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Bill would create process for issuing titles to vehicles with no known owner; DOT says Senate bill likely covers it
Summary
Representative Keith Kepnick presented House Bill 1480 to establish a prescriptive process — modeled on abandoned minerals statutes — for obtaining a certificate of title when an owner cannot be located; the Department of Transportation told the committee a separate Senate bill (2247) likely already covers these issues.
Representative Keith Kepnick told the Senate Transportation Committee that House Bill 1480 offers a pathway to obtain a certificate of title when a vehicle’s last known owner cannot be found or is deceased. The sponsor said he patterned the bill on North Dakota’s abandoned minerals rules: notice by registered letter to the last recorded address, publication in the county newspaper for a 30‑day period, and proof to DOT before the department would issue a title.
Kepnick said the goal is to protect prospective buyers who invest significant funds in an old vehicle and to provide a formal administrative path short of court proceedings when an owner truly appears to be absent.
Senator Rummel and others raised practical concerns about requiring publication in newspapers that publish infrequently or not at all in some counties and asked how DOT’s historic records and VIN tracing might affect the proposal. Senator Klein pointed out that Senator Thomas had a similar vehicle title bill (Senate bill 2247) and suggested the two measures should be reconciled.
Brad Schafer, driver and vehicle director for the Department of Transportation, told the committee DOT believes the issues raised by 1480 are already addressed in Senate bill 2247 and that the department would be comfortable folding any needed language from 1480 into 2247 rather than advancing two separate, potentially duplicative bills.
The hearing closed with no committee vote; members said they would monitor the progress of the related Senate bill and consider whether 1480 should be amended or shelved to avoid duplication.
