License Plate Expiration On Change Of Ownership

The act specifies that:

• The license plates of a motor vehicle that is Class C personal property for purposes of the laws governing the levying of specific ownership tax and registration of vehicles expire upon the transfer of the owner's title or interest in the motor vehicle;
• If either the expired license plates are personalized license plates or the owner wishes to continue to use the same combination of letters or numbers on the owner's expired license plates that were not originally issued as personalized license plates, the owner retains the priority right to use the combination of letters or numbers displayed on the expired license plates to the extent provided for in current law and may, after surrendering the expired license plates to the department of revenue (department), apply for personalized license plates that use the combination in the manner specified in current law when registering another motor vehicle; and
• The department shall approve any application for personalized license plates received from an individual who wishes to retain the same combination of letters or numbers displayed on the individual's expired license plates and who has surrendered the expired plates to the department unless the department determines that the combination is misleading or duplicates another registration number or that, due to evolving social mores, the combination, despite having previously been issued, carries connotations offensive to good taste or decency; and
• Any resulting incremental costs of producing and distributing additional new license plates are excluded from the calculation of the amount necessary to recover the costs of license plate, decal, and validating tab production, and distribution that is used to annually establish the amount of the fee charged to cover those costs.

Class C personal property includes passenger cars, noncommercial light trucks, and motorcycles. The act does not apply to the transfer or assignment of an owner's interest in Class C personal property that is a horseless carriage.

The act appropriates $9,000 from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to the department for DRIVES maintenance and support needed to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)