2009 Iowa Code
Title 8 - Transportation
Subtitle 2 - Vehicles
CHAPTER 321 - MOTOR VEHICLES AND LAW OF THE ROAD
321.52 - OUT-OF-STATE SALES -- JUNKED, DISMANTLED, WRECKED, OR SALVAGE VEHICLES.

        321.52  OUT-OF-STATE SALES -- JUNKED, DISMANTLED,
      WRECKED, OR SALVAGE VEHICLES.
         1.  When a vehicle is sold outside the state for purposes other
      than for junk, the owner, dealer or otherwise, shall detach the
      registration plates and registration card and shall indicate on the
      registration card the name and address of the foreign purchaser or
      transferee over the person's signature.  Unless the registration
      plates are legally attached to another vehicle, the owner shall
      surrender the registration plates and registration card to the county
      treasurer, who shall cancel the records, destroy the registration
      plates, and forward the registration card to the department.  The
      department shall make a notation on the records of the out-of-state
      sale and, after a reasonable period, may destroy the files for that
      particular vehicle.  The department is not authorized to make a
      refund of annual registration fees on a vehicle sold out of state
      unless it receives the registration card completed as provided in
      this section.
         2.  The purchaser or transferee of a motor vehicle for which a
      certificate of title is issued which is sold for scrap or junk shall
      surrender the certificate of title, properly endorsed and signed by
      the previous owner, to the county treasurer of the county of
      residence of the transferee, and shall apply for a junking
      certificate from the county treasurer, within thirty days after
      assignment of the certificate of title.  The county treasurer shall
      issue to such person without fee a junking certificate.  A junking
      certificate shall authorize the holder to possess, transport, or
      transfer by endorsement the ownership of the junked vehicle.  A
      certificate of title shall not again be issued for the vehicle
      subsequent to the issuance of a junking certificate except as
      provided in subsection 3.  The county treasurer shall cancel the
      record of the vehicle.  The junking certificate shall be printed on
      the registration receipt form and shall be imprinted with the words
      "junking certificate", as prescribed by the department.  A space for
      transfer by endorsement shall be on the junking certificate.  A
      separate form for the notation of the transfer of component parts
      shall be attached to the junking certificate when the certificate is
      issued.
         3. a.  When a vehicle for which a certificate of title is
      issued is junked or dismantled by the owner, the owner shall detach
      the registration plates and surrender the plates to the county
      treasurer, unless the plates are properly assigned to another
      vehicle.  The owner shall also surrender the certificate of title to
      the county treasurer.
         b.  Upon the surrender of the certificate of title and
      application for junking certificate, the county treasurer shall issue
      to the person, without fee, a junking certificate, which shall
      authorize the holder to possess, transport, or transfer ownership of
      the junked vehicle by endorsement of the junking certificate.  The
      county treasurer shall hold the surrendered certificate of title,
      registration receipt, application for junking certificate, and, if
      applicable, the registration plates for a period of fourteen days
      following the issuance of a junking certificate under this
      subsection.
         c.  Within the fourteen-day period, the person who was issued
      the junking certificate and to whom the vehicle was titled or
      assigned may surrender to the county treasurer the junking
      certificate, and upon the person's payment of appropriate fees and
      taxes and payment of any credit for annual registration fees received
      by the person for the vehicle under section 321.46, subsection 3, the
      county treasurer shall issue to the person a certificate of title for
      the vehicle.  After the expiration of the fourteen-day period, a
      county treasurer shall not issue a certificate of title for a junked
      vehicle for which a junking certificate is issued.  The county
      treasurer shall cancel the record of the vehicle and forward the
      certificate of title to the department.
         d.  However, upon application and a showing of good cause, the
      department may issue a certificate of title to a person after the
      fourteen-day period for a junked vehicle for which a junking
      certificate has been issued.  For purposes of this subsection,
      "good cause" means that the junking certificate was obtained by
      mistake or inadvertence.  If a person's application to the department
      is denied, the person may make application for a certificate of title
      under the bonding procedure as provided in section 321.24, if the
      vehicle qualifies as an antique vehicle under section 321.115,
      subsection 1, or the person may seek judicial review as provided
      under sections 17A.19 and 17A.20.
         4. a.  A vehicle rebuilder or a person engaged in the business
      of buying, selling, or exchanging vehicles of a type required to be
      registered in this state, upon acquisition of a wrecked or salvage
      vehicle, shall surrender the certificate of title or manufacturer's
      or importer's statement of origin properly assigned, together with an
      application for a salvage certificate of title, to the county
      treasurer of the county of residence of the purchaser or transferee
      within thirty days after the date of assignment of the certificate of
      title for the wrecked or salvage motor vehicle.  This subsection
      applies only to vehicles with a fair market value of five hundred
      dollars or more, based on the value before the vehicle became wrecked
      or salvage.  Upon payment of a fee of ten dollars, the county
      treasurer shall issue a salvage certificate of title which shall bear
      the word "SALVAGE" stamped or printed on the face of the title in a
      manner prescribed by the department.  A salvage certificate of title
      may be assigned to an educational institution, a new motor vehicle
      dealer licensed under chapter 322, a person engaged in the business
      of purchasing bodies, parts of bodies, frames or component parts of
      vehicles for sale as scrap metal, a salvage pool, or an authorized
      vehicle recycler licensed under chapter 321H.  An authorized vehicle
      recycler licensed under chapter 321H or a new motor vehicle dealer
      licensed under chapter 322 may assign or reassign an Iowa salvage
      certificate of title or a salvage certificate of title from another
      state to any person, and the provisions of section 321.24, subsection
      5, requiring issuance of an Iowa salvage certificate of title shall
      not apply.  A vehicle on which ownership has transferred to an
      insurer of the vehicle as a result of a settlement with the owner of
      the vehicle arising out of damage to, or unrecovered theft of, the
      vehicle shall be deemed to be a wrecked or salvage vehicle and the
      insurer shall comply with this subsection to obtain a salvage
      certificate of title within thirty days after the date of assignment
      of the certificate of title of the vehicle.
         b.  When a wrecked or salvage vehicle has been repaired, the
      owner may apply for a regular certificate of title by paying the
      appropriate fees and surrendering the salvage certificate of title
      and a properly executed salvage theft examination certificate.  A
      motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of thirty thousand
      pounds or more is not subject to the salvage theft examination
      otherwise required under paragraph "c", and the owner of such
      vehicle is not required to submit a salvage theft examination
      certificate.  The county treasurer shall issue a regular certificate
      of title which shall bear a designation printed on the face of the
      title and printed on the registration receipt indicating that the
      vehicle was previously titled on a salvage certificate of title in a
      form approved by the department.  This designation shall be included
      on every Iowa certificate of title and registration receipt issued
      thereafter for the vehicle.  However, if ownership of a stolen
      vehicle has been transferred to an insurer organized under the laws
      of this state or admitted to do business in this state, or if the
      transfer was the result of a settlement with the owner of the vehicle
      arising from damage to or the unrecovered theft of the vehicle, and
      if the insurer certifies to the county treasurer on a form approved
      by the department that the insurance company has received one or more
      written estimates which state that the retail cost of repairs
      including labor, parts, and other materials of all damage to the
      vehicle is less than three thousand dollars, the county treasurer
      shall issue to the insurance company the regular certificate of title
      and registration receipt without this designation.
         c.  A salvage theft examination shall be made by a peace
      officer who has been specially certified and recertified when
      required by the Iowa law enforcement academy to do salvage theft
      examinations.  The Iowa law enforcement academy shall determine
      standards for training and certification, conduct training, and may
      approve alternative training programs which satisfy the academy's
      standards for training and certification.  The owner of the salvage
      vehicle shall make the vehicle available for examination at a time
      and location designated by the peace officer doing the examination.
      The owner may obtain a permit to drive the vehicle to and from the
      examination location by submitting a repair affidavit to the agency
      performing the examination stating that the vehicle is reasonably
      safe for operation and listing the repairs which have been made to
      the vehicle.  The owner must be present for the examination and have
      available for inspection the salvage title, bills of sale for all
      essential parts changed, if applicable, and the repair affidavit.
      The examination shall be for the purposes of determining whether the
      vehicle or repair components have been stolen.  The examination is
      not a safety inspection and a signed salvage theft examination
      certificate shall not be construed by any court of law to be a
      certification that the vehicle is safe to be operated.  There shall
      be no cause of action against the peace officer or the agency
      conducting the examination or the county treasurer for failure to
      discover or note safety defects.  If the vehicle passes the theft
      examination, the peace officer shall indicate that the vehicle passed
      examination on the salvage theft examination certificate.  The permit
      and salvage theft examination certificate shall be on controlled
      forms prescribed and furnished by the department.  The owner shall
      pay a fee of thirty dollars upon completion of the examination.  The
      agency performing the examinations shall retain twenty dollars of the
      fee and shall pay five dollars of the fee to the department and five
      dollars of the fee to the treasurer of state for deposit in the
      general fund of the state.  Moneys deposited to the general fund
      under this paragraph are subject to the requirements of section 8.60
      and shall be used by the Iowa law enforcement academy to provide for
      the special training, certification, and recertification of officers
      as required by this subsection.
         d.  For purposes of this subsection, "wrecked or salvage
      vehicle" means a damaged motor vehicle subject to registration for
      which the cost of repair exceeds fifty percent of the fair market
      value of the vehicle, as determined in accordance with rules adopted
      by the department, before it became damaged.
         5.  The department shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter
      17A to carry out this section.  

         Section History: Early Form

         [C24, 27, 31, 35, § 4887; C39, § 5002.08; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62,
      66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 321.52; 81 Acts, ch 102, § 3] 

         Section History: Recent Form

         84 Acts, ch 1169, § 2; 84 Acts, ch 1305, § 56; 85 Acts, ch 67, §
      36; 85 Acts, ch 209, § 3; 88 Acts, ch 1089, § 4--6; 88 Acts, ch 1215,
      § 8--10; 89 Acts, ch 185, § 3; 89 Acts, ch 296, § 28; 91 Acts, ch
      142, § 2, 3; 91 Acts, ch 260, § 1225, 1226; 92 Acts, ch 1104, § 3; 93
      Acts, ch 131, § 12; 94 Acts, ch 1107, §51; 95 Acts, ch 45, §2, 3; 97
      Acts, ch 108, § 7; 97 Acts, ch 121, § 2; 2000 Acts, ch 1016, §8, 9;
      2005 Acts, ch 8, §11; 2006 Acts, ch 1068, §14; 2006 Acts, ch 1070,
      §7; 2006 Acts, ch 1120, §12; 2007 Acts, ch 143, §10; 2008 Acts, ch
      1018, § 17, 18; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, § 47, 48; 2008 Acts, ch 1113, §
      19, 21, 82; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §114
         Referred to in § 312.2, 321.1, 321.24, 321.49, 321.52A, 321.69,
      321.100, 321.126, 322C.6, 331.557, 805.8A(2c)
         Surcharge imposed; § 321.52A
         For applicable scheduled fine, see §805.8A, subsection 2,
      paragraph c