Interpretation ID: reposses.etl
101 Rocky View Drive
Cold Spring, KY 41076
Dear Ms. Phillips:
This is in response to your telephone request for information concerning whether the Federal odometer disclosure law requires an individual whose vehicle has been repossessed by a lender to provide the repossessing lender with an odometer disclosure statement.
The answer to your question is that the Truth in Mileage Act of 1986, as amended (49 U.S.C. 32701-711), the Federal statute that establishes requirements for odometer disclosure, and NHTSA's odometer disclosure regulations (49 CFR Part 580) do not require an odometer disclosure statement from the debtor when a vehicle is repossessed.
NHTSA has stated this position in an official interpretation letter to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators dated November 8, 1994. I have enclosed a copy of that letter for your information. The agency's statement that Federal odometer disclosure requirements do not apply to vehicle repossessions appears in the first full paragraph on the third page.
In addition, I have enclosed a copy of section 580.3 of NHTSA's odometer disclosure regulations. That section specifically provides that creation of a security interest in a vehicle does not make the parties to the transaction "transferors" and "transferees" who are required to complete and sign an odometer disclosure statement. It follows that if the creation of a security interest does not require an odometer disclosure statement, no such statement is needed for an action taken to protect that interest, such as repossession.
I hope you find this information helpful. If you have any further questions on this matter, please contact Eileen Leahy, an attorney on my staff, at this address or by telephone at 202-366-5263.
Sincerely,
John Womack
Acting Chief Counsel
Enclosures (2)
ref:580
d:1/10/97