Vehicles: electronic processing of documents: titling and registration.

(1) Existing law imposes specified licensing and regulatory requirements on dealers of motor vehicles and requires that specified fees and charges be disclosed in a conditional sales contract for the purchase of a motor vehicle. Existing law also prohibits any person from driving, moving, or leaving upon a highway any motor vehicle subject to registration under the Vehicle Code, unless it is registered and the appropriate fees have been paid under that code, and existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish contracts for electronic programs that allow qualified industry partners to join the department in providing services that include processing and payment programs for vehicle registration and titling transactions. Existing law makes it a violation of the Vehicle Code for the holder of any vehicle dealer's license to commit specified actions, including, to advertise the total price of a vehicle without including all costs to the purchaser at the time of sale, except taxes, vehicle registration fees, the California tire fee, as defined, emission testing fees not exceeding $50, actual fees charged for certificates, finance charges, and any dealer document preparation charge, and prohibits the dealer document preparation charge from exceeding $55. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2012, revise and recast these provisions and would require a motor vehicle sold or leased by a new motor vehicle dealer to be registered by the dealer using electronic programs provided by a qualified private industry partner, would require the dealer to disclose any document processing charge or electronic registration or transfer charge, and would establish the charges that a dealer may charge the purchaser or lessee of a vehicle. The bill would, after October 1, 2012, make it a violation of the Vehicle Code for the holder of a dealer's license to sell or lease a new motor vehicle unless the dealer has a contractual agreement with the department to be a private industry partner, except as specified. The bill would make other conforming changes to these provisions. The bill would, beginning July 1, 2012, prohibit a dealer from displaying or offering for sale at retail a used vehicle unless the dealer first obtains a vehicle history report from the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) . If the NMVTIS report indicates that the vehicle is or has been a junk or salvage automobile, or the vehicle has been reported as such by a junk or a salvage yard, or an insurance carrier, or the certificate of title contains a brand, the bill would require the dealer to post a specified disclosure and provide the retail purchaser with a copy of the report upon request prior to sale. These requirements associated with obtaining a NMVTIS vehicle history report would become inoperative if all NMVTIS data providers cease to make these reports available to the public. (2) Because this bill would create new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.