West Virginia Code 17A-3-1a – Registration of vehicles of new residents
(a) Every owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or other vehicle, shall, within thirty days after taking up residence in the state, apply to the division and obtain registration and title for the vehicle.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 17A-3-1a
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Division: means the Division of Motor Vehicles of this state acting directly or through its duly authorized officers and agents. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- Motor vehicle: means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- Owner: means a person who holds the legal title to a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be considered the owner for the purpose of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Person: means every natural person, firm, copartnership, association, or corporation. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Trailer: means every vehicle with or without motive power designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle but excluding recreational vehicles. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
(b) For the purposes of this chapter there is a rebuttable presumption that a natural person is a resident of this state if any of the following elements exist including, but not limited to:
(1) The person is registered to vote in this state.
(2) The person enrolls the person's child to be educated in a public elementary or secondary school in this state.
(3) The person is receiving public assistance from this state.
(4) The person resides or has continuously remained in this state for a period exceeding thirty days except for infrequent or brief absences.
(5) The person has accepted employment or engages in any trade, profession, or occupation within this state, except that this does not include a person who is commuting from the person's residence in another state or whose employment is seasonal or temporary, not exceeding ninety days.
(6) The person has filed for a homestead tax exemption on property in this state.
"Resident" does not include a person who is attending a college, university or other educational institution in this state, if the person has a domicile in another state and has a valid operator's license and vehicle registration issued by the state of domicile. "Resident" also does not include members of the Armed Forces that are stationed in West Virginia providing that their vehicles are properly registered in their state of residence or a member of the Armed Forces stationed in another state or country providing that their vehicles are properly registered in that state or country.
A corporation, association, partnership, company or firm whose principal place of business is located within this state is a resident of this state.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to vehicles registered under proportional registration agreement.