§286-52  Procedure when title of vehicle transferred; delivery of certificate mandatory.  (a)  [Subsection effective until June 30, 2023.  For subsection effective July 1, 2023, see below.]  Upon a transfer of the title or interest of a legal owner in or to a vehicle registered under this part, the person whose title or interest is to be transferred and the transferee shall write their signatures with pen and ink upon the certificate of ownership issued for the vehicle, together with the address of the transferee in the appropriate space provided upon the certificate.

Attorney's Note

Under the Hawaii Revised Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
misdemeanorup to 1 year$2,000
For details, see Haw. Rev. Stat. § 706-663

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 286-52

  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • Bequest: Property gifted by will.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC

     (a)  [Subsection effective July 1, 2023.  For subsection effective until June 30, 2023, see above.]  Upon a transfer of the title or interest of a legal owner in or to a vehicle registered under this part, the person whose title or interest is to be transferred and the transferee shall write their signatures with pen and ink upon the certificate of ownership issued for the vehicle, together with the addresses of the person whose title or interest is to be transferred and the transferee in the appropriate spaces provided upon the certificate.  The signature of the person whose title or interest is to be transferred and signature of the transferee shall each serve as an attestation by that respective party that the information provided on the certificate is correct.  Any person who provides false or fraudulent information under this subsection shall be fined no less than $500 and no more than $1,000.

     (b)  Within thirty calendar days thereafter, the transferee shall forward the certificate of ownership so endorsed to the director of finance who shall file the same; provided that if the recorded lien holder does not have an office in the State, the applicable period shall be sixty days.  Whenever a transferee fails to comply with these provisions, the director of finance shall charge a fee of $50, in addition to the fee provided in § 286-51, for a new certificate of ownership.

     (c)  Subsection (b), requiring a transferee to forward the certificate of ownership after endorsement to the director of finance, shall not apply to the transferee of a vehicle who was not intending to and does not drive the vehicle or permit the vehicle to be driven upon the public highways, but every such transferee, upon transferring the transferee’s interest or title to another, shall give notice of the transfer to the director of finance and endorse the certificate of ownership to the new legal owner and the certificate of registration to the new owner.  If the director of finance has ascertained as of the date of the application that the registered owner has not deposited or paid bail with respect to any summons or citation issued to the registered owner for stopping, standing, or parking in violation of traffic ordinances within the county or has outstanding charges and fines owed to the county relating to the disposition of an abandoned vehicle under the registered owner, including for costs related to towing, storage, processing, and disposal, the director may require, as a condition precedent to the transfer, that the registered owner deposit or pay bail with respect to all such summons or citations or pay all outstanding charges and fines relating to the disposition of the abandoned vehicle; provided that payment of all outstanding charges and fines relating to the disposition of the abandoned vehicle shall not be a condition precedent to the transfer if the abandoned vehicle was stolen or taken from the registered owner without permission or authorization and a police report for the abandoned vehicle is filed within a period of time, to be determined by the director of finance of each county, after discovery of the abandoned vehicle.

     (d)  The director of finance, upon receipt of the certificate of ownership properly endorsed, shall register the vehicle, and shall issue to the owner and legal owner entitled thereto by reason of the transfer a new certificate of registration and the certificate of ownership, respectively, in the manner and form hereinabove provided for original registration.

     (e)  Until the director of finance has issued the new certificate of registration and certificate of ownership as in subsection (d) provided, delivery of such vehicle shall be deemed not to have been made and title thereto shall be deemed not to have passed, and the intended transfer shall be deemed to be incomplete and not to be valid or effective for any purpose, notwithstanding any provision of the Uniform Commercial Code; provided that a security interest in a motor vehicle shall be perfected as provided in the Uniform Commercial Code, § 490:9-311 and that the validity, attachment, priority, and enforcement of such security interest shall be governed by Article 9 of the Code.

     (f)  In the event of the transfer by operation of law of the title or interest of a legal owner in and to a vehicle registered under this part, as upon inheritance, devise, or bequest, order in bankruptcy, or insolvency, execution sale, repossession upon default in performance of the terms of a lease or executory sales contract, or otherwise than by the voluntary act of the person whose title or interest is so transferred, the certificate of ownership shall be signed upon the spaces provided by the personal representative, receiver, trustee, sheriff, or other representative, or successor in interest of the person whose title or interest is so transferred in lieu of such person.  Every personal representative, receiver, trustee, sheriff, or other representative hereinabove referred to shall file with the director of finance a notice of any transfer by sale, lease, or otherwise by such person, of any such vehicle, together with evidence satisfactory to the director of finance of all facts entitling such representative to make the transfer.  Upon notice given to the director of finance that transfer by operation of law of the title or interest of a legal owner or a registered owner has been effected pursuant to any provision of law, the director of finance shall send to the legal owner or the registered owner or both a notice by registered mail of such action and requesting the delivery to the director of finance of the certificate of ownership or the certificate of registration, as the case may be, within ten days after date of mailing of the notice, and any person who refuses or neglects to deliver the same to the director of finance pursuant to the notice shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided in § 286-61.

     (g)  Nothing in the foregoing subsections shall prevent a legal owner from assigning the title or interest in or to a vehicle registered under this part to another legal owner at any time without the consent of and without affecting the interest of the holder of the certificate of registration thereof.  Upon filing with the director of finance of a certificate of ownership endorsed by the legal owner and a transferee of legal ownership, the director of finance shall, whether the certificate of registration has expired or not, enter the name of the new legal owner upon the records of the director’s office and shall forthwith issue a new certificate of ownership to the new legal owner in the form for original registration.  Upon so doing, the director of finance shall send to the registered owner a notice by mail of the action.

     (h)  Any person who refuses or neglects to deliver a certificate of ownership to a transferee entitled thereto under this part, shall be punished as provided in § 286-61.

     (i)  Every dealer, upon transferring a motor vehicle, whether by sale, lease, or otherwise, shall immediately give notice of the transfer to the director of finance upon the official form provided by the director of finance.  Every such notice shall contain the date of the transfer, the names and addresses of the transferor and transferee, and such description of the vehicle as may be called for in the official form.

     (j)  Every person, other than a dealer, upon transferring a motor vehicle, whether by sale, lease, or otherwise, shall within ten days give notice of the transfer to the director of finance upon the official form provided by the director of finance.  Every notice shall contain the date of transfer, the names and addresses of the transferor and transferee, and such description of the vehicle as may be called for in the official form.  Any person who violates this subsection shall be fined not more than $100.

     (k)  Whenever the registered owner of any motor vehicle or any licensed dealer has given notice to the director of finance of a transfer of the title or interest in the motor vehicle, as provided in subsection (i) or (j), and has delivered the certificate of ownership bearing the transferor’s signature to the transferee as required by subsection (a), the transferor shall be relieved from any liability, civil or criminal, from the date the transferor delivers the motor vehicle into the transferee’s possession, which the transferor might otherwise subsequently incur by reason solely of being the registered owner of the vehicle.

     (l)  A licensed dealer who has forwarded a properly endorsed certificate of ownership to the director of finance shall be relieved of any civil liability, from the date the transferor delivers the motor vehicle into the transferee’s possession, which the transferor might otherwise subsequently incur by reason solely of being the registered owner of the vehicle; provided that a specific written authorization to forward the certificate has been obtained from the transferee.

     (m)  Any person who falsely or fraudulently gives notice to the director of finance of a transfer of title or interest in a motor vehicle shall be subject to the penalty provided in § 286-61.