P.R. Laws tit. 12, § 1408
(1) Every notice of an administrative fine filed by the Secretary in the registration of a vessel shall constitute a prohibition to register the transfer of said title, as well as to issue or renew the certificate of number and the corresponding sticker until the fine is paid, annulled or cancelled.
In the event that a quasi-judicial or judicial procedure is pending on the administrative fine, and the party on whom the infraction is imputed wishes to renew the certificate of number, or wishes to register the transfer of the title to the vessel, or that the notation be cancelled for any reason, shall pay the fine covering the total amount of the fine or fines requested to be reviewed. Once there is a decision, resolution or final judgment, if it is favorable, the total amount of the fine or fines that have been paid, shall be returned, and the canceling of the notation shall proceed.
Otherwise, if the determination is adverse, the notation shall prevail, which can only be cancelled through the payment of the corresponding fine or fines.
(2) The Secretary shall convey the notation to the person who appears in his/her files as the owner of the vessel as well as to any person who has any other type of lien on said ship registered in the Department. For the purpose of liability with regard to the administrative fine it shall be deemed that the notice of the Secretary to the person who appears in his/her files as the owner, shall constitute notice to the persons who are de facto owners of the vessel and the mere remitting of the notice by mail to the addresses that appear in the Register of Numbering and Registration of the Department, even though they are not received by the addressees, shall be deemed as said notice to all legal effects.
The Secretary shall keep a register of the notations created by administrative fines or any other type of notation or lien he/she has knowledge of, which shall be available for public inspection. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to inform any interested applicant, orally or in writing, of the existence of any type of lien or notation he/she is cognizant of, within a term of forty-eight (48) hours after receiving the request. Provided, That every administrative fine imposed and every ticket for an infraction issued against a vessel under this chapter shall be registered and made available for inspection and certification within the term of forty-five (45) days after being imposed or issued. If this requirement is not complied with, the administrative fine or ticket may be annulled.
(3) The notation established by an administrative fine may be cancelled or annulled by the Secretary under the following circumstances:
(a) In those cases in which the administrative fine is established in a quasi-judicial proceeding and not as a result of the issuing of a ticket, the notation may be cancelled when the fine is paid and there is evidence of the payment thereof.
(b) In the event that the notation is as a result of the issuing of a ticket, it may be cancelled under the following circumstances:
(A) When the ticket is paid and there is evidence of its payment.
(B) When a quasi-judicial or judicial proceeding is established in which the imputed infraction was not committed if a review is requested.
(C) When upon an investigation by the highest-ranking official in the corps to which the police agent who intervened belongs, determines that the police officer who issued the ticket made an error or mistake and proceeds to annul it and informs it to the Commander of the Ranger Corps and the Commissioner of Navigation.
(D) The administrative fine ticket pending payment that has been issued for over five years.
(E) When there is no evidence of the administrative fine that gave rise to the imposition of the notation in the registers.
(4) The Secretary may process the transfer of title of the vessels that have annotations pursuant to this section, if the imposition of the administrative fine is prior to the date the ownership of the vessel changed. The date that appears in the transfer executed in the Department shall be deemed as the date of the transfer of ownership. In said case, the transfer of title shall be executed, but the notation shall be kept in the file and reported to the new owner to be paid at the time of the transfer.
Provided, That regardless of what is established in this section, any person who wishes to include a notation on a vessel that is duly registered and numbered, to which a certificate of number has been issued, shall present the title on which said right is based, for its registration.
History —Dec. 21, 2000, No. 430, § 10, renumbered as § 11 on Sept. 14, 2004, No. 283, § 5.