News in 2010

Working in the towing industry for more than 30 years has taught Jane Fleming, co-owner of Fleming Salvage and Wrecker Service in Panama City, Florida, just how valuable access to a vehicle’s history can be. The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) gives businesses and consumers access to vehicle histories at a low cost. “We get cars from many states here in the panhandle, and having access to NMVTIS through Auto Data Direct is a must-have for me,” says Fleming. “I use it every day and couldn’t do my job without it.”

As of February 12, 2010, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) is sending dealer license renewal notices to auto independent, wholesale, auction and salvage dealers via email, rather than through the US Postal Service. By communicating with license holders by email, the DHSMV will save approximately $5,000 in taxpayer money over the renewal period.

A new law offers Florida buy-here pay-here dealers another recovery option when a standard repossession attempt fails. Often, dealers are unable to retrieve vehicles because they cannot locate a delinquent customer or the customer conceals a vehicle in an effort to avoid its repossession. Now dealers have the support of House Bill 293, which was signed into Florida law in 2009 [FS 320.02(17), 320.03(8) and 319.27]. Under the new law, buy-here pay-here dealers can prevent customers who are behind in their payments from registering or renewing any vehicles until the vehicle with the unpaid account is surrendered.