OAR 735-020-0060: Delivery of Vehicle Documents, Good Faith Effort and Circumstances Beyond Person’s Control

(1) The Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division of the Department of Transportation (DMV) shall consider vehicle documents (primary ownership documents) delivered to DMV on the date the vehicle documents along with all title application requirements and fees are: (a) Presented in person at a DMV office; or (b) Mailed to DMV as evidenced by the postmark date: (A) If there is more than one postmark date, the earliest date shall be used; and (B) If there is no postmark date, or if it is not legible, the date received shall be determined as two days before the application was delivered to DMV. (2) DMV shall consider a person to have made a “good faith effort” to deliver the primary ownership document to DMV within 30 days of sale, if the applicant: (a) Presents the primary ownership document to DMV within 30 days of sale, whether or not all requirements for title are present; (b) Submits application for title within 30 days of sale to a designated dealer from whom they purchased the vehicle; or (c) Complies with subsection (a) or (b) of this section within 30 days from the day it is within their control to do so. This subsection only applies when failure to submit vehicle documents is due to circumstances beyond the person’s control as established in section (3) of this rule. (3) DMV shall consider failure to deliver documents to be beyond the control of the applicant only when: (a) The person did not have possession of the primary ownership document; (b) The person became physically or mentally incapacitated following the purchase of the vehicle, directly preventing or making it impractical for the person to meet requirements for delivery of docu-ments; or (c) The person delivered the documents or made a good faith effort to deliver documents within 30 days of the date it first became within their control to do so. (4) Examples of situations DMV shall consider to be beyond a person’s control include but shall not be limited to where: (a) An applicant is involved in an automobile accident immediately following the purchase of the vehicle resulting in an extended hospital stay; (b) An applicant suffers from a debilitating illness, condition or occurrence that prevents them from conducting business for an extended time period following vehicle purchase; or (c) The vehicle is purchased from a dealer who fails to provide the purchaser with the primary ownership document. (5) Examples of situations DMV would not consider to be beyond a person’s control include but shall not be limited to situations where the: (a) Applicant purchases a vehicle from a certified dealer and the dealer provides the primary ownership document to the purchaser within 25 days of the sale; (b) Applicant purchases a vehicle from someone other than a certified dealer, and: (A) The seller provides the applicant with the primary ownership document within 25 days of the sale; (B) The seller fails to provide the applicant with the primary ownership document, but the delay was due to action or inaction on the part of the applicant, such as failure to make payment or to arrange for financing; or (C) The applicant made no attempt to obtain the primary ownership document from the seller. (c) Applicant sustained minor injury, or incurred a short-term hospital stay which did not directly affect their ability to conduct business or to otherwise comply with requirements for delivery of documents; or (d) Applicant met requirements of subsections (3)(a) and (b) of this rule but failed to comply with section (3)(c) of this rule. (6) An applicant who meets the requirements of subsections (3)(a) and (b) of this rule, but fails to comply with subsection (3)(c) of this rule shall become subject to the requirements for delivery of vehicle documents from the date it first becomes within their control to deliver the primary ownership document or to make a good faith effort. If they fail to deliver the primary ownership document or make a good faith effort: (a) Within 30 days from that date they shall be subject to the $25 fee; and (b) Within 60 days from that date, they shall be subject to the $50 fee. (7) Should DMV decide to return or reject primary ownership documents delivered under section (2) of this rule, or which have subsequently been submitted to DMV by a dealer, this shall not void the good faith effort: (a) DMV shall mark the primary ownership documents to indicate the date they were presented to DMV; and (b) Upon subsequent application for title, it shall be the applicant’s responsibility to provide the dated documents as proof of the good faith effort. If they fail to do so, and there is no other evidence that a good faith effort was made, any applicable late presentation fees shall be due.