2020 Georgia Code
Title 40 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic
Chapter 3 - Certificates of Title, Security Interests, and Liens
Article 2 - Certificates of Title
§ 40-3-24. Contents of Certificate; Certificate as Evidence; Not Subject to Garnishment or Other Process

1. Each certificate of title issued by the commissioner or the commissioner's duly authorized county tag agent shall contain:
   1. The date issued;
   2. The name and address of the owner;
   3. The names and addresses of the holders of any security interest and of any lien as shown on the application or, if the application is based on a certificate of title, as shown on the certificate;
   4. The title number assigned to the vehicle;
   5. A description of the vehicle including, so far as the following data exist: its make, model, identifying number, type of body, number of cylinders, whether new, used, or a demonstrator and, if a new vehicle or a demonstrator, the date of the first sale of the vehicle for use; and
   6. Any other data the commissioner prescribes.
2. The certificate of title shall contain forms for assignment and warranty of title by the owner, and for assignment and warranty of title by a dealer, and may contain forms for applications for a certificate of title by a transferee or naming of a security interest holder and of a lienholder and the assignment or release of the security interest and lien.
3. A certificate of title issued by the commissioner or the commissioner's duly authorized county tag agent is prima-facie evidence of the facts appearing on it.
4. A certificate of title for a vehicle is not subject to garnishment, attachment, execution, or other judicial process, but this subsection does not prevent a lawful levy upon the vehicle.

(Ga. L. 1961, p. 68, § 11; Ga. L. 1962, p. 79, § 8; Code 1981, §40-3-25; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1186, § 7; Code 1981, §40-3-24, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 3; Ga. L. 1997, p. 739, § 8.)

- For comment on Maley v. National Acceptance Co., 250 F. Supp. 841 (N.D. Ga. 1966), see 3 Ga. St. B.J. 248 (1966).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Bank's security interest survives owner's use of unregistered trade name.

- Use of an unregistered trade name as the owner's name does not defeat a creditor's search for, and the giving of notice to the world of, the existence of the bank's security interest and does not therefore invalidate the bank's security interest. In re Firth, 363 F. Supp. 369 (M.D. Ga. 1973).

- Application for a certificate of title and a certificate stating that the title has been issued is not a copy of a certificate of title and, therefore, is not entitled to the effect that a certificate of title would have under subsection (c) of Ga. L. 1962, p. 79, § 8 (see now O.C.G.A. § 40-3-24). Harper v. Green, 115 Ga. App. 525, 154 S.E.2d 762 (1967).

Georgia certificate of title is not conclusive. By being only prima facie evidence of the question of title it can be contradicted by other evidence. Wielgorecki v. White, 133 Ga. App. 834, 212 S.E.2d 480 (1975).

Certificate of title is prima facie evidence of the ownership of an automobile and is sufficient to prove ownership in the absence of evidence clearly contradicting the facts recited in the certificate. United States v. Elliott, 571 F.2d 880 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 953, 99 S. Ct. 349, 58 L. Ed. 2d 344 (1978).

- Owner's name stated in the certificate of title is a "fact" within the meaning of subsection (c) of Ga. L. 1962, p. 79, § 8 (see now O.C.G.A. § 40-3-24). Thornton v. Alford, 112 Ga. App. 321, 145 S.E.2d 106 (1965).

Personal signature of the owner is not a "fact" within the meaning of subsection (c) of Ga. L. 1962, p. 79, § 8 (see now O.C.G.A. § 40-3-24) but merely a matter of form in making an application for the certificate. Thornton v. Alford, 112 Ga. App. 321, 145 S.E.2d 106 (1965).

- Judgment creditor cannot reach the debtor's rights in vehicles, certificates of title to which are held by the bank as security interests for the debtor's loans by attempting to garnish the certificates of title in the bank's hand. Cobb Bank & Trust Co. v. Springfield, 145 Ga. App. 753, 245 S.E.2d 42 (1978).

Cited in General Fire & Cas. Co. v. Kuffrey, 115 Ga. App. 121, 153 S.E.2d 590 (1967); Capital Auto. Co. v. GMAC, 119 Ga. App. 186, 166 S.E.2d 584 (1968); Waldrip v. Associates Fin. Servs. Co., 126 Ga. App. 560, 191 S.E.2d 302 (1972); Goger v. King, 17 Bankr. 64 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. 1981); Danforth v. Bulman, 276 Ga. App. 531, 623 S.E.2d 732 (2005).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Priority of stolen vehicle's original owner's property right.

- Issuance of title to another cannot deprive stolen vehicle's original owner of that owner's property right. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U70-224.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 7A Am. Jur. 2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, §§ 30, 31.

- 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, § 96 et seq.