System Targeting Auto Fraud To Go Live

System Targeting Auto Fraud To Go Live
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/29/tech/main4762950.shtml

(AP) The Department of Justice said an online program that will allow
consumers to track a vehicle's detailed history, including whether it
was stolen or spent time in a scrap heap, will go live on Friday.

The department said the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System
will be accessible to consumers for a fee through third-party Web sites.
The system - called NMVTIS - is designed to help law enforcement and
consumers to track a vehicle's brand history, odometer data and other
background about a car to prevent fraud and keep stolen vehicles off the
road.

The department said it has so far enlisted 27 states to provide vehicle
titling, brand data, information as to whether the vehicle has been
stolen or been in possession of scrap yards and other information. The
states so far account for 73 percent of all vehicles in the U.S., it said.

However, several large states, including California and New York, still
have not agreed to share the data with consumers. Public Citizen, a
Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group that took part in a
lawsuit to bring about the program, in a news conference applauded the
new online system but urged the remaining states to begin disclosing
vehicle data. Another group, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety,
also urged the states to comply.

"We're very disturbed to see that California in particular, with the
largest car market and its salvaged vehicles on the road, is not
participating," said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto
Reliability and Safety.

The department said it has lined up third-party commercial Web sites
through which consumers can access NMVTIS data for a fee, but will not
disclose them until Friday because it said it does not want to overwhelm
their Web sites.

The ultimate goal of the program, the Department of Justice said, is to
prevent stolen vehicles from re-entering roadways and being sold to fund
criminal activity and to protect consumers from fraud.

The Department of Justice has spent more than $15 million on NMVTIS
since it was established in 1997.


A Used-Car Promise Finally Delivered
http://tinyurl.com/cfhb76

National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS)
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/nmvtis.html