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Recyclers News Press
Page 10
Successful Iowa Hill Day 2015 Recap
Des Moines, Iowa
March 26, 2015
Despite the sudden blizzard on the blustery day, the
annual Hill Day was held on Thursday, February 26,
2015 at the State Capitol. During the Iowa Auto Recy-
clers hosted breakfast, members discussed with Leg-
islators the merits of having a state National Motor
Vehicle Titling Information System (NMVTIS) law that
also allowed for the lawful purchase of vehicles with-
out title through an affidavit of ownership system.
Iowa Auto Recyclers with much effort from our Lobby-
ist, Jim Piazza, Jr. have been very busy working with
the Iowa DOT, Iowa AG Consumer Protections Divi-
sion, Iowa Independent Auto Dealers and with much
appreciated guidance from Jay Svendsen and Les
Cravens at Auto Data Direct and
friend of the industry
Steve Levetan, Executive Vice President at Pull-A-
Part as well as Iowa metal recyclers to craft language
to make this consumer protection safeguard tool a
reality in Iowa.
Mirrored bills were
approved in sub-
committees for the
implementation of a
state system. Cham-
ber votes could send
the item to the Gov-
ernor for signature.
Bills are now moving
under bill numbers
SF422 and HF563.
The NMVTIS pre-
vents fraud and helps
stem auto theft by
reporting title trans-
actions by VIN num-
ber to a centralized
database that law enforcement and automotive recy-
clers alike can use to see if a particular vehicle has
been reported as stolen or end-of-life.
By making it an Iowa law, local DOT may begin to en-
force violations of non-reporting at the state level. The
system would easily be able to identify VINs that had
dropped off the system before the end-of-life or crush
status has been reported. This would lead investiga-
tors to the unlicensed entities conducting illegal auto
recycling, auto theft and title cloning just to name a
few examples.
The second
component
discussed in
the House and
Senate bills
was the affida-
vit process of
acquiring scrap
vehicles from
the rightful
owner without a
proper title. The
merit of an affi-
davit system is to help clean up derelict vehicles that
become eyesores.
The mechanics of the affidavit system are not fully
spelled out in the bills but key components were
agreed upon at drafting.
A vehicle that may be taken by affidavit, if the bills be-
come law in Iowa, would have to be 12 years old or
older, valued at $1,000 or less and the buyer would
have to swear on the affidavit that an electronic lien
check had been completed to ensure no other entity
had claim to the vehicle. The Iowa NMVTIS and affi-
davit system, if enacted into law, would be an elec-
tronic reporting system that could replace the need to
secure junking certificates once in place. Reporting of
vehicles acquired through affidavit would have to be
reported to NMVTIS within two days to be compliant.
Additional reporting to the national NMVTIS system
would NOT be required as the Iowa system would up-
date the national system. In fact, most auto recyclers’
reporting vendors or other mechanisms would only
change in background operations and be somewhat
transparent to the
user. The Nation-
al Automotive Re-
cyclers Associa-
tion supports the
implementation of
state-level
NMVTIS as a
means to prevent
fraud and protect
consumers.