Pub. 1 2021 Issue 1

27 lender uses the same agreement form may be different) registration has nothing to do with perfection of the lien or the lender’s security interest in the vehicle and it is a task totally out of the dealer’s hands. Under MT law the owner must register the vehicle. It is not something the dealer can or must do. Here is the statute: 61-3-303. Original registration — pro- cess — fees. (1) Except as provided in 61-3-324, a Montana resident who owns a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer operated or driven upon the public highways of this state shall register the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer in the county where the owner is domiciled. The lien is perfected when the elec - tronic file with the lien on it is trans- mitted and the fee is paid as a part of issuing the TRP. These steps are described in the statute: 61-3-103. Filing of security in- terests — perfection — rights — procedure — fees. (1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (2), the department, its authorized agent, or a county treasurer shall, upon payment of the fee required by subsection (8), enter a voluntary security interest or lien against the electronic record of title for a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile upon receipt of a written acknowl - edgment of a voluntary security interest or lien by the owner of a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile on a form prescribed by the department. (b) After the voluntary security interest or lien has been entered on the electronic record of title for the motor vehicle, trai ler, semitrai ler, pole trai ler, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sai lboat, or snowmobi le, the department , its authorized agent, or a county treasurer shall issue a transaction summary receipt to the owner and, if requested, to the secured party or lienholder, showing the date that the security interest or lien was perfected. (c) A voluntary security interest or lien is perfected on the date that the department, its authorized agent, or a county treasurer receives the written acknowledgment of the vol- untary security interest or lien from the owner of the motor vehicle, trail- er, semitrailer, pole trailer, camper, motorboat, personal watercraft, sailboat, or snowmobile. Acknowledgement that this step has been completed is the letter from DMV sent to the lender stating the date the lien was perfected and noting that fact on the DMV electronic record. Here is a sample of the DMV letter. Note that the letter is sent directly to the lender and states the date that the lien was perfected just as required by part (b) above. You can obtain a copy of this letter from the DMV electronic records if it becomes necessary for you to send it to the lender representative that has contacted you. As you can see from the referenced statutes, once you have issued the TRP with the lien included your oblgiation to your lender to perfect the lien has been satisfied. If demands that you see to it that the vehicle is registered persist, I suggest you write the lender sending them a copy of the lien acknowledge- ment letter from the DMV as proof that you perfected the lien and a copy of Sec - tion 61-3-103 and 61-3-303 which makes it clear that you have done your part, the owner is required to register the vehicle and that you as the dealer have no role in the registration process.