HB300: HB300 Professions and businesses; pawnbrokers to exclude motor vehicle certificates of title from pawn transactions; revise provisions

Under current Georgia law, pawnbrokers can accept a motor vehicle certificate of title as pledged property in a pawn transaction, and holding the title paperwork is treated as if the pawnbroker holds the vehicle itself. Pawnbrokers can currently charge fees for registering liens on vehicle titles, for repossessing vehicles, and for storing repossessed vehicles, and they must disclose those fees to customers. This bill amends Titles 43 and 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated to remove motor vehicle certificates of title from the definition of pledged goods that pawnbrokers can take. It strikes the rule that possessing a title counts as possessing the vehicle, eliminates the lien-registration, repossession, and vehicle storage fees pawnbrokers could charge, and removes the related disclosure requirements. It also updates definitions for used motor vehicle dealers and the pawnbroker seat on the state licensing board to reflect that pawnbrokers no longer deal in vehicle titles.

• Removes motor vehicle certificates of title from the definition of 'pledged goods' that pawnbrokers may accept in a pawn transaction (O.C.G.A. § 44-12-130).
• Eliminates the rule that a pawnbroker's possession of a vehicle title is legally treated as possession of the motor vehicle itself.
• Strikes pawnbrokers' ability to charge fees for registering liens on vehicle titles, storing repossessed vehicles, and repossessing vehicles (O.C.G.A. § 44-12-131), marking those provisions 'Reserved'.
• Removes the disclosure statements pawnbrokers previously had to give customers about vehicle repossession, storage, and lien fees (O.C.G.A. § 44-12-138).
• Revises the definition of 'used motor vehicle dealer' and the pawnbroker's board seat description to drop references to pawning vehicle titles (O.C.G.A. §§ 43-47-2, 43-47-3).
• Changes the grace period and lien-release rules for pawn transactions involving motor vehicle certificates of title (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-403).

Licensed pawnbrokers who currently accept motor vehicle certificates of title as collateral, consumers who pawn vehicle titles for short-term loans, used motor vehicle dealers, and the State Board of Registration of Used Motor Vehicle Dealers and Used Motor Vehicle Parts Dealers, whose membership rules reference pawnbrokers.

If enacted, Georgians would no longer be able to pawn their vehicle's certificate of title with a pawnbroker under these rules, and pawnbrokers would lose the associated fees for lien registration, repossession, and storage. Customers who previously relied on title pawns for short-term cash would need other options.

• Section 3 removes motor vehicle certificates of title from the definition of 'pledged goods' and deletes the rule equating possession of a title with possession of the vehicle.
• Section 4 reserves (removes) the pawnbroker's right to charge lien-registration, storage, and repossession fees tied to motor vehicles.
• Section 5 removes required disclosure statements about vehicle repossession, storage fees, and lien fees from pawn transaction paperwork.
• Section 6 revises the grace period and lien-release conditions for pawn transactions involving motor vehicle certificates of title.
• Sections 1 and 2 update definitions in Title 43 to remove pawnbrokers' connection to vehicle title transactions from used motor vehicle dealer law.
• Section 7 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-02-10House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-06House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-05House Hopper (House)

• Matt Dubnik (R, HD-029)Primary sponsor
• Josh Bonner (R, HD-073)
• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)
• Emory Dunahoo (R, HD-031)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Joseph Gullett (R, HD-019)

• pawnbrokers
• motor vehicle titles
• consumer lending
• vehicle repossession
• used car dealers