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Automobile Fraud: NEW JERSEY

State Odometer Statute: N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:21-8 (West)

Prohibited acts: Sell, exchange, offer for sale or exchange, or expose for sale or exchange a used vehicle whose odometer has been changed or disconnected so as to indicate less mileage than actually driven, with the purpose of misrepresenting the mileage actually driven.

Automobile Fraud: NEW MEXICO

State Odometer Statute: N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 57-12-6, 66-3-101, 66-3-107

Prohibited acts: Person transferring a motor vehicle is required to record the actual mileage of the vehicle as indicated on the odometer on a form provided by the motor vehicle department (§§ 66-3-101, 66-3-107). Willful misrepresentation of the age of a motor vehicle is a UDAP violation (§ 57-12-6).

Criminal penalties: Violation of § 57-12-6 is a misdemeanor.

Automobile Fraud: NEW YORK

State Odometer Statute: N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 392-e (McKinney)

Prohibited acts: (1) Provide a false odometer disclosure statement upon transfer of a vehicle; (2) Misrepresent true mileage driven to a transferee by disconnecting or changing an odometer or causing an odometer to be disconnected or changed, so as to reduce mileage indicated; (3) Remove an odometer repair notice.

Exclusions: New motor vehicles excluded. Any unauthorized removal of notice is violation of the section.

Automobile Fraud: NORTH DAKOTA

State Odometer Statute: N.D. Cent. Code § 39-21-51

Prohibited acts: (1) Willfully alter a motor vehicle odometer or other mileage recorder, hour meter or tachometer or other hour recorder; (2) Offer for sale or sell a motor vehicle knowing the odometer or other mileage recorder has been altered, for the purpose of deceiving another.

Automobile Fraud: RHODE ISLAND

State Odometer Statute: R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 31-23.2-1 to 31-23.2-13

Purpose: Prohibit tampering with odometers, establish safeguards for protection of purchasers, and create civil and criminal sanctions for violations.

Automobile Fraud: SOUTH CAROLINA

State Odometer Statute: S.C. Code Ann. § 56-19-240

Prohibited acts: Knowingly give a false statement on an application for certificate of title concerning the odometer reading on an odometer disclosure statement.

Criminal penalties: Not more than one year imprisonment and a $1000 fine. These penalties shall be in addition to penalties provided by federal odometer law.

State Salvage Vehicle Statute: S.C. Code Ann. § 56-19-480

Automobile Fraud: SOUTH DAKOTA

State Odometer Statute: S.D. Codified Laws §§ 32-15-33 to 32-15-34

Prohibited acts: (1) Disconnect, reset or alter or cause to be disconnected, reset or altered the odometer of a motor vehicle; (2) Fail to attach permanent notice of an odometer repair or replacement to the left door frame if the mileage is changed; (3) Operate a motor vehicle on highways with a disconnected odometer.

Automobile Fraud: TENNESSEE

State Odometer Statute: Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-132

Prohibited acts: (1) Misrepresent mileage on a used motor vehicle offered for sale, trade in or exchange by changing the mileage registering instrument to show lesser mileage than recorded by the instrument; (2) Fail to set mileage reading to actual mileage recorded prior to service, repair or replacement, in the event that the mileage registering instrument requires service, repair or replacement.

Automobile Fraud: TEXAS

State Odometer Statute: Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 727.002 (West)

Prohibited acts: Disconnect, turn back, or reset the odometer of a motor vehicle to reduce the number of miles indicated, with the intent to defraud.

Criminal penalties: Not more than two years in the county jail and/or a $1000 fine. For a second or subsequent offense, not less than 30 days and not more than two years in the county jail and a $2000 fine.

Automobile Fraud: UTAH

State Odometer Statute: Utah Code Ann. §§ 41-1a-901 to 41-1a-906, 41-1a-1310, 41-1a-1319 (West)

Automobile Fraud: VIRGIN ISLANDS

Disclosure of Prior Use: V.I. Code Ann. tit. 12A, § 180(f)

A demonstrator shall have affixed proper documentation indicating that the vehicle is a demonstrator, and the purchaser is entitled to the applicable manufacturer’s warranty.

Automobile Fraud: WEST VIRGINIA

State Odometer Statute: W. Va. Code § 17A-3-12a

Prohibited acts: Failure of transferor to comply with federal odometer disclosure requirements or to knowingly give a false disclosure statement to transferee.

Criminal penalties: Not more than six months imprisonment in the county jail and a fine of not less than $200 and not more than $1000.

State Salvage Vehicle Statute: W. Va. Code § 17A-4-10

Automobile Fraud: Introduction

As described in Chapter 2, supra, obtaining a title history search from a state department of motor vehicles is often a critical step in an automobile fraud investigation. Because of the Driver Privacy Protection Act, applicants must indicate the use they will make of this data and must supply the state with other information.