(a) The commissioner shall file each application received and, when satisfied as to its genuineness and regularity and that the applicant is entitled to the issuance of a certificate of title, shall issue a certificate of title of the vehicle. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the commissioner may accept, in lieu of an outstanding certificate of title, evidence of vehicle ownership acceptable to him. The certificate of title issued may contain the legend “This vehicle may be subject to an undisclosed lien.”
(b) The commissioner shall maintain at his central office a record of all certificates of title issued by him: (1) Under a distinctive title number assigned to the vehicle; (2) under the identification number of the vehicle; (3) alphabetically, under the name of the owner; and, in the discretion of the commissioner, by any other method he determines.
(c) Records pertaining to certificates of title over four years old may be destroyed in the discretion of the commissioner.