A bill to amend the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to require certain information to be filed in registering the title of motor vehicles, and for other purposes.
Key claim: States would have been barred from titling or registering vehicles transferred across state lines unless the new title showed odometer mileage, and odometer fraud would have carried higher fines and mandatory prison time for repeat offenders.
Abstract
(S2709 · 99th Congress) Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to prohibit the registration or licensing of motor vehicles when the ownership is transferred in interstate commerce unless: (1) the application for a new certificate of title is accompanied by the prior owner’s most recent registration card and title; and (2) the new certificate of title is printed in a specified manner and includes the odometer mileage. Prohibits State issuance of a registration card for a motor vehicle used in interstate commerce unless the application indicates the mileage of the motor vehicle on the application date. Authorizes States to submit alternative mileage disclosure requirements for the approval of the Secretary of Transportation. Provides that a motor vehicle auction company must maintain records showing: (1) the name of the most recent owner; (2) vehicle identification number; and (3) the odometer reading on the date the auction company took possession of the vehicle. Increases the civil penalty for violations of the odometer requirements from $1,000 to $2,000, and imposes a civil penalty in increments of $5,000 for subsequent violations. Increases the criminal penalty for such violations from one to three years maximum imprisonment, and provides for a mandatory imprisonment sentence of three years for second and subsequent convictions. Prohibits the probation, parole, or suspension of a sentence of a person convicted of a second or subsequent violation. Latest action (1986-08-01): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce.
Why this matters
Interstate vehicle transfers historically created gaps where odometer readings could be dropped from titles, enabling mileage fraud that inflates used-car values and masks safety-relevant wear. This 1986 proposal aimed to close that gap by conditioning state title/registration on carrying prior mileage forward, and by stiffening federal penalties. It stalled in committee, but the underlying disclosure regime it sought to tighten remains the framework used today.