Ala. Code § 32-8-2

Current with legislation from 2024 effective through May 17, 2024.

Section 32-8-2 - [Effective 10/1/2024] Definitions

For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings , except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

(1) CURRENT ADDRESS. A new address different from the address shown on the application or on the certificate of title. The owner, within 30 days after the address is changed from that shown on the application or on the certificate of title, shall notify the department of the change of address in the manner prescribed by the department.

(2) DEALER. A person licensed as an automobile or motor vehicle dealer, off-road vehicle dealer, or travel trailer dealer and engaged regularly in the business of buying, selling, or exchanging motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, trucks, tractors or other character of commercial or industrial motor vehicles, or travel trailers in this state, and having in this state an established place of business.

(3) DEPARTMENT. The Department of Revenue of this state.

(4) DESIGNATED AGENT. Each judge of probate, commissioner of licenses, director of revenue, or other county official in this state authorized and required by law to issue motor vehicle license tags, who may perform his or her duties under this chapter personally or through his or her deputies; the term shall also mean those dealers as herein defined who are appointed by the department as provided in Section 32-8-34 and such persons who are appointed by the department as provided in Section 32-8-34 (c) to perform the duties of designated agent for the purposes of this chapter. Such dealers or other designated persons may perform their duties under this chapter either personally, through any of their officers or employees, or through a title service provider.

(5) IMPLEMENT OF HUSBANDRY. Every vehicle designed and adapted exclusively for agricultural, horticultural, or livestock raising operations or for lifting or carrying an implement of husbandry and in either case not subject to licensing or registration if used upon the highways.

(6) LIEN. Every kind of written lease which is substantially equivalent to an installment sale or which provides for a right of purchase, conditional sale, reservation of title, deed of trust, chattel mortgage, trust receipt, and every written agreement or instrument of whatever kind or character whereby an interest other than absolute title is sought to be held or given on a motor vehicle.

(7) LIENHOLDER. Any person, firm, copartnership, association, or corporation holding a lien on a motor vehicle.

(8) MANUFACTURER. Any person regularly engaged in the business of manufacturing, constructing, assembling, importing, or distributing new motor vehicles, either within or without this state.

(9) MOTOR VEHICLE. The term shall include all of the following:

a. Every automobile, motorcycle, mobile trailer, semitrailer, truck, truck tractor, trailer, and other device that is self-propelled or drawn, in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway except such as is moved by animal power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.

b. Every trailer coach and travel trailer manufactured upon a chassis or undercarriage as an integral part thereof drawn by a self-propelled vehicle.

c. Every off-road vehicle only as it relates to this chapter. An off-road vehicle dealer shall not be deemed a motor vehicle dealer for the purposes of Chapter 6.

(10) NEW VEHICLE. A motor vehicle that has never been the subject of a first sale for use by a new motor vehicle dealer as defined in Section 40-12-390 or an equivalently licensed dealer in another state and includes, among others, vehicles maintained in a dealer's inventory, vehicles provided by the manufacturer or dealer for use by participants in charity, sporting, or other special events, vehicles used for drivers' education, and vehicles delivered to customers that were subsequently returned to the dealer without a registration being issued on the vehicle.

(11) NONRESIDENT. Every person who is not a resident of this state.

(12) OFF-ROAD VEHICLE.

a. A vehicle that is not designed and manufactured to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The term includes all of the following:

1. A motorized vehicle 60 inches or less in width, measured from the outside of the tire rim to the outside of the tire rim directly across on the vehicle, having a dry weight of 1,500 pounds or less, designed to travel on three or more non-highway tires, and manufactured for off-road use by a single operator or by an operator and not more than one passenger as provided by the manufacturer.

2. A motorized vehicle generally capable of cross-country travel 80 inches or less in width, measured from the outside of the tire rim to the outside of the tire rim directly across on the vehicle, having a dry weight of 3,500 pounds or less, designed and manufactured to travel on four or more non-highway tires for off-road use by an operator and the number of passengers as provided by the manufacturer.

b. The term does not include any electric bicycle; golf cart; low-speed vehicle; mini-truck; vehicle used for military, fire, emergency, or law enforcement purposes; motorboat; vehicle used exclusively on airport property; any vehicle used primarily for agricultural purposes, farm tractors, or other self-propelled equipment for the purpose of harvesting and transporting forest products, clearing land for planting, providing utility services and maintenance, or earth moving, construction, or mining; or self-propelled lawnmowers, snowblowers, or garden or lawn tractors while being used exclusively for their designed purposes.

(13) OFF-ROAD VEHICLE DEALER. A person subject to Section 40-12-315 that is engaged in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, advertising, or negotiating the sale of off-road vehicles, not previously titled or registered in the person's name, at retail to the public.

(14) OWNER. A person, other than a lienholder, having the property in or title to a vehicle. The term includes a person entitled to the use and possession of a vehicle subject to a security interest in another person, but excludes a lessee under a lease not intended as security. Under any lease-purchase or installment sales agreement where a governmental agency, either city, county, or state, is the lessee or purchaser with a security interest or right to purchase, the lessee or purchaser shall be the owner for purposes of this chapter.

(15) PERSON. The term shall include every natural person, firm, copartnership, association, or corporation.

(16) PICKUP TRUCK. A truck with not more than two axles and a gross weight not exceeding 12,000 pounds.

(17) POLE TRAILER. Every vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole, or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle, and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as logs, poles, pipes, boats, or structural members capable generally of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections.

(18) SCRAP METAL PROCESSOR. Any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of buying scrap vehicles, automotive parts, or other metallic waste by weight to process the material into scrap metal for remelting purposes, who utilizes machinery and equipment for processing and manufacturing ferrous and nonferrous metallic scrap into prepared grades, and whose principal product is metallic scrap.

(19) SCRAP VEHICLE. Any vehicle that has been crushed or flattened by mechanical means or has been otherwise damaged to the extent that it cannot economically be repaired or made roadworthy.

(20) SECURITY AGREEMENT. A written agreement that reserves or creates a security interest.

(21) SECURITY INTEREST. An interest in a vehicle reserved or created by agreement and which secures payment or performance of an obligation. The term includes the interest of a lessor under a lease intended as security. A security interest is perfected when it is valid against third parties generally, subject only to specific statutory exceptions.

(22) SELF-PROPELLED CAMPERS OR HOUSE CARS. A self-propelled motor vehicle designed and used primarily for mobile living quarters. The living quarters on self-propelled campers or house cars are constructed as an integral part of the motor vehicle and are not detachable. Self-propelled campers or house cars are commonly known as motor homes, mobile homes, or recreational vehicles.

(23) SPECIAL MOBILE EQUIPMENT. Every vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and only incidentally operated or moved over the highway, including, but not limited to: ditch-digging apparatus; well-boring apparatus; road construction and maintenance machinery such as asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, tractors other than truck tractors, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, earth-moving carryalls and scrapers, power shovels and draglines, and self-propelled cranes; and earth-moving equipment. The term does not include manufactured homes, dump trucks, truck-mounted transit mixers, cranes, or shovels, or other vehicles designed for the transportation of persons or property to which machinery has been attached.

(24) STATE. A state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a province of the Dominion of Canada.

(25) TRANSPORTER. A person engaged regularly in the business of either of the following:

a. Facilitating the delivery of motor vehicles, mobile homes, trailer coaches, travel trailers, house trailers, semitrailers or trailers, including utility trailers, or boats between manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or persons.

b. Facilitating the delivery of special mobile equipment from the manufacturer of the equipment to a facility of a dealer.

(26) TITLE SERVICE PROVIDER. A person who is bonded under Section 32-8-34 (d) and authorized by the department to act as an agent for a fee or other consideration on behalf of the following persons in the performance of their duties under this chapter:

a. A dealer or other designated person appointed pursuant to Section 32-8-34 (b) or (c) as a designated agent.

b. A lienholder who appears on a certificate of title.

c. Other persons as prescribed by the department.

(27) TRAVEL TRAILER. A vehicle without motive power, designed and constructed as a camping vehicle or a temporary dwelling, living, or sleeping place and designed to be drawn or pulled on the highway, also known as a house trailer, but not including folding or collapsible camping trailers as defined in this section.

(28) USED VEHICLE. A motor vehicle that has been the subject of a first sale for use, whether within this state or elsewhere, or is being sold by a used motor vehicle dealer as defined in Section 40-12-390.

(29) UTILITY TRAILER. A vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by a passenger car or pickup truck, including folding or collapsible camping trailers.

(30) VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER. The numbers and letters on a motor vehicle designated by the manufacturer or assigned by the department for the purpose of identifying the motor vehicle.

Ala. Code § 32-8-2 (1975)

Amended by Act 2024-190,§ 1, eff. 10/1/2024.

Amended by Act 2021-426,§ 1, eff. 10/1/2021.

Amended by Act 2019-238,§ 1, eff. 10/1/2019.

Acts 1973, No. 765, p. 1147, §1; Acts 1985, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 85-939, p. 249; Acts 1987, No. 87-806, p. 1581, §1; Acts 1989, No. 89-918, p. 1817, §1; Acts 1991, No. 91-694, p. 1340, §6; Act 2003-345, p. 870, §1; Act 2009-281, p. 472, § 1; Act 2009-746, p. 2236, § 2; Act 2010-579, p. 1283, § 1.

This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.