Interpretation ID: aiam1145

Mr. John E. Huisman, Davies, Gibbs, Strayer, Stoel and Boley, Twenty-third Floor, 900 S.W. Fifth Avenue, Portland, OR 97204; Mr. John E. Huisman
Davies
Gibbs
Strayer
Stoel and Boley
Twenty-third Floor
900 S.W. Fifth Avenue
Portland
OR 97204;

Dear Mr. Huisman: This is in response to your letter request of May 14, 1973, for a interpretation of the NHTSA odometer disclosure regulations, 49 CFR Part 580. You asked how the regulations apply to a bank which finances automobiles by actual purchase of the vehicle and the purchase money security agreement from the dealer, and obtains possession of those vehicles upon default when the bank repossesses them for return to the dealer.; In this situation the bank has full title to, and possession of, th vehicle and must make the odometer disclosure upon transfer to the dealer. Unlike the previous situation where the bank had no knowledge of the vehicle or control over it, the bank physically returns the vehicle in this case and is the actual transferor.; Yours truly, Richard B. Dyson, Assistant Chief Counsel