                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

TERMINATION STATEMENT; DELIVERY OF CERTIFICATE OF TITLE; PENALTY (§
29.1-733.16)

A. A secured party indicated in the files of the Department as having a security
interest in a watercraft shall deliver a termination statement to the Department
and, on the debtor&#8217;s request, to the debtor by the earlier of:

   1. Twenty days after the secured party receives a signed demand from an owner
   for a termination statement and there is no obligation secured by the
   watercraft subject to the security interest and no commitment to make an
   advance, incur an obligation, or otherwise give value secured by the
   watercraft; or

   2. If the watercraft is consumer goods, 30 days after there is no obligation
   secured by the watercraft and no commitment to make an advance, incur an
   obligation, or otherwise give value secured by the watercraft.

B. If a written certificate of title has been created and delivered to a secured
party and a termination statement is required under subsection A, the secured
party, not later than the date required by subsection A, shall deliver the
certificate to the debtor or to the Department with the statement. An owner,
upon securing the release of any security interest upon a vessel shown upon the
certificate of title issued for the watercraft, may exhibit the documents
evidencing the release, signed by the person or persons making such release, and
the certificate of title to the Department. If the certificate is lost, stolen,
mutilated, destroyed, or is otherwise unavailable or illegible, the secured
party shall deliver with the statement, not later than the date required by
subsection A, an application for a replacement certificate meeting the
requirements of &#xA7; 29.1-733.22.

C. On delivery to the Department of a termination statement authorized by the
secured party, the security interest to which the statement relates ceases to be
perfected. If the security interest to which the statement relates was indicated
on the certificate of title, the Department shall create a new certificate and
deliver the new certificate or a record evidencing an electronic certificate.
The Department shall maintain in its files the date and time of delivery to the
Department of the statement.

D. A secured party that fails to deliver a required termination statement is
liable for any loss that the secured party had reason to know might result from
its failure to comply and that could not reasonably have been prevented and for
the cost of an application for a certificate of title under &#xA7; 29.1-733.7 or
29.1-733.22.

E. It shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor for a secured party who holds a
certificate of title to refuse or fail to surrender the certificate to the owner
or his agent within 10 days after the security interest has been paid and
satisfied.

HISTORY: 2013, c. 787.