Nebraska § 60-179 - Prohibited acts; penalty.

§ 60-179. Prohibited acts; penalty.

A person commits a Class IV felony if he or she (1) forges any certificate of title or manufacturer's or importer's certificate to a vehicle, any assignment of either certificate, or any cancellation of any lien on a vehicle, (2) holds or uses such certificate, assignment, or cancellation knowing the same to have been forged, (3) procures or attempts to procure a certificate of title to a vehicle or passes or attempts to pass a certificate of title or any assignment thereof to a vehicle, knowing or having reason to believe that such vehicle has been stolen, (4) sells or offers for sale in this state a vehicle on which the motor number or manufacturer's serial number has been destroyed, removed, covered, altered, or defaced with knowledge of the destruction, removal, covering, alteration, or defacement of such motor number or manufacturer's serial number, (5) knowingly uses a false or fictitious name, knowingly gives a false or fictitious address, knowingly makes any false statement in any application or affidavit required under the Motor Vehicle Certificate of Title Act or in a bill of sale or sworn statement of ownership, or (6) otherwise knowingly commits a fraud in any application for a certificate of title.

There is no legal requirement that a lien be noted on a certificate of title purportedly covering property not subject to the Certificate of Title Act, even though a certificate of title for such property has been issued. Cushman Sales & Service of Nebraska, Inc. v. Muirhead, 201 Neb. 495, 268 N.W.2d 440 (1978).

Although making a false affidavit was a crime, it would not have been effective in obtaining a certificate of title had holder of certificate recorded its lien. First Nat. Bank v. Provident Finance Co., 176 Neb. 45, 125 N.W.2d 78 (1963).