2009 Iowa Code
Title 8 - Transportation
Subtitle 2 - Vehicles
CHAPTER 321 - MOTOR VEHICLES AND LAW OF THE ROAD
321.126 - REFUNDS OF ANNUAL REGISTRATION FEES.

        321.126  REFUNDS OF ANNUAL REGISTRATION FEES.
         Refunds of unexpired annual vehicle registration fees shall be
      allowed in accordance with this section, except that no refund shall
      be allowed and paid if the unused portion of the fee is less than ten
      dollars.  Subsections 1 and 2 do not apply to vehicles registered by
      the county treasurer.  The refunds shall be made as follows:
         1.  If the vehicle is destroyed by fire or accident, or junked and
      its identity as a vehicle entirely eliminated, the owner in whose
      name the vehicle was registered at the time of destruction or
      dismantling shall return the plates to the department and within
      thirty days thereafter make a statement of such destruction or
      dismantling and make claim for refund.  With reference to the
      destruction or dismantling of a vehicle, no refund shall be allowed
      unless a junking certificate has been issued, as provided in section
      321.52.
         2.  If the vehicle is stolen, the owner shall give notice of the
      theft to the department within five days.  If the vehicle is not
      recovered by the owner thirty days prior to the end of the current
      registration year, the owner shall make a statement of the theft and
      make claim for refund.
         3.  If the vehicle is placed in storage by the owner upon the
      owner's entry into the military service of the United States, the
      owner shall return the plates to the county treasurer or the
      department and make a statement regarding the storage and military
      service and make claim for refund.  Whenever the owner of a vehicle
      so placed in storage desires to again register the vehicle, the
      county treasurer or department shall compute and collect the fees for
      registration for the registration year commencing in the month the
      vehicle is removed from storage.
         4.  If the vehicle is registered by the county treasurer during
      the current registration year and the owner or lessee registers the
      vehicle for proportional registration under chapter 326, the owner of
      the registered vehicle shall surrender the registration plates to the
      county treasurer and may file a claim for refund.  In lieu of a
      refund, a credit for the annual registration fees paid to the county
      treasurer may be applied by the department to the owner or lessee's
      proportional registration fees upon the surrender of the county
      plates and registration.
         5.  A refund for trailers and semitrailers issued a multiyear
      registration plate shall be paid by the department upon application.

         6.  If a vehicle is sold or junked, the owner in whose name the
      vehicle was registered may make claim to the county treasurer or
      department for a refund of the sold or junked vehicle's annual
      registration fee.  Also if the owner of a vehicle receives a vehicle
      registration fee credit under section 321.46, subsection 3, and the
      credit allowed exceeds the amount of the annual registration fee for
      the vehicle acquired, the owner may claim a refund for the balance of
      the credit.  The refund is subject to the following limitations:
         a.  If a vehicle registration fee credit has not been received
      by the owner of the vehicle under section 321.46, subsection 3, the
      refund shall be computed on the basis of the number of unexpired
      months remaining in the registration year at the time the vehicle was
      sold or junked.  The refund shall be rounded to the nearest whole
      dollar.  Section 321.127, subsection 1, does not apply.
         b.  The refund shall only be allowed if the owner makes claim
      for the refund within six months after the date of the vehicle's
      sale, trade, or junking.
         c.  This subsection does not apply to vehicles registered
      under chapter 326.
         7.  If the vehicle was leased and an affidavit was filed by the
      lessor or the lessee as provided in section 321.46, the lessor or the
      lessee, as applicable, may make a claim for a refund with the county
      treasurer of the county where the vehicle was registered within six
      months of the vehicle's surrender to the lessor.  The refund shall be
      paid to either the lessor or the lessee, as specified on the
      application for title and registration pursuant to section 321.20.
         8.  If the owner of the vehicle moves out of state, the owner may
      make a claim for a refund by returning the Iowa registration plates,
      along with evidence of the vehicle's registration in another
      jurisdiction, to the county treasurer of the county in which the
      vehicle was registered within six months of the out-of-state
      registration.  For purposes of section 321.127, the unexpired months
      remaining in the registration year shall be calculated on the basis
      of the effective date of the out-of-state registration.  However, for
      the purpose of timely issuance of the refund, the claim for a refund
      under this subsection is considered to be filed on the date the
      registration documents are received by the county treasurer.
         9.  Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary,
      there shall be no refund of proportional registration fees unless the
      state which issued the base plate for the vehicle allows such refund.
      If an owner subject to proportional registration leases the vehicle
      for which the refund is sought, the claim shall be filed in the names
      of both the lessee and the lessor and the refund payment made payable
      to both the lessor and the lessee.  The term "owner" for purposes
      of this section shall include a person in whom is vested right of
      possession or control of a vehicle which is subject to a lease,
      contract, or other legal arrangement vesting right of possession or
      control in addition to the term as defined in section 321.1,
      subsection 49.  

         Section History: Early Form

         [C24, 27, 31, 35, § 4924; C39, § 5008.22; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62,
      66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 321.126] 

         Section History: Recent Form

         82 Acts, ch 1062, § 22, 23, 38; 85 Acts, ch 87, § 4, 5; 87 Acts,
      ch 108, § 7; 90 Acts, ch 1154, § 6--11; 92 Acts, ch 1073, § 3; 95
      Acts, ch 118, § 19, 40; 2004 Acts, ch 1013, §21, 35; 2005 Acts, ch
      133, §1; 2006 Acts, ch 1068, §18; 2006 Acts, ch 1070, §10, 11, 31;
      2008 Acts, ch 1113, §97
         Referred to in § 321.46, 321.128, 326.15, 331.557