GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1989 SESSION
CHAPTER 916
AN ACT TO CLARIFY THE MOTOR VEHICLE SALVAGE TITLE LAW AND TO REQUIRE CERTAIN DAMAGE DISCLOSURES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 20-71.3 as amended by Chapter 455 of the 1989 Session Laws, reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-71.3. Titles and registration cards to be branded.
Motor Vehicle certificates of title and registration cards issued
pursuant to G.S. 20-57 shall be branded. As used herein 'branded' means
that the title and registration card shall contain a designation that discloses
if the vehicle is classified as (a) Flood Vehicle, (b) Non-U.S.A. Vehicle, (c)
Reconstructed Vehicle, (d) Salvage Motor Vehicle, or (e) Salvage Rebuilt
Vehicle or other classification authorized by law. Any motor vehicle
damaged by collision or other occurrence which is to be retitled in this State
shall be subject to preliminary and final inspections by the Enforcement
Section of the Division, and the Division shall refuse to issue a title to a
vehicle which has not undergone a preliminary inspection. Any motor
vehicle which has been branded in another state shall be branded with the
nearest applicable brand specified in this section, except that no junk vehicle
or vehicle that has been branded junk in another state shall be titled or
registered. A motor vehicle titled in another state and damaged by
collision or other occurrence may be repaired and an unbranded title issued in
North Carolina only if the cost of repairs, including parts and labor, does not
exceed seventy-five percent (75%) of its fair market retail value and
satisfactory evidence is given to the Division that the vehicle would be eligible
for the issuance of an unbranded title in the state in which it is titled. value.
The Commissioner shall prepare necessary forms and may adopt regulations
required to carry out the provisions of this Part 3A. The title shall
reflect the branding until surrendered to or cancelled by the
Commissioner."
Sec. 2. G.S. 20-71.4(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) It shall be unlawful
and constitute a misdemeanor for any person transferor who knows
or reasonably should know that a motor vehicle has been involved in a collision
or other occurrence to the extent that the cost of repairing that vehicle
exceeds twenty-five percent (25%) of its fair market retail value, or that
the motor vehicle is, or was, a flood vehicle, a reconstructed vehicle, or a
salvage motor vehicle, to fail to disclose that fact in writing to the
transferee prior to transfer of the vehicle. any vehicle up to five
model years old. Failure to disclose any of the above information will
also result in civil liability under G.S. 20-348. The Commissioner
shall prepare forms to carry out the provisions of this section."
Sec. 3. This act shall become effective October 1, 1990 and shall apply to transactions occurring on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 16th day of July, 1990.