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Substantial Compliance with Statute Transfers Title to Vehicle  

SERIOUS INJURY ALWAYS BRINGS LITIGATION  

When an accident results in serious injuries the lawyers for the injured  parties seek other defendants, no matter how weak the argument may be  to bring in additional defendants.  In Delores Zepeda v. Central Motors, Inc., No. 2021-SC-0204-DG, Supreme  Court of Kentucky (August 18, 2022) the Kentucky Supreme Court was faced  with an argument that a car dealer who sold a vehicle to another and  was a few days short on filing all of the transfer of title paperwork,  should be held to be the owner of the vehicle and, therefore,  responsible for the injuries. This appeal was solely concerned with determining the statutory  ownership of the BMW between Garcia and Central Motors which controlled  whether Zepeda could dip into Central Motors\' insurance.  

FACTS   

Dolores Zepeda (Zepeda) was grievously wounded in an automobile  accident. She filed a claim against Central Motors, Inc. (Central  Motors) alleging it was the statutory owner of the 2002 BMW in which she  was a passenger at the time of the accident. The trial court granted  summary judgment in favor of Central Motors, holding it had  substantially complied with KRS 186A.220 when it sold the vehicle to  Juan Garcia (Garcia) and was no longer the statutory owner of the  vehicle. Zepeda appealed and the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower  court\'s ruling.  Though Morales did not possess a valid driver\'s license, Garcia let  Morales drive the vehicle. On August 14, 2014, Morales was driving the  2002 BMW when he caused it to crash in a single vehicle accident.  Morales had a blood alcohol level (BAC) of 0.145. The accident killed  Morales and left his passenger, Zepeda, paralyzed. The title was issued  in Garcia\'s name the next day on August 15th and the registration was  completed on the 18th, three days later.  Zepeda sued the Estate of Morales seeking compensatory and punitive  damages; against Garcia for negligent entrustment; against Allstate  Property & Casualty Insurance Company (Allstate) for underinsured  motorist coverage; and against Central Motors as the purported statutory  owner of the vehicle.  Therefore, the trial court reasoned, under the Kentucky Supreme Court\\u2019s  decision in Travelers Indem. Co. v. Armstrong, 565 S.W.3d 550 (Ky.  2018), that there was substantial compliance with KRS 186A.220.