Anti-Theft Provisions and Penalties

V.S.A. tit. 23, ch. 21, subch. 5

in effect

23 V.S.A. § 2081 Application of subchapter

2081. Application of subchapter (a) This subchapter does not apply to a self-propelled wheelchair or invalid tricycle. (b) The provisions of this subchapter that apply to certificates of title shall also apply to salvage certificates of title, exempt vehicle titles, certificates of origin, and secure assignments of title. Added 1969, No. 297 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1971; amended 1991, No. 164 (Adj. Sess.), § 10; 2015, No. 50, § 33a, eff. Jan. 1, 2016.

23 V.S.A. § 2082 Altering, forging, or counterfeiting certificates; penalty

2082. Altering, forging, or counterfeiting certificates; penalty (a) A person who with fraudulent intent commits any of the following acts shall be subject to the penalties provided in subsection (b) of this section: (1) alters, forges, counterfeits, or knowingly makes or causes to be made a false official certificate of title; (2) alters or forges an assignment of a certificate of title, or an assignment or release of a security interest, on a certificate of title or a form the Commissioner prescribes; (3) has possession of or uses a certificate of title knowing it to have been altered, forged, counterfeited, or fraudulently obtained or made; or (4) uses a false or fictitious name or address, or makes a material false statement, or fails to disclose a security interest, or conceals any other material fact in or alters information on or forges a signature on an application for a certificate of title or duplicate certificate of title. (b) A person convicted of violating this section shall be fined not less than $500.00 or more than $5,000.00 or be imprisoned not less than one year or more than five years, or both. Added 1969, No. 297 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1971; amended 1991, No. 164 (Adj. Sess.), § 11; 2001, No. 69, § 7; 2015, No. 47, § 37.

23 V.S.A. § 2083 Other offenses

2083. Other offenses (a) A person who: (1) knowing that another person is not entitled to use or possess a certificate of title, knowingly permits that person to use or possess the certificate, shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in subdivision (5) of this subsection; (2) knowingly fails to mail or deliver a certificate of title or application for a certificate of title to the Commissioner within 30 days after the transfer or creation or satisfaction of a security interest shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in subdivision (5) of this subsection; (3) knowingly fails to deliver to his or her transferee a certificate of title within 30 days after the transfer shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in subdivision (5) of this subsection; (4) knowingly and without authority signs a name other than his or her own on any title, or knowingly alters or inaccurately states the chain of ownership or other information required on any title, or knowingly fails to return a certificate of title that has been fraudulently made, or knowingly has unauthorized possession of blank certificates of title or manufacturer’s certificates of origin, shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in subdivision (5) of this subsection; (5) knowingly violates any provision of this chapter, except as provided in subdivision (6) of this subsection or section 2082 of this title, shall be fined not more than $2,000.00 or imprisoned for not more than two years, or both; or (6) knowingly represents as his or her own or sells or transfers a motor vehicle or vessel to which he or she does not hold legal title or is not authorized by the titleholder to sell or transfer, shall be fined not more than $5,000.00 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both, for each offense. (b) Absent a showing of a knowing failure to deliver as provided in subdivision (a)(3) of this section, a person who fails to deliver to his or her transferee a certificate of title within 30 days after the transfer commits a traffic violation and shall be assessed a civil penalty of not more than $1,000.00. Added 1969, No. 297 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1971; amended 1991, No. 164 (Adj. Sess.), § 12; 2001, No. 69, § 8; 2009, No. 39, § 6; 2011, No. 46, § 15; 2019, No. 60, § 22.

23 V.S.A. § 2084 Report of theft, recovery of unclaimed vehicle

2084. Report of theft, recovery of unclaimed vehicle (a) An enforcement officer, sheriff, or constable who learns of the theft of a vehicle not since recovered, or of the recovery of a vehicle whose theft or conversion the enforcement officer, sheriff, or constable knows or has reason to believe has been reported to the Commissioner, shall immediately report the theft or recovery to the Commissioner. (b) An owner or a lienholder may report the theft of a vehicle, or its conversion if a crime, to the Commissioner, but the Commissioner may disregard the report of a conversion unless a warrant has been issued for the arrest of an individual charged with the conversion. An individual who has so reported the theft or conversion of a vehicle shall, immediately after learning of its recovery, report the recovery to the Commissioner. (c) An operator of a place of business for garaging, repairing, parking, or storing vehicles for the public, in which a vehicle remains unclaimed for a period of 30 days, shall, within five days after the expiration of that period, report the vehicle as unclaimed to the Commissioner. A vehicle left by its owner whose name and address are known to the operator or his or her employee is not considered unclaimed. A person who fails to report a vehicle as unclaimed in accordance with this subsection forfeits all claims and liens for its garaging, parking, or storing and shall be assessed a civil penalty of not more than $25.00 for each day his or her failure to report continues. (d) The Commissioner shall maintain and appropriately index weekly any cumulative public records of stolen, converted, recovered, and unclaimed vehicles reported to him or her pursuant to this section. The Commissioner may make and distribute copies of the weekly records so maintained to enforcement officers upon request without fee and to others for the fee, if any, the Commissioner prescribes. (e) The Commissioner may suspend the registration of a vehicle whose theft or conversion is reported to him or her pursuant to this section; until the Commissioner learns of its recovery or that the report of its theft or conversion was erroneous, he or she shall not issue a certificate of title for the vehicle. Added 1969, No. 297 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1971; amended 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 217; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 303, eff. July 1, 2024.

23 V.S.A. § 2085 False report

2085. False report A person who knowingly makes a false report of the theft or conversion of a vehicle to an enforcement officer or to the Commissioner shall be fined not more than $500.00 or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. Added 1969, No. 297 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1971.

23 V.S.A. § 2086 Impeachment of defendant

2086. Impeachment of defendant In a prosecution for a crime specified in this subchapter, a certified copy of a conviction under section 2082 of this title is admissible to impeach the credibility of the defendant. Added 1969, No. 297 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1971.

23 V.S.A. § 2087 Construction with other laws

2087. Construction with other laws The penal provisions of this subchapter in no way repeal or modify any existing provision of criminal law but are additional and supplementary. Added 1969, No. 297 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1971; amended 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 218.

Source: Vermont General Assembly (legislature.vermont.gov)URL: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/chapter/23/021Fetched: 10/21/2026