In the event of a lost or destroyed certificate of title, application shall be made to a clerk of a court of common pleas, by the owner of the off-highway motorcycle or all-purpose vehicle, or the holder of a lien on it, for a certified copy of the certificate, upon a form prescribed by the registrar of motor vehicles and accompanied by the fee prescribed by section 4519.59 of the Revised Code. The application shall be signed and sworn to by the person making the application, and the clerk shall issue a certified copy of the certificate of title to the person entitled to receive it under this chapter. The certified copy shall be plainly marked across its face with the word "duplicate," and any subsequent purchaser of the off-highway motorcycle or all-purpose vehicle in the chain of title originating through the certified copy acquires only such rights in the off-highway motorcycle or all-purpose vehicle as the original holder of the certified copy had. Any purchaser of the off-highway motorcycle or all-purpose vehicle, at the time of purchase, may require the seller of the same to indemnify the purchaser and all subsequent purchasers of the off-highway motorcycle or all-purpose vehicle against any loss that the purchaser or subsequent purchasers may suffer by reason of any claim presented upon the original certificate. In the event of the recovery of the original certificate of title by the owner, the owner shall surrender it immediately to the clerk for cancellation.

The holder of a certificate of title for an off-highway motorcycle or all-purpose vehicle upon which is noted an existing lien, encumbrance, or mortgage, may make application at any time to a clerk for a memorandum certificate, which application shall be made in the form prescribed by the registrar and signed and sworn to by the applicant. Upon receipt of the application, if it appears to be correct, together with the fee prescribed by section 4519.59 of the Revised Code, the clerk shall issue to the applicant a memorandum certificate for the off-highway motorcycle or all-purpose vehicle. If the memorandum certificate is lost or destroyed, the holder of it may obtain a certified copy of it upon the filing of an application with the clerk on a form prescribed by the registrar, accompanied by the fee prescribed in section 4519.59 of the Revised Code. The memorandum certificate is not assignable and constitutes no evidence of title or of right to transfer or encumber the off-highway motorcycle or all-purpose vehicle described in it.

Effective Date: 10-31-2001.