Florida Senate - 2024 SB 736 By Senator Trumbull 2-00706-24 2024736__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to services provided by the Department 3 of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or its agents; 4 amending s. 319.28, F.S.; providing that a certain 5 affidavit constitutes proof of ownership and right of 6 possession to a motor vehicle or mobile home the 7 previous owner of which died testate; amending s. 8 319.29, F.S.; prohibiting the department or a tax 9 collector from charging a fee for reissuance of 10 certain certificates of title; amending s. 320.06, 11 F.S.; authorizing the department to deem a license 12 plate with reduced dimensions to be necessary to 13 accommodate trailers; amending s. 320.084, F.S.; 14 authorizing certain disabled veterans to be issued a 15 military license plate or specialty license plate in 16 lieu of a “DV” license plate; specifying applicable 17 fees; specifying nonapplicability of certain 18 provisions; amending s. 320.131, F.S.; removing 19 provisions requiring a written, notarized request for 20 the purchase of a temporary tag; authorizing the 21 department or its agents to renew an initial temporary 22 tag, subject to certain provisions; providing an 23 effective date. 24 25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 26 27 Section 1. Present paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) 28 of section 319.28, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 29 paragraphs (d) and (e), respectively, and a new paragraph (c) is 30 added to that subsection, to read: 31 319.28 Transfer of ownership by operation of law.— 32 (1) 33 (c) If the previous owner died testate and the application 34 for a certificate of title is made by, and accompanied by an 35 affidavit attested by, a Florida-licensed attorney in good 36 standing with The Florida Bar who is representing the previous 37 owner’s estate, such affidavit shall, for purposes of paragraph 38 (a), constitute satisfactory proof of ownership and right of 39 possession to the motor vehicle or mobile home, so long as the 40 affidavit sets forth the rightful heir or heirs and the attorney 41 attests in the affidavit that such heir or heirs are lawfully 42 entitled to the rights of ownership and possession of the motor 43 vehicle or mobile home. It shall not be necessary for the 44 application for certificate of title filed under this paragraph 45 to be accompanied by a copy of the will or other testamentary 46 instrument. 47 Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 319.29, Florida 48 Statutes, is amended to read: 49 319.29 Lost or destroyed certificates.— 50 (3) If, following the issuance of an original, duplicate, 51 or corrected certificate of title by the department, the 52 certificate is lost in transit and is not delivered to the 53 addressee, the owner of the motor vehicle or mobile home, or the 54 holder of a lien thereon, may, within 180 days afterofthe date 55 of issuance of the title, apply to the department for reissuance 56 of the certificate of title. AnNoadditional fee shall not be 57 charged by the department or a tax collector, as agent for the 58 department, for reissuance under this subsection. 59 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 60 320.06, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 61 320.06 Registration certificates, license plates, and 62 validation stickers generally.— 63 (3)(a) Registration license plates must be made of metal 64 specially treated with a retroreflection material, as specified 65 by the department. The registration license plate is designed to 66 increase nighttime visibility and legibility and must be at 67 least 6 inches wide and not less than 12 inches in length, 68 unless a plate with reduced dimensions is deemed necessary by 69 the department to accommodate motorcycles, mopeds,orsimilar 70 smaller vehicles, or trailers. Validation stickers must also be 71 treated with a retroreflection material, must be of such size as 72 specified by the department, and must adhere to the license 73 plate. The registration license plate must be imprinted with a 74 combination of bold letters and numerals or numerals, not to 75 exceed seven digits, to identify the registration license plate 76 number. The license plate must be imprinted with the word 77 “Florida” at the top and the name of the county in which it is 78 sold, the state motto, or the words “Sunshine State” at the 79 bottom. Apportioned license plates must have the word 80 “Apportioned” at the bottom, and license plates issued for 81 vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(3)(d), (4)(m) or (n), (5)(b) or 82 (c), or (14) must have the word “Restricted” at the bottom. 83 License plates issued for vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(12) 84 must be imprinted with the word “Florida” at the top and the 85 word “Dealer” at the bottom unless the license plate is a 86 specialty license plate as authorized in s. 320.08056. 87 Manufacturer license plates issued for vehicles taxed under s. 88 320.08(12) must be imprinted with the word “Florida” at the top 89 and the word “Manufacturer” at the bottom. License plates issued 90 for vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(5)(d) or (e) must be 91 imprinted with the word “Wrecker” at the bottom. Any county may, 92 upon majority vote of the county commission, elect to have the 93 county name removed from the license plates sold in that county. 94 The state motto or the words “Sunshine State” shall be printed 95 in lieu thereof. A license plate issued for a vehicle taxed 96 under s. 320.08(6) may not be assigned a registration license 97 number, or be issued with any other distinctive character or 98 designation, that distinguishes the motor vehicle as a for-hire 99 motor vehicle. 100 Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 320.084, Florida 101 Statutes, is amended, and subsection (6) is added to that 102 section, to read: 103 320.084 Free motor vehicle license plate to certain 104 disabled veterans.— 105 (1) One free “DV” motor vehicle license number plate shall 106 be issued by the department for use on any motor vehicle owned 107 or leased by any disabled veteran who has been a resident of 108 this state continuously for the preceding 5 years or has 109 established a domicile in this state as provided by s. 110 222.17(1), (2), or (3), and who has been honorably discharged 111 from the United States Armed Forces, upon application, 112 accompanied by proof that: 113 (a) A vehicle was initially acquired through financial 114 assistance by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs 115 or its predecessor specifically for the purchase of an 116 automobile; 117 (b) The applicant has been determined by the United States 118 Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor to have a 119 service-connected 100-percent disability rating for 120 compensation; or 121 (c) The applicant has been determined to have a service 122 connected disability rating of 100 percent and is in receipt of 123 disability retirement pay from any branch of the United States 124 Armed Services. 125 (6)(a) A disabled veteran who meets the requirements of 126 subsection (1) may be issued, in lieu of the “DV” license plate, 127 a military license plate for which he or she is eligible or a 128 specialty license plate. A disabled veteran electing a military 129 license plate or specialty license plate under this subsection 130 must pay all applicable fees related to such license plate, 131 except for motor vehicle license plates issued without cost 132 under subsections (1) and (4). 133 (b) A military license plate or specialty license plate 134 elected under this subsection: 135 1. Does not provide the protections or rights afforded by 136 ss. 316.1955, 316.1964, 320.0848, 526.141, and 553.5041. 137 2. Is not eligible for the international symbol of 138 accessibility as described in s. 320.0842. 139 Section 5. Subsection (2) of section 320.131, Florida 140 Statutes, is amended to read: 141 320.131 Temporary tags.— 142 (2)(a) The department mayis authorized tosell temporary 143 tags, in addition to those listed above, to itstheiragents and 144 where need is demonstrated by a consumer complainant. The fee 145 for a temporary tag issued under this section shall be $2 each. 146 One dollar from each tag sold shall be deposited into the Brain 147 and Spinal Cord Injury Program Trust Fund, with the remaining 148 proceeds being deposited into the Highway Safety Operating Trust 149 Fund. Agents of the department shall sell temporary tags for $2 150 each and shall charge the service charge authorized by s. 320.04 151 per transaction, regardless of the quantity sold.Requests for152purchase of temporary tags to the department or its agents shall153be made, where applicable, on letterhead stationery and154notarized.Except as specifically provided otherwise, a 155 temporary tag issued under this section shall be valid for 30 156 days, and no more than two shall be issued to the same person 157 for the same vehicle. 158 (b) At the request of the applicant, the department or its 159 agents may, in lieu of issuing a second temporary tag under 160 paragraph (a), renew the initial temporary tag for the same 161 period applicable to the initial issuance. Such renewal is 162 subject to the fee, service charge, and deposit requirements 163 provided in paragraph (a). 164 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.