2009 Iowa Code
Title 8 - Transportation
Subtitle 2 - Vehicles
CHAPTER 321 - MOTOR VEHICLES AND LAW OF THE ROAD
321.42 - LOST OR DAMAGED CERTIFICATES, CARDS, AND PLATES -- REPLACEMENTS.

        321.42  LOST OR DAMAGED CERTIFICATES, CARDS, AND
      PLATES -- REPLACEMENTS.
         1.  If a registration card, plate, or pair of plates is lost or
      becomes illegible, the owner shall immediately apply for replacement.
      The fee for a replacement registration card is three dollars.  The
      fee for a replacement plate or pair of plates other than a
      replacement of a special plate issued pursuant to section 321.60 is
      five dollars.  The fee for replacement of a special plate issued
      pursuant to section 321.60 is forty dollars.  When the owner has
      furnished information required by the department and paid the proper
      fee, a duplicate, substitute, or new registration card, plate, or
      pair of plates may be issued.  The county treasurer or the department
      may waive the fee for a replacement plate if the plate is lost during
      a documented accident.
         2. a.  If a certificate of title is lost or destroyed, the
      owner or lienholder shall apply for a replacement copy of the
      original certificate of title.  The owner or lienholder of a motor
      vehicle may also apply for a replacement copy of the original
      certificate of title upon surrender of the original certificate of
      title with the application.  The application shall be made to the
      department or county treasurer who issued the original certificate of
      title.  The application shall be signed by the owner or lienholder
      and accompanied by a fee of twenty dollars.
         b.  After five days, the department or county treasurer shall
      issue a replacement copy using the applicant's most recent bona fide
      address; however, the five-day waiting period does not apply to an
      applicant who is a lienholder or to an applicant who has surrendered
      the original certificate of title to the department or county
      treasurer.  The replacement copy shall be clearly marked
      "replacement" and shall include security interests and liens.  When a
      replacement copy has been issued, the previous certificate is void.
      The department or county treasurer is not authorized to refund fees
      collected for a replacement title under this section or section
      321.52A.
         c.  If a security interest noted on the face of an original
      certificate of title was released by the lienholder on a separate
      form pursuant to section 321.50, subsection 5, and the signature of
      the lienholder, or the person executing the release on behalf of the
      lienholder, is notarized, but the lienholder has not delivered the
      original certificate to the appropriate party as provided in section
      321.50, subsection 5, the owner may apply for and receive a
      replacement certificate of title without the released security
      interest noted thereon.  The lienholder shall return the original
      certificate of title to the department or to the treasurer of the
      county where the title was issued.
         d.  A new purchaser or transferee is entitled to receive an
      original title upon presenting the assigned replacement copy to the
      treasurer of the county where the new purchaser or transferee
      resides.  At the time of purchase, a purchaser may require the seller
      to indemnify the purchaser and all future purchasers of the vehicle
      against any loss which may be suffered due to claims on the original
      certificate.  A person recovering an original certificate of title
      for which a replacement has been issued shall surrender the original
      certificate to the county treasurer or the department.
         3.  If a county treasurer mails vehicle registration documents
      which become lost or are damaged in transit through the United States
      postal service, the person to whom the documents were being sent may
      apply for reissuance without cost.  The application shall be made
      with the county treasurer who originally issued the documents not
      less than twenty days from the date the documents were placed with
      the United States postal service.  If the original documents are
      received after reissuance of duplicates, the original documents shall
      be surrendered to the county treasurer within five days of the time
      they are received.  

         Section History: Early Form

         [SS15, § 1571-m5; C24, 27, 31, 35, § 4886; C39, § 5001.26;
      C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, S81, § 321.42; 81
      Acts, ch 102, § 1] 

         Section History: Recent Form

         84 Acts, ch 1305, § 51; 85 Acts, ch 209, §1; 99 Acts, ch 13, §6;
      2000 Acts, ch 1016, §43, 47; 2004 Acts, ch 1013, §11, 35; 2005 Acts,
      ch 34, §4, 26; 2006 Acts, ch 1068, §11; 2008 Acts, ch 1113, § 16, 21;
      2008 Acts, ch 1124, §6
         Referred to in § 312.2, 321.52A, 331.557, 648.22A
         Surcharge imposed; § 321.52A