The Department of Transportation shall comply with the following procedures upon receiving a certificate of title or other notice in accordance with the provisions of ORS § 819.010, 819.012 or 819.014:

Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 819.030

  • Person: includes individuals, corporations, associations, firms, partnerships, limited liability companies and joint stock companies. See Oregon Statutes 174.100

(1) If the department is satisfied that the vehicle is wrecked, dismantled or disassembled, the department shall cancel and retire the registration and title of the vehicle. Except for issuance of a salvage title, the department may not register or title the vehicle again unless:

(a) The department is satisfied that the original title certificate, if any, was surrendered in error or that notice was submitted in error and the record canceled in error; or

(b) The vehicle is registered or titled as an assembled vehicle, a reconstructed vehicle or a replica.

(2) If the department is satisfied that the vehicle is wrecked, dismantled or disassembled, the department may issue a proof of compliance form if no salvage title is issued for the vehicle.

(3) If the department is satisfied that the vehicle is totaled or substantially altered, the department may:

(a) Issue a salvage title, retire the vehicle’s registration and cancel the title; or

(b) Issue a branded title.

(4) If a vehicle is recovered after a theft and the theft is the reason that the vehicle was considered a totaled vehicle or the department issues a branded title for a totaled or substantially altered vehicle, a person may apply with the department to keep the same registration plates and the remaining registration period represented by the plates with that vehicle. The department may allow the owner to keep the registration plates if the plates are legible and capable of being used for identification purposes.

(5) A person may apply with the department to transfer plates from a vehicle for which the department previously received a totaled or substantially altered notification. A plate transfer request must be in accordance with the provisions of ORS § 803.530.

(6) The owner of a vehicle whose title and registration have been canceled and retired due to the department being notified it is totaled, wrecked, dismantled, disassembled or substantially altered is entitled to an administrative review to determine whether the notification was correct. [1983 c.338 § 196; 1985 c.176 § 2; 1985 c.401 § 3; 1987 c.119 § 6; 1991 c.820 § 8; 1991 c.873 § 38; 1993 c.233 § 62; 2019 c.17 § 2]