61-3-201. Certificate of title required — nonresident title — exclusions. (1) Except as provided in subsection (3), the owner of a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile that is in this state and for which a certificate of title has not been issued by or an electronic record of title has not been created by the department shall apply to the department, its authorized agent, or a county treasurer for a certificate of title for the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile.

Terms Used In Montana Code 61-3-201

  • Authorized agent: means a person who has executed a written agreement with the department and is specifically authorized by the department to electronically access and update the department's motor vehicle titling, registration, or driver records, using an approved automated interface, for specific functions or purposes on behalf of a third party. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Camper: means a structure designed to be mounted in the cargo area of a truck or attached to an incomplete vehicle for the purpose of providing shelter for persons. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Certificate of title: means the paper record issued by the department or by the appropriate agency of another jurisdiction that establishes a verifiable record of ownership between an identified person or persons and the motor vehicle specifically described in the record and that provides notice of a perfected security interest in the motor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Dealer: means a person that, for commission or profit, engages in whole or in part in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, or accepting on consignment new or used motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, or special mobile equipment that is not registered in the name of the person. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Dolly or converter gear: means a device consisting of one or two axles with a fifth wheel and trailer tongue used to support the forward end of a semitrailer, converting a semitrailer into a trailer. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Driver: means a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Golf cart: means a motor vehicle that is designed for use on a golf course to carry a person or persons and golf equipment and that has an average speed of less than 15 miles per hour. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • housetrailer: has the meaning provided in 15-24-201. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Implement of husbandry: means a vehicle that is designed for agricultural purposes and exclusively used by the owner of the vehicle in the conduct of the owner's agricultural operations. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Manufacturer: includes any person engaged in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, or off-highway vehicles as a regular business. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Motor vehicle: means :

    (i)a vehicle propelled by its own power and designed or used to transport persons or property on the highways of the state;

    (ii)a quadricycle if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9; or

    (iii)a golf cart only if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9 and is operated pursuant to 61-8-391 or by a person with a low-speed restricted driver's license. See Montana Code 61-1-101

  • Motorboat: means a vessel, including a personal watercraft or pontoon, propelled by any machinery, motor, or engine of any description, whether or not the machinery, motor, or engine is the principal source of propulsion. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Nonresident: means a person who is not a Montana resident. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Owner: means each person who holds the legal title to a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Personal watercraft: means a vessel that uses an outboard motor or an inboard engine powering a water jet pump as its primary source of propulsion and that is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel rather than by the conventional method of sitting or standing in the vessel. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Pole trailer: means a vehicle without power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes, or structural members capable generally of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Real property: means lands, tenements, hereditaments, and possessory title to public lands. See Montana Code 1-1-205
  • register: means the act or process of creating an electronic record, maintained by the department, of the assignment of a license plate or a set of license plates to and the issuance of a registration decal for a specific vehicle, the ownership of which has been established or is presumed in department records. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Sailboat: means a vessel that uses a sail and wind as its primary source of propulsion. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Semitrailer: means a vehicle, with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that some part of its weight and that of its load rests on or is carried by another vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Snowmobile: means a self-propelled vehicle of an overall width of 48 inches or less, excluding accessories, that is designed primarily for travel on snow or ice, that may be steered by skis or runners, and that is not otherwise registered or licensed under the laws of the state of Montana. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
  • Trailer: means a vehicle, with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that no part of its weight rests on the towing vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
  • Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Wholesaler: means a person that for a commission or with intent to make a profit or gain of money or other thing of value sells, exchanges, or attempts to negotiate a sale or exchange of an interest in a used motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, travel trailer, motorboat, snowmobile, off-highway vehicle, or special mobile equipment only to dealers and auto auctions licensed under chapter 4, part 1. See Montana Code 61-1-101

(2)The department may determine requirements for nonresident businesses to apply for a title in this state and the department:

(a)may produce a title for nonresident business applicants;

(b)may enter a voluntary security interest or lien on the title in accordance with 61-3-103;

(c)is authorized to establish an application fee and title fee for nonresident applicants;

(d)shall require an applicant to submit a penalty bond of no less than $250,000 payable to the motor vehicle division, conditioned that the applicant will not commit fraud against any purchaser, seller, financial institution, the state, or any other state by using this section.

(3)The following motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, campers, motorboats, personal watercraft, sailboats, or snowmobiles are exempt from the requirements of this part:

(a)a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile owned by the United States, unless the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile is registered in this state;

(b)except as required in 61-4-111, a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile that is:

(i)owned by a manufacturer, a dealer, a wholesaler, or an auto auction; and

(ii)held for sale, even though incidentally moved on the highway, used for purposes of testing or demonstration, or used solely by a manufacturer for testing;

(c)a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile owned by a nonresident or a nonresident who has an interest in real property in Montana who chooses not to register a motor vehicle in this state as provided in 61-3-303;

(d)a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile regularly engaged in the interstate transportation of persons or property and:

(i)for which a currently effective certificate of title has been issued in another state or jurisdiction; or

(ii)that is properly registered under the provisions of Title 61, chapter 3, part 7;

(e)a vehicle moved solely by human or animal power;

(f)an implement of husbandry;

(g)special mobile equipment or a motor vehicle or trailer designed and used to apply fertilizer to agricultural land;

(h)a self-propelled wheelchair or tricycle used by a person with a disability;

(i)a dolly or converter gear;

(j)a mobile home or housetrailer;

(k)a manufactured home declared to be an improvement to real property under 15-1-116; or

(l)a golf cart unless it is operated by a person with a low-speed restricted driver‘s license.