News in 2013

The Florida Legislature’s passage of House Bill 7125 has resulted in a significant increase in the use and growth of the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). The law, which became effective July 1, 2013, strengthens the effectiveness of NMVTIS by promoting the use of NMVTIS Prospective Purchaser Inquiries (PPIs) as part of the tow lien and mechanic’s lien process and codifying in Florida statute reporting requirements for the salvage and towing industry.

ADD is a U.S. Department of Justice approved provider for access to NMVTIS PPIs and one of three nationally approved vendors for the reporting of salvage vehicles into the database. “From June to July we saw a 65% increase in the number of Florida towing companies accessing NMVTIS records, and 131% increase in the number of NMVTIS vehicle history reports pulled by those companies.” said ADD President Jim Taylor. “In that same one month period we saw a 48% increase in the number of records reported into the system from towing companies.” Taylor points out these are records that otherwise would not be accessed and vehicle data that may not be reported at this point in the vehicle’s life cycle.

The law changes the good faith procedure for locating out-of-state owners or lienholders as part of the towed vehicle notification process to include a record check through NMVTIS to determine the current state of title. Towing facility operators can now search for vehicle’s current state of title online, through NMVTIS, and then request ownership information for non-Florida vehicles from the state identified. Web-based NMVTIS inquiries significantly speeds up the search process and reduces the number of good faith notices sent to law enforcement agencies.

The new process is saving the towing industry and law enforcement significant costs, and is expediting the notification of out-of-state owners and lien holders of vehicles towed in the State of Florida. “Requiring the tow operator to search for the state of title through NMVTIS rather than requesting law enforcement to make the search is a savings in time and taxpayer resources,” said Leon County Sheriff’s Deputy Jared Lee. “It also is an important step necessary to identify and locate the vehicle owner so they can recover their property more quickly.” Deputy Lee also serves as the Leon County Wrecker Administrator and works closely with the tow and wrecker industry.

The same legislation also requires tow, storage, and recovery businesses to report information about the salvage vehicles they handle to NMVTIS. Licensed salvage motor vehicle dealers are required to report the purchase of salvage and “derelict” vehicles to NMVTIS. Tow operators must report salvage vehicles to NMVTIS prior to applying for a Certificate of Destruction with the Florida DHSMV and all applications for a certificate of destruction made by tow operators must now include proof of reporting to NMVTIS. This consumer protection measure ensures that vehicle histories obtained through the national database alert prospective purchasers to salvage brands placed on the vehicle.

“All over the country, consumers are benefitting from NMVTIS records in a variety of ways,” said Joe Farrow, Chairman of the NMVTIS National Advisory Board and Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol. “Whether it’s expediting owner notification and earlier reporting of the vehicle into the national database as in Florida, or requiring used car dealers to provide consumers a vehicle history report with salvage brands on every car they sell in California, States are incorporating this valuable national database into their efforts to protect consumers.”