A. Any seller or transferor, including a dealer, of a vehicle required to be registered pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Code [66-1-1 NMSA 1978] shall furnish to the purchaser upon delivery the necessary title properly assigned and shall inform the purchaser that application for registration must be filed with the department within thirty days of the date of sale. When a dealer licensed pursuant to Section 66-4-1 NMSA 1978 allows a vehicle to be purchased over a period of time pursuant to an expressed or implied contract and elects to retain a security interest in the vehicle, the dealer shall collect the necessary registration fees from the purchaser upon delivery of the vehicle and shall, within thirty days, pay all registration fees due on the vehicle to the department and shall give to the new purchaser the new registration certificate in the purchaser's name.

B. Every dealer, upon transferring by sale, lease or otherwise any vehicle, whether new or used, of a type subject to registration pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Code shall give written notice of the transfer to the department upon an appropriate form provided by the department.

C. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the dealer shall indicate on the form the actual mileage of the vehicle as indicated by the vehicle's odometer at the time of the transfer.

D. A sale shall be deemed completed and consummated when the purchaser of that vehicle has paid the purchase price or, in lieu thereof, has signed a purchase contract or security agreement and taken physical possession or delivery of that vehicle.

E. Failure to apply for assignment of registration and issuance of a new certificate of title within thirty days from the date of sale, transfer or assignment of a vehicle subjects the owner of the newly acquired vehicle to a penalty of twenty dollars ($20.00), which shall be collected by the department and shall be in addition to other fees and penalties provided by law.

History: 1953 Comp., § 64-3-107, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 54; 1981, ch. 361, § 11; 1998, ch. 48, § 6; 2007, ch. 319, § 25.

The 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, changed "transfer" to "registration" and "assignment".

The 1998 amendment, effective July 1, 1998, rewrote the section heading; in Subsection A, substituted "Any seller or transferor, including a dealer" for "Dealers required to be licensed under the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code shall furnish to a purchaser upon delivery", substituted "pursuant to" for "under", inserted "shall furnish to the purchaser upon delivery", substituted "for" for "of", substituted "department" for "division", substituted "sale" for "delivery", inserted "licensed pursuant to Section 66-4-1 NMSA 1978", and substituted "department" for "division of motor vehicles"; in Subsection B, substituted "under" for "pursuant to" and "department" for "division" twice; and in Subsection E, substituted "subjects" for "shall subject" and "department" for "division".

Noncompliance not failure of title or breach of warranty. — The fact that the parties failed to comply with the title provisions would not operate to continue the plaintiff's status as a purchaser indefinitely. The title provisions refer to the duties of the dealer and transferee, but noncompliance therewith cannot be considered a failure of title, fraudulent misrepresentation, or breach of warranty as to freedom from liens on a motor vehicle. Prince v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 1965-NMSC-073,75 N.M. 313, 404 P.2d 137.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 7A Am. Jur. 2d Automobiles and Highway Traffic § 32.

60 C.J.S. Motor Vehicles § 40.