Interpretation ID: aiam3328
P.O. Box 237
Bessemer
AL 35021;
Dear Mr. Clifton: This is in response to your telephone conversation with Kathy DeMete of my staff on Tuesday, September 2, 1980. You asked for the status of section 580.5(a)(1) of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. That section exempts from the odometer disclosure requirements anyone transferring a vehicle having a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 16,000 pounds. That exemption is part of the regulation, originally issued in January 1973, which prescribes rules requiring a transferor of a motor vehicle to make a written disclosure to the transferee concerning the odometer reading and its accuracy.; In January 1977, the exemption was declared void by the United State District Court for the District of Nebraska on the grounds that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has exceeded its authority in fashioning the exemption. Notwithstanding the court's decision, the NHTSA believes that it has the authority to create exemptions for vehicles for which the odometer reading is not relevant. The exemption, consequently, remains a part of the odometer disclosure regulations.; Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel