Montana Code Annotated
Part 2. Certificates of Title
61-3-202. Certificate of title -- issuance -- contents -- joint ownership

61-3-202. Certificate of title -- issuance -- contents -- joint ownership. (1) A certificate of title issued by the department must contain:
(a) the date issued;
(b) the name and address of the owner;
(c) the mileage disclosed by the transferor when ownership of the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile was transferred, including a notation that the record mileage is actual, not actual, or exceeds mechanical limits;
(d) the name and address of each secured party and lienholder, in the order of priority and perfection or, if the application was based on a surrendered certificate of title, in the order that the names and addresses are shown on the certificate of title;
(e) the title number assigned to the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile;
(f) the name of the jurisdiction in which the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile owner resides, the words "certificate of title", the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile identification number, the manufacturer's designated model year of manufacture, make, and model of the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile, and any required or carried-forward brands;
(g) the unique transaction record number, if available and assigned by the department; and
(h) any other data that the department prescribes.
(2) A certificate of title issued by the department is valid until cancelled by the department upon:
(a) a transfer, in the electronic record, of title of any ownership interest shown in the certificate of title;
(b) notice received by the department of the surrender of the certificate of title to a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile to a title-issuing agency of another jurisdiction for an issuance of a title in that jurisdiction;
(c) the issuance of a duplicate certificate of title; or
(d) a determination by the department that the certificate of title contains a substantial error or that the person who requested issuance of the certificate of title paid the required fees and taxes with an insufficient funds check.
(3) (a) Whenever the conditions described in subsection (2)(d) occur, the department shall:
(i) give prompt written notice of the cancellation of the certificate of title to any owner, secured party, or lienholder of record; and
(ii) stop any change to the electronic record of title.
(b) The action taken by the department under subsection (3)(a) prevents the transfer of any ownership interest until the error is corrected or the fees and taxes have been paid.
(4) If the names and addresses of more than one owner are listed on the certificate of title, joint ownership with right of survivorship, and not as tenants in common and not as transfer on death, is presumed.
History: En. Sec. 4, Ch. 75, L. 1917; re-en. Sec. 1758, R.C.M. 1921; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 159, L. 1933; re-en. Sec. 1758, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 72, L. 1937; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 148, L. 1943; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 63, L. 1945; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 115, L. 1953; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 200, L. 1955; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 139, L. 1961; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 127, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 179, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 104, L. 1975; R.C.M. 1947, 53-107(part); amd. Sec. 30, Ch. 421, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 502, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 341, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 358, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 503, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 604, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 725, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 50, Ch. 477, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 48, Ch. 542, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 130, L. 2021.