehicles owned by the same owner;

[(15)] (16) "Fleet vehicle", a motor vehicle which is included as part of a fleet;

[(16)] (17) "Fullmount", a vehicle mounted completely on the frame of either the first or last vehicle in a saddlemount combination;

[(17)] (18) "Gross weight", the weight of vehicle and/or vehicle combination without load, plus the weight of any load thereon;

[(18)] (19) "Hail-damaged vehicle", any vehicle, the body of which has become dented as the result of the impact of hail;

[(19)] (20) "Highway", any public thoroughfare for vehicles, including state roads, county roads and public streets, avenues, boulevards, parkways or alleys in any municipality;

[(20)] (21) "Improved highway", a highway which has been paved with gravel, macadam, concrete, brick or asphalt, or surfaced in such a manner that it shall have a hard, smooth surface;

[(21)] (22) "Intersecting highway", any highway which joins another, whether or not it crosses the same;

[(22)] (23) "Junk vehicle", a vehicle which is incapable of operation or use upon the highways and has no resale value except as a source of parts or scrap, and shall not be titled or registered;

[(23)] (24) "Kit vehicle", a motor vehicle assembled by a person other than a generally recognized manufacturer of motor vehicles by the use of a glider kit or replica purchased from an authorized manufacturer and accompanied by a manufacturer's statement of origin;

[(24)] (25) "Land improvement contractors' commercial motor vehicle", any not-for-hire commercial motor vehicle the operation of which is confined to:

(a) An area that extends not more than a radius of one hundred miles from its home base of operations when transporting its owner's machinery, equipment, or auxiliary supplies to or from projects involving soil and water conservation, or to and from equipment dealers' maintenance facilities for maintenance purposes; or

(b) An area that extends not more than a radius of fifty miles from its home base of operations when transporting its owner's machinery, equipment, or auxiliary supplies to or from projects not involving soil and water conservation. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent any motor vehicle from being registered as a commercial motor vehicle or local commercial motor vehicle;

[(25)] (26) "Local commercial motor vehicle", a commercial motor vehicle whose operations are confined solely to a municipality and that area extending not more than fifty miles therefrom, or a commercial motor vehicle whose property-carrying operations are confined solely to the transportation of property owned by any person who is the owner or operator of such vehicle to or from a farm owned by such person or under the person's control by virtue of a landlord and tenant lease; provided that any such property transported to any such farm is for use in the operation of such farm;

[(26)] (27) "Local log truck", a commercial motor vehicle which is registered pursuant to this chapter to operate as a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state, used exclusively in this state, used to transport harvested forest products, operated solely at a forested site and in an area extending not more than a one hundred-mile radius from such site, carries a load with dimensions not in excess of twenty-five cubic yards per two axles with dual wheels, and when operated on the national system of interstate and defense highways described in Title 23, Section 103(e) of the United States Code, such vehicle shall not exceed the weight limits of section 304.180, RSMo, does not have more than four axles, and does not pull a trailer which has more than two axles. Harvesting equipment which is used specifically for cutting, felling, trimming, delimbing, debarking, chipping, skidding, loading, unloading, and stacking may be transported on a local log truck. A local log truck may not exceed the limits required by law, however, if the truck does exceed such limits as determined by the inspecting officer, then notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, such truck shall be subject to the weight limits required by such sections as licensed for eighty thousand pounds;

[(27)] (28) "Local log truck tractor", a commercial motor vehicle which is registered under this chapter to operate as a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state, used exclusively in this state, used to transport harvested forest products, operated solely at a forested site and in an area extending not more than a one hundred-mile radius from such site, operates with a weight not exceeding twenty-two thousand four hundred pounds on one axle or with a weight not exceeding forty-four thousand eight hundred pounds on any tandem axle, and when operated on the national system of interstate and defense highways described in Title 23, Section 103(e) of the United States Code, such vehicle does not exceed the weight limits contained in section 304.180, RSMo, and does not have more than three axles and does not pull a trailer which has more than two axles. Violations of axle weight limitations shall be subject to the load limit penalty as described for in sections 304.180 to 304.220, RSMo;

[(28)] (29) "Local transit bus", a bus whose operations are confined wholly within a municipal corporation, or wholly within a municipal corporation and a commercial zone, as defined in section 390.020, RSMo, adjacent thereto, forming a part of a public transportation system within such municipal corporation and such municipal corporation and adjacent commercial zone;

[(29)] (30) "Log truck", a vehicle which is not a local log truck or local log truck tractor and is used exclusively to transport harvested forest products to and from forested sites which is registered pursuant to this chapter to operate as a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state for the transportation of harvested forest products;

[(30)] (31) "Major component parts", the rear clip, cowl, frame, body, cab, front-end assembly, and front clip, as those terms are defined by the director of revenue pursuant to rules and regulations or by illustrations;

[(31)] (32) "Manufacturer", any person, firm, corporation or association engaged in the business of manufacturing or assembling motor vehicles, trailers or vessels for sale;

[(32)] (33) "Mobile scrap processor", a business located in Missouri or any other state that comes onto a salvage site and crushes motor vehicles and parts for transportation to a shredder or scrap metal operator for recycling;

[(33)] (34) "Motor change vehicle", a vehicle manufactured prior to August, 1957, which receives a new, rebuilt or used engine, and which used the number stamped on the original engine as the vehicle identification number;

[(34)] (35) "Motor vehicle", any self-propelled vehicle not operated exclusively upon tracks, except farm tractors;

[(35)] (36) "Motor vehicle primarily for business use", any vehicle other than a recreational motor vehicle, motorcycle, motortricycle, or any commercial motor vehicle licensed for over twelve thousand pounds:

(a) Offered for hire or lease; or

(b) The owner of which also owns ten or more such motor vehicles;

[(36)] (37) "Motorcycle", a motor vehicle operated on two wheels;

[(37)] (38) "Motorized bicycle", any two-wheeled or three-wheeled device having an automatic transmission and a motor with a cylinder capacity of not more than fifty cubic centimeters, which produces less than three gross brake horsepower, and is capable of propelling the device at a maximum speed of not more than thirty miles per hour on level ground;

[(38)] (39) "Motortricycle", a motor vehicle operated on three wheels, including a motorcycle while operated with any conveyance, temporary or otherwise, requiring the use of a third wheel. A motortricycle shall not be included in the definition of all-terrain vehicle;

[(39)] (40) "Municipality", any city, town or village, whether incorporated or not;

[(40)] (41) "Nonresident", a resident of a state or country other than the state of Missouri;

[(41)] (42) "Non-USA-std motor vehicle", a motor vehicle not originally manufactured in compliance with United States emissions or safety standards;

[(42)] (43) "Operator", any person who operates or drives a motor vehicle;

[(43)] (44) "Owner", any person, firm, corporation or association, who holds the legal title to a vehicle or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then such conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this law;

[(44)] (45) "Public garage", a place of business where motor vehicles are housed, stored, repaired, reconstructed or repainted for persons other than the owners or operators of such place of business;

[(45)] (46) "Rebuilder", a business that repairs or rebuilds motor vehicles owned by the rebuilder, but does not include certificated common or contract carriers of persons or property;

[(46)] (47) "Reconstructed motor vehicle", a vehicle that is altered from its original construction by the addition or substitution of two or more new or used major component parts, excluding motor vehicles made from all new parts, and new multistage manufactured vehicles;

[(47)] (48) "Recreational motor vehicle", any motor vehicle designed, constructed or substantially modified so that it may be used and is used for the purposes of temporary housing quarters, including therein sleeping and eating facilities which are either permanently attached to the motor vehicle or attached to a unit which is securely attached to the motor vehicle. Nothing herein shall prevent any motor vehicle from being registered as a commercial motor vehicle if the motor vehicle could otherwise be so registered;

[(48)] (49) "Rollback or car carrier", any vehicle specifically designed to transport wrecked, disabled or otherwise inoperable vehicles, when the transportation is directly connected to a wrecker or towing service;

[(49)] (50) "Saddlemount combination", a combination of vehicles in which a truck or truck tractor tows one or more trucks or truck tractors, each connected by a saddle to the frame or fifth wheel of the vehicle in front of it. The "saddle" is a mechanism that connects the front axle of the towed vehicle to the frame or fifth wheel of the vehicle in front and functions like a fifth wheel kingpin connection. When two vehicles are towed in this manner the combination is called a "double saddlemount combination". When three vehicles are towed in this manner, the combination is called a "triple saddlemount combination";

[(50)] (51) "Salvage dealer and dismantler", a business that dismantles used motor vehicles for the sale of the parts thereof, and buys and sells used motor vehicle parts and accessories;

[(51)] (52) "Salvage vehicle", a motor vehicle, semitrailer, or house trailer which:

(a) Was damaged during a year that is no more than six years after the manufacturer's model year designation for such vehicle to the extent that the total cost of repairs to rebuild or reconstruct the vehicle to its condition immediately before it was damaged for legal operation on the roads or highways exceeds eighty percent of the fair market value of the vehicle immediately preceding the time it was damaged;

(b) By reason of condition or circumstance, has been declared salvage, either by its owner, or by a person, firm, corporation, or other legal entity exercising the right of security interest in it;

(d) Ownership of which is evidenced by a salvage title; or

(e) Is abandoned property which is titled pursuant to section 304.155, RSMo, or section 304.157, RSMo, and designated with the words "salvage/abandoned property". The total cost of repairs to rebuild or reconstruct the vehicle shall not include the cost of repairing, replacing, or reinstalling inflatable safety restraints, tires, sound systems, or damage as a result of hail, or any sales tax on parts or materials to rebuild or reconstruct the vehicle. For purposes of this definition, "fair market value" means the retail value of a motor vehicle as:

a. Set forth in a current edition of any nationally recognized compilation of retail values, including automated databases, or from publications commonly used by the automotive and insurance industries to establish the values of motor vehicles;

b. Determined pursuant to a market survey of comparable vehicles with regard to condition and equipment; and

c. Determined by an insurance company using any other procedure recognized by the insurance industry, including market surveys, that is applied by the company in a uniform manner;

[(52)] (53) "School bus", any motor vehicle used solely to transport students to or from school or to transport students to or from any place for educational purposes;

[(53)] (54) "Shuttle bus", a motor vehicle used or maintained by any person, firm, or corporation as an incidental service to transport patrons or customers of the regular business of such person, firm, or corporation to and from the place of business of the person, firm, or corporation providing the service at no fee or charge. Shuttle buses shall not be registered as buses or as commercial motor vehicles;

[(54)] (55) "Special mobile equipment", every self-propelled vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including farm equipment, implements of husbandry, road construction or maintenance machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, stone crushers, air compressors, power shovels, cranes, graders, rollers, well-drillers and wood-sawing equipment used for hire, asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, ditchers, leveling graders, finished machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, earth-moving carryalls, scrapers, drag lines, concrete pump trucks, rock-drilling and earth-moving equipment. This enumeration shall be deemed partial and shall not operate to exclude other such vehicles which are within the general terms of this section;

[(55)] (56) "Specially constructed motor vehicle", a motor vehicle which shall not have been originally constructed under a distinctive name, make, model or type by a manufacturer of motor vehicles. The term specially constructed motor vehicle includes kit vehicles;

[(56)] (57) "Stinger-steered combination", a truck tractor-semitrailer wherein the fifth wheel is located on a drop frame located behind and below the rearmost axle of the power unit;

[(57)] (58) "Tandem axle", a group of two or more axles, arranged one behind another, the distance between the extremes of which is more than forty inches and not more than ninety-six inches apart;

[(58)] (59) "Tractor", "truck tractor" or "truck-tractor", a self-propelled motor vehicle designed for drawing other vehicles, but not for the carriage of any load when operating independently. When attached to a semitrailer, it supports a part of the weight thereof;

[(59)] (60) "Trailer", any vehicle without motive power designed for carrying property or passengers on its own structure and for being drawn by a self-propelled vehicle, except those running exclusively on tracks, including a semitrailer or vehicle of the trailer type so designed and used in conjunction with a self-propelled vehicle that a considerable part of its own weight rests upon and is carried by the towing vehicle. The term "trailer" shall not include cotton trailers as defined in subdivision (8) of this section and shall not include manufactured homes as defined in section 700.010, RSMo;

[(60)] (61) "Truck", a motor vehicle designed, used, or maintained for the transportation of property;

[(61)] (62) "Truck-tractor semitrailer-semitrailer", a combination vehicle in which the two trailing units are connected with a B-train assembly which is a rigid frame extension attached to the rear frame of a first semitrailer which allows for a fifth-wheel connection point for the second semitrailer and has one less articulation point than the conventional A-dolly connected truck-tractor semitrailer-trailer combination;

[(62)] (63) "Truck-trailer boat transporter combination", a boat transporter combination consisting of a straight truck towing a trailer using typically a ball and socket connection with the trailer axle located substantially at the trailer center of gravity rather than the rear of the trailer but so as to maintain a downward force on the trailer tongue;

[(63)] (64) "Used parts dealer", a business that buys and sells used motor vehicle parts or accessories, but not including a business that sells only new, remanufactured or rebuilt parts. "Business" does not include isolated sales at a swap meet of less than three days;

[(64)] (65) "Utility vehicle", any motorized vehicle manufactured and used exclusively for off-highway use which is sixty-three inches or less in width, with an unladen dry weight of one thousand eight hundred fifty pounds or less, traveling on four or six wheels, to be used primarily for landscaping, lawn care, or maintenance purposes;

[(65)] (66) "Vanpool", any van or other motor vehicle used or maintained by any person, group, firm, corporation, association, city, county or state agency, or any member thereof, for the transportation of not less than eight nor more than forty-eight employees, per motor vehicle, to and from their place of employment; however, a vanpool shall not be included in the definition of the term bus or commercial motor vehicle as defined by subdivisions (6) and (7) of this section, nor shall a vanpool driver be deemed a chauffeur as that term is defined by section 302.010, RSMo; nor shall use of a vanpool vehicle for ride-sharing arrangements, recreational, personal, or maintenance uses constitute an unlicensed use of the motor vehicle, unless used for monetary profit other than for use in a ride-sharing arrangement;

[(66)] (67) "Vehicle", any mechanical device on wheels, designed primarily for use, or used, on highways, except motorized bicycles, vehicles propelled or drawn by horses or human power, or vehicles used exclusively on fixed rails or tracks, or cotton trailers or motorized wheelchairs operated by handicapped persons;

[(67)] (68) "Wrecker" or "tow truck", any emergency commercial vehicle equipped, designed and used to assist or render aid and transport or tow disabled or wrecked vehicles from a highway, road, street or highway rights-of-way to a point of storage or repair, including towing a replacement vehicle to replace a disabled or wrecked vehicle;

[(68)] (69) "Wrecker or towing service", the act of transporting, towing or recovering with a wrecker, tow truck, rollback or car carrier any vehicle not owned by the operator of the wrecker, tow truck, rollback or car carrier for which the operator directly or indirectly receives compensation or other personal gain.

430.082. 1. Every person expending labor, services, skill or material upon any motor vehicle or trailer, as defined in chapter 301, RSMo, vessel, as defined in chapter 306, RSMo, outboard motor or aircraft at a written request of its owner, authorized agent of the owner, or person in lawful possession thereof, or who provides storage for a motor vehicle, trailer, outboard motor or vessel, at the written request of its owner, authorized agent of the owner, or person in lawful possession thereof, or at the written request of a peace officer in lieu of the owner or owner's agent, where such owner or agent is not available to request storage thereof, shall, where the maximum amount to be charged for labor, services, skill or material has been stated as part of the written request or the daily charge for storage has been stated as part of the written request, have a lien upon the chattel beginning upon the date of commencement of the expenditure of labor, services, skill, materials or storage for the actual value of all the expenditure of labor, services, skill, materials or storage until the possession of that chattel is voluntarily relinquished to the owner, authorized agent, or one entitled to possession thereof. The person furnishing labor, services, skill or material may retain the lien after surrendering possession of the aircraft or part or equipment thereof by filing a statement in the office of the county recorder of the county where the owner of the aircraft or part or equipment thereof resides, if known to the claimant, and in the office of the county recorder of the county where the claimant performed the services. Such statement shall be filed within thirty days after surrendering possession of the aircraft or part or equipment thereof and shall state the claimant's name and address, the items on account, the name of the owner and a description of the property, and shall not bind a bona fide purchaser unless the lien has also been filed with the Federal Aviation Administration Aircraft Registry.

2. If the chattel is not redeemed within three months of the completion of the requested labor, services, skill or material, the lienholder may apply to the director of revenue for a certificate of ownership or certificate of title.

3. If the charges are for storage or the service of towing the motor vehicle, trailer, outboard motor or vessel, and the chattel has not been redeemed three months after the charges for storage commenced, the lienholder shall notify by certified mail, postage prepaid, the owner and any lienholders of record other than the person making the notification, at the person's last known address that application for a lien title will be made unless the owner or lienholder within forty-five days makes satisfactory arrangements with the person holding the chattel for payment of storage or service towing charges, if any, or makes satisfactory arrangements with the lienholder for paying such charges or for continued storage of the chattel if desired. Forty-five days after the notification has been mailed and the chattel is unredeemed, or the notice has been returned marked "not forwardable" or "addressee unknown", and no satisfactory arrangement has been made with the lienholder for payment or continued storage, the lienholder may apply to the director of revenue for a certificate of ownership or certificate of title as provided in this section.

4. The application shall be accompanied by:

(1) The original or a conformed or photostatic copy of the written request of the owner or the owner's agent or of a peace officer with the maximum amount to be charged stated therein;

(2) An affidavit [of] from the lienholder that written notice was provided to all owners and lienholders of the applicant's intent to apply for a certificate of ownership and that the owner has defaulted on payment of labor, services, skill or material and that payment is three months past due, or that owner has defaulted on payment or has failed to make satisfactory arrangements for continued storage of the chattel for forty-five days since notification of intent to make application for a certificate of ownership or certificate of title. The affidavit shall be accompanied by a copy of the forty-five day notice given by certified mail to any owner and person holding a valid security interest and a copy of the certified mail receipt indicating that the owner and lienholder of record was sent a notice as required in this section;

(3) A statement of the actual value of the expenditure of labor, services, skill or material, or the amount of storage due on the date of application for a certificate of ownership or certificate of title, and the amount which is unpaid; and

(4) A fee of ten dollars.

5. If the director is satisfied with the genuineness of the application and supporting documents, [the director shall notify by certified mail, postage prepaid, the owner and any lienholders of record, other than the applicant, at their last known address that application has been made for a lien title on the chattel.

6. Thirty days after notification of the owner and lienholders,] and if no lienholder or the owner has redeemed the chattel or no satisfactory arrangement has been made concerning payment or continuation of storage [and the application has not been withdrawn], and if no owner or lienholder has informed the director that the owner or lienholder demands a hearing [and enforcement of the lien] as provided in this section [430.160], the director shall issue, in the same manner as a repossessed title is issued, a certificate of ownership or certificate of title to the applicant which shall clearly be captioned "Lien Title".

6. The owner or lienholder of any motor vehicle or trailer, as defined in chapter 301, RSMo; vessel, as defined in chapter 306, RSMo; outboard motor; or aircraft within ten days of receiving notification under this section may file a petition in the associate circuit court in the county where the motor vehicle, trailer, vessel, outboard motor, or aircraft is stored to determine if the motor vehicle, trailer, vessel, outboard motor, or aircraft was wrongfully taken or withheld from the owner. The petition shall name the person expending the labor, services, skill, or material among the defendants. The director of revenue shall not be a party to such petition but a copy of the petition shall be served on the director of revenue who shall not issue title to such motor vehicle, trailer, vessel, outboard motor, or aircraft under this section until the petition is finally decided.

7. Upon receipt of a lien title, the holder shall within ten days begin proceedings to sell the chattel as prescribed in section 430.100.

8. The provisions of section 430.110 shall apply to the disposition of proceeds, and the lienholder shall also be entitled to any actual and necessary expenses incurred in obtaining the lien title, including, but not limited to, court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

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