Report Title:
Motor Vehicles; Transfer; Unpaid Assessments
Description:
Makes unpaid parking citations the responsibility of the person who was the registered owner of the vehicle at the time the citation was issued, even if the vehicle is later transferred to a new or repossessed by the legal owner. Permits the driver's license of the person who was the registered owner at the time the citation was issued to be restricted until outstanding assessments are paid.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
748 |
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TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to motor vehicles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the primary purpose of Act 214, Session Laws of Hawaii 1993, was to improve the system by which traffic offenses are processed in order to dispose expeditiously of these cases and thereby achieve efficient and effective use of limited judicial and law enforcement resources. At the same time, Act 214 was designed to minimize the time motorists would spend in court by permitting them, in most instances, to resolve their cases by mail.
The legislature also finds that Act 214 made most traffic offenses civil in nature and, as a result, courts do not issue arrest warrants when a motorist initially fails to pay a fine or other assessment. Instead, the court orders judgment for the State and places a "stopper" on the driver's license or vehicle registration until the outstanding fines or assessments are paid. This procedure is designed to ensure that outstanding fines are paid before a person renews their driver's license or motor vehicle registration or transfers the motor vehicle. In this way, fines are collected with minimum consumption of court resources.
The legislature further finds that "stoppers" on driver's licenses for moving violations were authorized by section 291D-10(a), Hawaii Revised Statutes, while "stoppers" on vehicle registrations and transfers for parking violations were authorized by section 291D-10(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes. The reason that "stoppers" linked moving violations with driver's licenses, on the one hand, and parking violations and vehicle registrations and transfers, on the other, was that the driver's license and vehicle registration databases could not be cross-referenced at the time--and that is still the case today. As a result, a "stopper" for failure to pay a parking violation could not be placed on the driver's license of the vehicle owner and instead had to be placed on the vehicle itself.
The legislature further finds that amendments made to section 291D-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by Act 48, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, expanded the class of outstanding sums for which a "stopper" could be imposed. Thereafter, the judiciary began to enforce a policy that effectively made the purchaser of or a legal owner repossessing a used vehicle liable not only for outstanding citations on the vehicle but for any related fees that may have been imposed on the previous registered owner of the vehicle for the previous registered owner's failure to pay the fines. As a result, a purchaser or a repossessing legal owner of used vehicles could not complete the transfer of ownership without paying fees incurred by the registered owner and of which they had no knowledge at the time of the sale.
While the legislature finds that encumbering property with a lien for sums due to the government is not a new practice, the manner in which the judiciary has enforced section 291D-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, has imposed undue hardship on consumers and other legal owners and stands to impede commerce in used vehicles. For one thing, the judiciary's information system has not been, and may never be, able to give real-time information on outstanding parking violations for a particular vehicle. For another, holding a good faith purchaser or repossessor liable for fees that relate not to the parking citation itself but to the previous registered owner's failure to pay the citation is manifestly unfair. Moreover, this mode of enforcement will unduly burden the financing of vehicles since financing entities will have to provide for a ramification of this problem if they will be held liable for the traffic violations of another person.
The purpose of this Act is to promote fairness to consumers and repossessing legal owners and to remove impediments to commerce in used vehicles by ensuring that parking citations and any fees incurred for failure to pay them remain the responsibility of the person who was the registered owner of the vehicle at the time the citation was issued and who committed the traffic infraction.
SECTION 2. Section 291D-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§291D-10 Restriction on driver's
license and motor vehicle registration. (a) When the person issued
a [notice of] traffic [infraction] citation not involving
parking fails to pay the total amount of fines, fees, surcharges, costs, or
monetary assessments that has been ordered, the court shall cause an entry to
be made in the driver's license record so as to prevent the person from
acquiring or renewing the person's driver's license until the outstanding
amount is paid or the notice of traffic infraction is otherwise disposed of
pursuant to this chapter.
(b) [In all cases where] When
the registered owner of a motor vehicle to [which] whom a [notice
of] traffic [infraction] citation has been issued fails to
pay the total amount of fines, fees, surcharges, costs, or monetary assessments
that have been ordered, the court shall cause an entry to be made in the motor
vehicle's record [so as] to prevent issuance or renewal of the motor
vehicle's certificate of registration [and transfer of title to the motor
vehicle until the outstanding amount is paid or the notice of traffic
infraction is otherwise disposed of pursuant to this chapter;] provided
that if the traffic infraction involves an unpaid parking violation, this
subsection shall not prevent the issuance or renewal of the motor vehicle's
certificate of registration and transfer of title to the motor vehicle to
another person, including a repossessing legal owner, in which case the
clerk of the court shall issue a clearance to effectuate the registration and
transfer of title[; and provided further that in]. In no event
shall a clearance:
(1) Absolve the registered owner of the motor vehicle at the time the parking violation was incurred from paying the fine;
(2) Prevent any subsequent issuance or renewal of the motor vehicle's certificate of registration and transfer of title to the motor vehicle; or
(3) Otherwise encumber the title of that motor vehicle.
(c) The registered owner of a motor vehicle to whom a traffic citation was issued shall remain responsible for the total amount of fines, fees, surcharges, costs, or monetary assessments imposed for a notice of traffic infraction issued while the person was the registered owner, even if the person thereafter transfers or if a legal owner lawfully repossesses the vehicle. The transferee or repossessing legal owner shall not be responsible for any fines, fees, surcharges, costs, or monetary assessments imposed for a notice of traffic infraction issued before the transferee became the registered owner of the vehicle."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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