There are about 20,000 vehicular accidents in the Dominican Republic. Most times, fault is assessed, and insurance claims filed. Sums in the millions are sometimes involved, and because nobody wants to pay for someone else’s mistakes, the vehicle title transfer is a must. If you sell a vehicle, make sure to get your name off the vehicle’s title.
A recent case presses for the need that the seller make sure that the title is transferred properly when selling a vehicle. This is essential to avoid being involved in a legal case if the vehicle in the future is involved in a traffic accident.
The law establishes that whoever is the titleholder of the vehicle is the person the insurance companies and the judicial authorities will go after to settle claims.
In the hypothetical case that you sold the vehicle to a person of your trust and that person sold the vehicle to a third party, you can also carry out what is known as a “vehicular discharge.” This can be obtained at the Tax Agency (DGII) and is as per Taxes Law 492-08. It can be done online and does not involve much money.
This prevents a person who has sold a vehicle to someone else and the buyer has not put the vehicle in his name, from being charged for damages from accidents or traffic citations issued to the car.
A lawyer outlined the proper sequence of events for self-protection after the sale of a vehicle. First, the sales agreement must be legalized in the Civil Registry and the mortgage archives at the local municipal government, and then downloaded to the DGII. This goes with a copy of the car’s registration and the IDs (cedulas) of the buyer and the seller.
Without these steps it is possible for you to face a judicial process that has nothing to do with you, but because your name is still on the registration, you must go to court. The discharge document allows the judge to free you of any liability. It costs RD$300 at the DGII and 0.05% of the value of the vehicle paid at the Civil Registry. A word to the wise.
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Listin Diario
DGII
27 September 2021