341.63 When registration to be suspended.

(1) The department shall suspend the registration of a vehicle when:

(a) The registration was completed through fraud or error and the person who registered the vehicle does not or cannot register the vehicle properly.

(b) The required fee has not been paid and the same is not paid upon reasonable notice and demand.

(c) Suspension of registration is specified by an authority under s. 345.28 (4) (a) 2.

(d) The applicant fails, upon reasonable notice and demand, to furnish proof of payment, in the form prescribed by the U.S. secretary of the treasury, that the federal heavy vehicle use tax imposed by section 4481 of the internal revenue code has been paid.

(e) The licensee of a vehicle registered in a county identified under s. 110.20 (5) has not complied with the inspection requirements of s. 110.20 (6).

(f) The motor vehicle is registered under the international registration plan specified in s. 341.405 and the motor vehicle has been identified by the federal motor carrier safety administration as having been assigned for safety to a motor carrier whose business is operated, managed, or otherwise controlled or affiliated with a person that has been issued a federal out-of-service order for unsatisfactory safety compliance.

(1m) Upon receiving notice that a motor carrier has been issued a federal out-of-service order for unsatisfactory safety compliance, the department shall suspend the registration of each motor vehicle to which all of the following apply:

(a) The motor carrier is identified on the motor vehicle's registration application as the motor carrier responsible for the safety of the vehicle.

(b) The motor vehicle is registered under the international registration plan specified in s. 341.405.

(1r) The department may suspend the registration of a motor vehicle registered under the international registration plan specified in s. 341.405 if the department determines that the motor carrier identified on the motor vehicle's registration application as the motor carrier responsible for safety of the vehicle is the same or substantially the same business, or that elements of the motor carrier operation are the same or substantially the same business elements, as a motor carrier that has been issued a federal out-of-service order for unsatisfactory safety compliance.

(2) Any registration suspended under this section or ch. 344 continues to be suspended until reinstated by the department. The department shall reinstate the registration when the reason for the suspension has been removed.

(3)

(a) Whenever the registration of a vehicle is suspended under this section or ch. 344, the department may order the owner or person in possession of the registration plates to return them to the department. Any person who fails to return the plates when ordered to do so by the department may be required to forfeit not more than $200.

(b) In addition to or in lieu of ordering the return of registration plates under par. (a), the department may seize and destroy the registration plates of any motor vehicle for which all of the following apply:

1. The motor carrier identified on the motor vehicle's registration application as the motor carrier responsible for safety of the vehicle has been issued a federal out-of-service order for unsatisfactory safety compliance.

2. The motor vehicle is registered under the international registration plan specified in s. 341.405 or under a similar international registration plan under the law of another jurisdiction.

History: 1971 c. 278; 1977 c. 29 ss. 1451, 1654 (7) (a), (e); 1981 c. 165; 1983 a. 78, 180, 330, 538; 1985 a. 29; 1987 a. 27, 369; 1991 a. 39; 1993 a. 64, 288, 491; 1997 a. 84; 2011 a. 32.