HB 247 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to services provided by the Department 2
of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or its agents; 3
amending s. 319.28, F.S.; providing that a certain 4
affidavit constitutes proof of ownership and right of 5
possession to a motor vehicle or mobile home the 6
previous owner of which died testate; amending s. 7
319.29, F.S.; prohibiting the department or a tax 8
collector from charging a fee for reissuance of 9
certain certificates of title; amending s. 320.06, 10
F.S.; authorizing the department to deem a license 11
plate with reduced dimensions to be necessary to 12
accommodate trailers; amending s. 320.084, F.S.; 13
authorizing certain disabled veterans to be issued a 14
military license plate or specialty license plate in 15
lieu of a "DV" license plate; specifying applicable 16
fees; specifying nonapplicability of certain 17
provisions; amending s. 320.131, F.S.; removing 18
provisions requiring a written, notarized request for 19
the purchase of a temporary tag; authorizing the 20
department or its agents to renew an initial temporary 21
tag, subject to certain provisions; providing an 22
effective date. 23
24
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25
HB 247 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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Section 1. Paragraphs (c) and ( d) of subsection (1) of 27
section 319.28, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs 28
(d) and (e), respectively, and a new paragraph (c) is added to 29
that subsection to read: 30
319.28 Transfer of ownership by operation of law. — 31
(1) 32
(c) If the previous owner died testate and the application 33
for a certificate of title is made by, and accompanied by an 34
affidavit attested by, a Florida -licensed attorney in good 35
standing with The Florida Bar who is representing the previous 36
owner's estate, such affidavit sh all, for purposes of paragraph 37
(a), constitute satisfactory proof of ownership and right of 38
possession to the motor vehicle or mobile home, so long as the 39
affidavit sets forth the rightful heir or heirs and the attorney 40
attests in the affidavit that such h eir or heirs are lawfully 41
entitled to the rights of ownership and possession of the motor 42
vehicle or mobile home. It shall not be necessary for the 43
application for certificate of title filed under this paragraph 44
to be accompanied by a copy of the will or o ther testamentary 45
instrument. 46
Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 319.29, Florida 47
Statutes, is amended to read: 48
319.29 Lost or destroyed certificates. — 49
(3) If, following the issuance of an original, duplicate, 50
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or corrected certificate of title by the department, the 51
certificate is lost in transit and is not delivered to the 52
addressee, the owner of the motor vehicle or mobile home, or the 53
holder of a lien thereon, may, within 180 days after of the date 54
of issuance of the title, apply to the departme nt for reissuance 55
of the certificate of title. An No additional fee shall not be 56
charged by the department or a tax collector, as agent for the 57
department, for reissuance under this subsection. 58
Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 59
320.06, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 60
320.06 Registration certificates, license plates, and 61
validation stickers generally. — 62
(3)(a) Registration license plates must be made of metal 63
specially treated with a retroreflection material, as specified 64
by the department. The registration license plate is designed to 65
increase nighttime visibility and legibility and must be at 66
least 6 inches wide and not less than 12 inches in length, 67
unless a plate with reduced dimensions is deemed necessary by 68
the department to accommodate motorcycles, mopeds, or similar 69
smaller vehicles, or trailers. Validation stickers must also be 70
treated with a retroreflection material, must be of such size as 71
specified by the department, and must adhere to the license 72
plate. The registration license plate must be imprinted with a 73
combination of bold letters and numerals or numerals, not to 74
exceed seven digits, to identify the registration license plate 75
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number. The license plate must be imprinted with the word 76
"Florida" at the top and the name of the county in which it is 77
sold, the state motto, or the words "Sunshine State" at the 78
bottom. Apportioned license plates must have the word 79
"Apportioned" at the bottom, and license plates issued for 80
vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(3)(d), (4)(m) or (n), (5)(b) or 81
(c), or (14) must have the word "Restricted" at the bottom. 82
License plates issued for vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(12) 83
must be imprinted with the word "Florida" at the top and the 84
word "Dealer" at the bottom unless the license plate is a 85
specialty license plate as authorized in s. 320.08056. 86
Manufacturer license plates issued for vehicles taxed under s. 87
320.08(12) must be imprinted with the word "Florida" at the top 88
and the word "Manufacturer" at the bottom. License plates issued 89
for vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(5)(d) or (e) must be 90
imprinted with the word "Wrecker" at the bottom. Any county may, 91
upon majority vote of the county commission, elect to have the 92
county name removed from the license plates sold in that county. 93
The state motto or the words "Sunshine State" shall be printed 94
in lieu thereof. A license plate issued for a vehicle taxed 95
under s. 320.08(6) may not be assigned a registration license 96
number, or be issued with any other distinctive character or 97
designation, that distingui shes the motor vehicle as a for -hire 98
motor vehicle. 99
Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 320.084, Florida 100
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Statutes, is amended, and subsection (6) is added to that 101
section, to read: 102
320.084 Free motor vehicle license plate to certain 103
disabled veterans.— 104
(1) One free "DV" motor vehicle license number plate shall 105
be issued by the department for use on any motor vehicle owned 106
or leased by any disabled veteran who has been a resident of 107
this state continuously for the preceding 5 years or has 108
established a domicile in this state as provided by s. 109
222.17(1), (2), or (3), and who has been honorably discharged 110
from the United States Armed Forces, upon application, 111
accompanied by proof that: 112
(a) A vehicle was initially acquired through financial 113
assistance by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs 114
or its predecessor specifically for the purchase of an 115
automobile; 116
(b) The applicant has been determined by the United States 117
Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor to have a 118
service-connected 100-percent disability rating for 119
compensation; or 120
(c) The applicant has been determined to have a service -121
connected disability rating of 100 percent and is in receipt of 122
disability retirement pay from any branch of the United States 123
Armed Services. 124
(6)(a) A disabled veteran who meets the requirements of 125
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subsection (1) may be issued, in lieu of the "DV" license plate, 126
a military license plate for which he or she is eligible or a 127
specialty license plate. A disabled veteran electing a military 128
license plate or specialty license plate under this subsection 129
must pay all applicable fees related to such license plate, 130
except for fees otherwise waived under subsections (1) and (4). 131
(b) A military license plate or specialty license plate 132
elected under this subsection: 133
1. Does not provide the protections or rights afforded by 134
ss. 316.1955, 316.1964, 320.0848, 526.141, and 553.5041. 135
2. Is not eligible for the international symbol of 136
accessibility as described in s. 320.0842. 137
Section 5. Subsection (2) o f section 320.131, Florida 138
Statutes, is amended to read: 139
320.131 Temporary tags. — 140
(2)(a) The department may is authorized to sell temporary 141
tags, in addition to those listed above, to its their agents and 142
where need is demonstrated by a consumer compla inant. The fee 143
for a temporary tag issued under this section shall be $2 each. 144
One dollar from each tag sold shall be deposited into the Brain 145
and Spinal Cord Injury Program Trust Fund, with the remaining 146
proceeds being deposited into the Highway Safety Op erating Trust 147
Fund. Agents of the department shall sell temporary tags for $2 148
each and shall charge the service charge authorized by s. 320.04 149
per transaction, regardless of the quantity sold. Requests for 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
purchase of temporary tags to the department or it s agents shall 151
be made, where applicable, on letterhead stationery and 152
notarized. Except as specifically provided otherwise, a 153
temporary tag issued under this section shall be valid for 30 154
days, and no more than two shall be issued to the same person 155
for the same vehicle. 156
(b) At the request of the applicant, the department or its 157
agents may, in lieu of issuing a second temporary tag under 158
paragraph (a), renew the initial temporary tag for the same 159
period applicable to the initial issuance. Such renewal i s 160
subject to the fee, service charge, and deposit requirements 161
provided in paragraph (a). 162
Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 163