The bill amends existing Washington law governing certificates of title for motor vehicles and vessels. It requires title applications to be made by the owner or the owner’s representative on department-approved forms, signed and sworn under chapter 5.50 RCW, and to include vehicle or vessel descriptions, registered and legal owner names/addresses, secured party information when applicable, and any other information the department requires. Certificates of title may be issued as electronic records and must be issued electronically unless the applicant requests a paper title under specified paper-title procedures. Paper titles must generally be printed at the time of application except for certain salvage or restricted vehicles or vessels, and applicants for paper titles must pay a paper title service fee before application acceptance. The bill changes procedures for perfection and release of security interests in titled vehicles and vessels. For vehicles, a security interest is perfected only by complying with RCW 46.12.660 or the amended section and by the department/agent/subagent receiving the existing certificate (if any), an application listing the secured party, and required fees; it is perfected immediately if the secured party’s name and address appear on the most recent certificate of title, otherwise when the department receives the certificate or application and fees. For vehicles brought into Washington with an existing security interest, perfection is determined by the law of the jurisdiction where the interest attached, with procedures for continuation or perfection in Washington. When a security interest is created after a certificate has been issued, the registered owner or secured party must apply for a new certificate and submit required documents and fees within 10 days, and when obligations are satisfied the secured party must release the interest and the department will issue a new title. The bill also authorizes subagents to process paper titles under department rules and allows subagents to remove liens on electronic records. The bill adjusts fee types and distributions for vessel titling and registration and for paper title service fees. It specifies many vessel-related fees and surcharges (including derelict vessel and invasive species removal fees, nonresident permit fees calculated by vessel length or a flat amount, vessel visitor permit fees, and a $50 paper title service fee) and prescribes how those fees are allocated among the general fund, motor vehicle or derelict vessel accounts, county treasurers, subagents, and counties for approved boating safety programs. Some timing and administrative rules are included (for example, a subagent may process vessel paper titles only after a county auditor has processed paper titles for at least six months and has approved the subagent). The bill amends multiple RCW sections (including RCW 46.12.530, 46.12.540, 46.12.555, 46.17.160, 46.68.025, 46.12.675, 88.02.515, 88.02.540, and 88.02.640). Several provisions are incomplete or unclear in the provided text. The specific identity of “the department” is not stated, a liability provision referring to a $100 payment by a secured party is cut off and its conditions are not fully shown, some referenced subsections and the full text of amended RCW 88.02.640 appear duplicated or partially provided, and the contents of Sections 9 and 10 of the act are not included (only their expiration/effective dates are given). The bill’s overall effective date or other timing details beyond those shown (for example, charging the service fee beginning January 1, 2016 and section expiration/effective dates in 2029) are not fully provided in the extracted material.

If enacted, most vehicle and vessel owners will receive electronic certificates of title by default and will have to pay a $50 fee only if they request a paper title; paper certificates are printed at application except for certain salvage or restricted cases. Lenders and other secured parties will need to follow the bill’s tighter timing and paperwork rules to perfect or release liens (including applying for or changing certificates within 10 days when security interests are created) or risk delays and possible financial exposure; one penalty provision references a $100 payment to the registered owner in some failure situations, but that provision is partly missing here so the full scope of that risk is unclear. County auditors, subagents, and county treasurers will see new administrative duties and a share of the paper-title fee revenue (counties and subagents retain portions when they accept payment), while the state-level distribution differs by type: vehicle paper-title fee receipts go to the motor vehicle fund, vessel paper-title fees go to the general fund, and other vessel fees and surcharges provide money for derelict vessel removal, invasive species control, and county boating safety programs. The bill also requires certain safeguards before subagents process vessel paper titles (inventorying blanks, six months of county processing, and county auditor approval), and some details—such as the identity of "the department," the complete secured-party liability language, and full effective dates—are not present in the extracted text.