Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...g to file notice of lien and in leaving the title certificates, endorsed in blank, in the hands of the dealer put the dealer in a position where he could perpetrate fraud. Pertinent statutes relating to the purchase and sale of used automobiles are: § 319.21(2) "No person hereafter shall * * * purchase * * * a motor vehicle * * * unless such person shall obtain a certificate of title * * * provided that any dealer * * may, in lieu of having a certificate of title issued in the name of such deal...

...5) "* * * Licensed dealers need not apply for certificates of title for such motor vehicles in stock * * * but upon transfer of same shall * * * give transferee a reassignment of the certificate of title * * *." § 319.22(1) "Except as provided in §§ 319.21 [relating to new cars or purchase of used cars by dealers] and 319.28 [relating to transfer of ownership by operation of law], no person acquiring a motor vehicle from the owner thereof, whether such owner be a dealer or otherwise, hereafte...

...ctivity. The statute does not define the term "owner." Other statutes, however, do deal with motor vehicle ownership issues. The statutory provisions pertaining to title certificates for motor vehicles are contained in chapter 319, Florida Statutes. Section 319.21(2), Florida Statutes (1985), provides in part: No person shall sell or otherwise dispose of a motor vehicle or mobile home without delivering to the purchaser or transferee thereof a certificate of title with such assignment thereon as may be necessary to show title in the purchaser....

...ificate of title. For convenience, a licensed dealer may simply reassign the certificate, but, of course, any nondealer purchaser will have to obtain a title in his name. Section 319.22(1), Florida Statutes (1985), states: (1) Except as provided in ss. 319.21 and 319.28, a person acquiring a motor vehicle or mobile home from the owner thereof, whether or not the owner is a licensed dealer, shall not acquire marketable title to the motor vehicle or mobile home until he has had issued to him a cer...

...motor vehicle without requiring compliance *838 with such provisions. Amendments thereto and other pertinent laws upon the subject are codified in Chapter 319, Florida Statutes 1959, F.S.A., the applicable provisions of which will now be considered. Section 319.21 F.S....

...sis supplied.) It is interesting to note that a special occupational license and other requisites are *839 provided for "secondhand dealers". See Section 320.27 F.S. 1959, F.S.A. Section 319.22(1) F.S. 1959, F.S.A. provides: "Except as provided in §§ 319.21 * * *, no person acquiring a motor vehicle from the owner thereof, whether such owner be a dealer or otherwise, hereafter shall acquire a marketable title in or to said motor vehicle until he, she, or it shall have had issued to him, her or...

...Tallahassee and the absence of any information on the South Carolina title certificate concerning any lien. On the appeal McQueen also stressed the lateness of the recordation of the lien in this state. The Supreme Court, Thomas, J., held that F.S. Section 319.21, F.S.A....

...Under Section 319.28, Florida Statutes 1949, and F.S.A., the commissioner, in certain instances irrelevant here, may upon surrender of a prior title certificate or submission of satisfactory proof of ownership issue to an appellant a certificate of title showing liens or the absence of them. Section 319.21, Florida Statutes 1949, and F.S.A., contains provisions inhibiting the disposal of a motor vehicle without delivering to the purchaser a certificate of title showing title in the seller, and prohibits the purchase, or transportation, i...

...a certificate of title or a manufacturer's statement of origin at the time of purchase in order to become a bona fide purchaser as against a manufacturer who claims title and possession. For this proposition, appellant relies upon Florida Statutes, § 319.21, F.S.A., and the decision rendered by this Court in Trumbell Chevrolet Sales Co....

...However, after Ward LaFrance was paid by DOC but before it settled its account with Blount, it went bankrupt. Since it had not received payment for the fire truck, Blount instituted this action for replevin against DOC. Blount argues that his case is governed by the provisions of Section 319.21(1), Florida Statutes: No manufacturer, distributor, dealer or other person shall sell or otherwise dispose of a new motor vehicle to a distributor, dealer or other person without delivering to such distributor, dealer or other person a...

...It is clear that the provisions of Chapter 319 take precedence over any provision of the UCC which may be inconsistent or in conflict with Chapter 319. § 680.104(2)(h), Fla. Stat. However, it has been consistently held that Section 672.403 is not in direct conflict with the provisions of Chapter 319, in particular Sections 319.21 and 319.22....

...receiving title. Without a current title certificate in either appellee's name issued prior to the seizure or a reassignment of a title certificate issued in this state from the Fort Lauderdale Collection to Jones or Florida European, as provided by section 319.21(2), Florida Statutes (1993), legal title, and thus, ownership within the meaning of the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act was not established....

...s and to stabilize the ownership, sale and transfer of motor vehicles so that confusion, fraud and chaos would be eliminated and the rights of bona fide owners of motor vehicles would be protected. The sections controlling this case are as follows: "Section 319.21....

...and show the name and address of the party from whom the vehicle was obtained, on the face of the separate application for initial certificate of title which is made by the purchaser or transferee * * *." "Section 319.22(1). Except as provided in §§ 319.21 and 319.28, no person acquiring a motor vehicle from the owner thereof, whether such owner be a dealer or otherwise, hereafter shall acquire a marketable title in or to said motor vehicle until he, she, or it shall have had issued to him, h...

...asmuch as none contain the peculiar selling arrangement which exists in the present case and which existed in Motor Credit Corporation v. Woolverton, [5] upon which the trial court relied. Petitioner's cited cases reassert the provisions of Sections 319.21 and 319.22, Florida Statutes, to the effect that a purchaser must obtain from an automobile dealer a certificate of title and also that notice of irregularities in the seller's title is imputed to the purchaser; the Woolverton holding is an equitable exception to these general rules of law....

...ADKINS, C.J., and ROBERTS and ERVIN, JJ., concur. DEKLE, J., concurs with result. McCAIN, J., dissents with opinion. McCAIN, Justice (dissenting): I must respectfully dissent from the majority view in this cause where we are again concerned about the application of Section 319.22 and Section 319.21, Fla....

...NOTES [1] 100 So.2d 651 (Fla.App. 1958). [2] 125 So.2d 134 (Fla.App. 1960). [3] 134 So.2d 829 (Fla.App. 1961). [4] 143 So.2d 210 (Fla.App. 1962). [5] 99 So.2d 286 (Fla. 1957). [6] Id. at 288. [7] Id. at 288-289. [8] Id. at 289. [9] Id. at 290. [10] Id. at 291. [1] Sections 319.21, 319.22, Fla....

...However, the opinion of the trial judge failed to speak to that part of the statute allowing recovery under the bond if the loss incurred by "any person" was the result of a violation of Chapters 319 or 320. Defendant Hamrick's answer admits that he obtained duplicate titles to the cars involved. In view of § 319.21(2) and § 319.34, Florida Statutes, making it unlawful to sell a motor vehicle without delivery to the purchaser of a certificate of title, it was necessary for Hamrick to obtain duplicate titles since the original titles were in the hands of Interstate....

...Florida Statute Section 319.22(5) makes it "illegal to transfer title to a motor vehicle when the purchaser's name does not appear on the title. Any buyer or seller who knowingly and willfully violates this subsection with intent to commit fraud commits a misdemeanor of the first degree...." Florida Statute Section 319.21(3) provides that a licensed dealer "may, in lieu of having a certificate of title issued in the dealer's name, reassign any existing certificate of title." Hames argues that even if Sosa, as a licensed dealer, was permitted to reassign...

...r vehicle by checks payable to the order of Sloan .Motors and endorsed by Sloan Motors of Coral Gables, Inc., and Florida Auto Lease, Inc. “2. Said plaintiff obtained from Sloan Motors a bill of sale to said motor vehicle but failed to comply with Section 319.21, Florida Statutes [F.S....

...Duval County School Board, 366 So.2d 119 (1 D.C.A. Fla., 1979), cert. denied , 375 So.2d 911 (Fla. 1979). In order for an owner to sell or otherwise dispose of a motor vehicle in Florida, he initially assigns the certificate of title to the purchaser or transferee. Section 319.21 ....

...n this state and that instruction from the Court will facilitate the proper disposition of the cause, said judge, on his own motion or on motion of either party, may certify said question or proposition of law to the Court for instruction.” . F.S. § 319.21(2), F.S.A....

40 C.F.R. § 85.1504(a) (1986). . Fla.Stat. § 319.21 (Supp.1987) provides in relevant part as follows:

...In fact, the long chain of titleholders without recorded certificates of title (equitable titleholders) listed above (Val Ward Porsche Audi, Inc.; Vehicles Unlimited, Inc.; Tropical Wheels; and Wheels Unlimited, Inc.) appear to be licensed dealers who are permitted by section 319.21(2), Florida Statutes, to reassign an existing certificate of title in lieu of obtaining a new certificate of title....

must accompany an application for title,5 but Section 319.21, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., permits an entruster