Every owner of a vehicle subject to registration under this article shall make application to the division for the registration of the vehicle upon the appropriate form or forms furnished by the division and every application shall bear the signature of the owner or his or her authorized agent, written with pen and ink, and the application shall contain:

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 17A-3-3

  • Commissioner: means the Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles of this state. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • 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
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • 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
  • Person: means every natural person, firm, copartnership, association, or corporation. See West Virginia Code 17A-1-1
  • 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.
  • 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

(a) The name, bona fide residence and mailing address of the owner, the county in which he or she resides or business address of the owner if a firm, association or corporation.

(b) A description of the vehicle including, insofar as the data specified in this section may exist with respect to a given vehicle, the make, model, type of body, the manufacturer's serial or identification number or other number as determined by the commissioner.

(c) In the event a motor vehicle is designed, constructed, converted or rebuilt for the transportation of property, the application shall include a statement of its declared gross weight if the motor vehicle is to be used alone, or if the motor vehicle is to be used in combination with other vehicles, the application for registration of the motor vehicle shall include a statement of the combined declared gross weight of the motor vehicle and the vehicles to be drawn by the motor vehicle; declared gross weight being the weight declared by the owner to be the actual combined weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles and load when carrying the maximum load which the owner intends to place on the vehicle; and the application for registration of each vehicle shall also include a statement of the distance between the first and last axles of that vehicle or combination of vehicles.

The declared gross weight stated in the application may not exceed the permissible gross weight for the axle spacing listed in the application as determined by the table of permissible gross weights contained in chapter seventeen-c of this code; and any vehicle registered for a declared gross weight as stated in the application is subject to the single-axle load limit set forth in that chapter.

(d) Each applicant shall state whether the vehicle is or is not to be used in the public transportation of passengers or property, or both, for compensation and if used for compensation, or to be used, the applicants shall certify that the vehicle is used for compensation and shall, as a condition precedent to the registration of the vehicle, obtain a certificate of convenience or permit from the Public Service Commission unless otherwise exempt from this requirement in accordance with chapter twenty-four-a of this code.

(e) A statement under penalty of false swearing that liability insurance is in effect and will continue to be in effect through the entire term of the vehicle registration period within limits which may not be less than the requirement of section two, article four, chapter seventeen-d of this code, which shall contain the name and National Association of Insurance commissioners assigned code of the applicant's insurer, the policy number, and any other information required by the commissioner of Motor Vehicles or that the applicant has qualified as a self-insurer meeting the requirements of section two, article six of said chapter and that as a self-insurer he or she has complied with the minimum security requirements as established in section two, article four of that chapter. If the commissioner determines that the required security is not or was not in effect, he or she shall suspend the vehicle owner's driver's license and revoke the vehicle registration in accordance with the provisions of article two-a, chapter seventeen-d of this code.

If any person making an application required under the provisions of this section, in the application knowingly provides false information, false proof of security or a false statement of insurance, or if any person, including an applicant's insurance agent, knowingly counsels, advises, aids or abets another in providing false information, false proof of security, or a false statement of insurance in the application he or she is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $500, or be imprisoned in jail for a period not to exceed fifteen days, or both fined and imprisoned and, in addition to the fine or imprisonment, shall have his or her driver's license suspended for a period of ninety days and vehicle registration revoked if applicable.

(f) Any further information that is reasonably required by the division to enable it to determine whether the vehicle is lawfully entitled to registration.

(g) Each application for registration shall be accompanied by the fees provided in this article and an additional fee of 50¢ for each motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks registration.

(h) Revocation of a motor vehicle registration pursuant to this section does not affect the perfection or priority of a lien or security interest attaching to the motor vehicle that is noted on the certificate of title to the motor vehicle.

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