37-1280. Department of Motor Vehicles; powers and duties; rules and regulations; cancellation of certificate of title; removal of improperly noted lien on certificate of title; procedure.

(1) The Department of Motor Vehicles may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out sections 37-1275 to 37-1290. The county treasurers shall conform to any such rules and regulations and act at the direction of the department. The department shall also provide the county treasurers with the necessary training for the proper administration of such sections. The department shall receive and file in its office all instruments forwarded to it by the county treasurers under such sections and shall maintain indices covering the entire state for the instruments so filed. These indices shall be by hull identification number and alphabetically by the owner's name and shall be for the entire state and not for individual counties. The department shall provide and furnish the forms required by section 37-1286 to the county treasurers except manufacturers' or importers' certificates. The department shall check with its records all duplicate certificates of title received from the county treasurers. If it appears that a certificate of title has been improperly issued, the department shall cancel the certificate of title. Upon cancellation of any certificate of title, the department shall notify the county treasurer who issued the certificate, and the county treasurer shall enter the cancellation upon his or her records. The department shall also notify the person to whom such certificate of title was issued and any lienholders appearing on the certificate of the cancellation and shall demand the surrender of the certificate of title, but the cancellation shall not affect the validity of any lien noted on the certificate. The holder of the certificate of title shall return the certificate to the department immediately. If a certificate of number has been issued pursuant to section 37-1216 to the holder of a certificate of title so canceled, the department shall notify the commission. Upon receiving the notice, the commission shall immediately cancel the certificate of number and demand the return of the certificate of number and the holder of the certificate of number shall return the certificate to the commission immediately.

(2) The department may remove a lien on a certificate of title when such lien was improperly noted if evidence of the improperly noted lien is submitted to the department and the department finds the evidence sufficient to support removal of the lien. The department shall send notification prior to removal of the lien to the last-known address of the lienholder. The lienholder must respond within thirty days after the date on the notice and provide sufficient evidence to support that the lien should not be removed. If the lienholder fails to respond to the notice, the lien may be removed by the department.

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