Jan 28th, 2010 by Ross Edwards
The Justice Department is almost ready to roll out a database of car titles that will help consumers and dealers spot stolen or salvaged cars that have been fraudulently retitled. Congress created the database, called the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, in 1992. Now, the database includes 77 percent of all motor vehicle title records, according to The Detroit News.
The database will be searchable by consumers and will allow potential car buyers to see if the car they are interested in was previously registered in another state and designated salvage, rebuilt, flood or stolen on its title.
Some states do not issue flooded cars a salvage title, while others do. Because of this, many cars flooded after Hurricane Katrina were repaired and moved around the country to be sold to consumers who had no idea about the car’s past.
Four states and Washington D.C. have not contributed title record data to the federal government for the title database. Once the entire country is participating in the program, it is expected to save Americans between $4 billion and $11 billion per year that would have been lost to fraud.
The database will also be available to law enforcement agencies to help track down stolen vehicles. According to Experian, in the first six months of 2008 alone, 185,000 vehicles were retitled in a different state and received a clean title.
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