Va. Code § 46.2-617: Sale of vehicle without certificate of title

Except as provided in §§ 46.2-644.03 and 58.1-3942, any person who sells, trades, exchanges, or barters a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer in the Commonwealth without first having secured a certificate of title for it or without legally having in his possession a certificate of title for the vehicle issued to its owner, except as otherwise provided in this title, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.Code 1950, § 46-7; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-88; 1968, c. 605; 1978, c. 605; 1988, c. 363; 1989, c. 727; 2009, c. 664; 2012, c. 623.