81R10478 JAM-F
 
  By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1617
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the titling and registration of certain motor vehicles.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 501.021, Transportation Code, is amended
  by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (c)  A certificate of title for a motor vehicle that has been
  the subject of an ordered repurchase or replacement under Chapter
  2301, Occupations Code, must contain on its face a notice
  sufficient to inform a purchaser that the motor vehicle has been the
  subject of an ordered repurchase or replacement.
         SECTION 2.  Section 520.023, Transportation Code, is amended
  by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
         (g)  A transferor who files the appropriate form with the
  department as provided by, and in accordance with, this section,
  whether that form is a part of a certificate of title or a form
  otherwise promulgated by the department to comply with the terms of
  this section, has no vicarious civil or criminal liability arising
  out of the use, operation, or abandonment of the vehicle by another
  person. Proof by the transferor that the transferor filed a form
  under this section is a complete defense to an action brought
  against the transferor for an act or omission, civil or criminal,
  arising out of the use, operation, or abandonment of the vehicle by
  another person after the transferor filed the form. A copy of the
  form filed under this section is proof of the filing of the form.
         SECTION 3.  Section 702.003, Transportation Code, is amended
  by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
         (f)  This section does not apply to the registration of a
  motor vehicle under Section 501.0234.
         SECTION 4.  Section 707.017, Transportation Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         Sec. 707.017.  ENFORCEMENT.  If the owner of a motor vehicle
  is delinquent in the payment of a civil penalty imposed under this
  chapter, the county assessor-collector or the Texas Department of
  Transportation may refuse to register a motor vehicle alleged to
  have been involved in the violation. This section does not apply to
  the registration of a motor vehicle under Section 501.0234.
         SECTION 5.  (a) The change in law made to Section 501.021,
  Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a title
  issued on or after the effective date of this Act. A title issued
  before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
  effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         (b)  The change in law made to Section 520.023,
  Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a
  transfer of a vehicle that occurred on or after the effective date
  of this Act. A transfer that occurred before the effective date of
  this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
  effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         (c)  The change in law made to Sections 702.003 and 707.017,
  Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a
  registration period beginning on or after the effective date of
  this Act.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.