ID: nht78-3.42

DATE: 11/14/78

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; John Womack; NHTSA

TO: McClintock Donovan Carson & Roach

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of September 1, 1978, requesting information on the Federal odometer disclosure requirements. You specifically asked what a lessor's responsibility is with regard to the certifications on the disclosure statement. The lessor, as transferor of a vehicle, is required to certify, to the best of his knowledge, as to the accuracy of the vehicle's odometer. A lessor should assume that an odometer is accurate unless he has reason to believe otherwise. Any reasonable belief that the odometer is wrong should be reflected on the disclosure statement by checking, in the first set of certifications, either box 2 or 3, as appropriate. In situations where the lessor has no knowledge as to the accuracy of the odometer reading, he should not state that the mileage is in error because to the best of his knowledge it is correct.

With regard to the second set of certifications, the lessor should check box 1 unless he altered or knows that the lessee or some other person altered the odometer. Since your client is concerned about the possibility that the lessee may alter the odometer, he may find it advisable to protect himself by requiring the lessee to indemnify him in the event of liability under the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act. He may also add a statement on the disclosure form that the vehicle was subject to a lease or was otherwise outside of his control.

ID: nht78-3.43

DATE: 06/21/78

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; John Womack; NHTSA

TO: Mellon Bank

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your recent telephone conversation with Kathy DeMeter of my staff concerning the retention of odometer disclosure statements. The question you raised was in what order the statements should be retained. The two methods you proposed using were alphabetically by the name of the individual or organization to which you transferred to the vehicle. 49 CFR requires each dealer or distributor of a motor vehicle to retain the statements "in an order that is appropriate to his business requirements and that permits systematic retrieval."

Either method you propose would probably permit systematic retrieval and you may therefore select the method which best suits your business requirements.

ID: nht78-3.44

DATE: 06/28/78

FROM: John Womack; NHTSA

TO: McMullen & Porter

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of June 6, 1978, requesting an interpretation of the Feeral odometer disclosure requirements. The question you raised was whether the owner of a truck with a gross vehicle weight rating of 64,000 pounds is required under Federal regulations to issue an odometer disclosure statement to the purchaser of the truck. 49 CFR @580.4, Disclosure of odometer information, requires each transferor of a motor vehicle to furnish to the transferee a written disclosure statement. 49 CFR@580.5 (a) (1), however, exempts a transferor of a vehicle having a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 16,000 pounds from having to fulfill the requirements of @580.4

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in promulgating these regulations added this exemption section because buses and large trucks are routinely driven hundreds of thousands of miles, and their maintenance records, not their odometers, have traditionally been relied on by buyers as the principal guide to their condition. It is, therefore, the interpretation of the NHTSA that in the situation you describe in your letter, no disclosure statement was required to be issued under the Federal regulations.

ID: nht78-3.45

DATE: 11/01/78

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; John Womack; NHTSA

TO: State Capitol; West Virginia

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your telephone conversation with Kathy DeMeter of my staff on October 11, 1978, concerning the Federal odometer law. You requested an interpretation of the first sentence in 49 CFR @ 580.7, which reads as follows:

Each dealer or distributor of a motor vehicle who is required by this Part to execute an odometer disclosure statement shall retain for four years each odometer mileage statement which he receives.

Specifically, you asked whether dealers and distributors are required to retain only those disclosure statements which they actually receive or whether they are under an affirmative duty to obtain a disclosure statement if none is offered by the transferor.

In the opinion of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, section 408 of the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act (15 U.S.C. 1988) creates an affirmative duty on the part of dealers and distributors to obtain disclosure statements. Section 408 states that:

No transferee who, for purposes of resale, acquires ownership of a motor vehicle shall accept any written disclosure required by any rule prescribed under this section if such disclosure is complete.

Part 580 of 49 CFR requires such written disclosure. If a disclosure statement, as required by Part 580, is provided to the transferee but is not filled out in its entirety, then the disclosure of the mileage the vehicle has been driven is not complete. Likewise, if no information at all is provided as to the mileage, then the disclosure is also incomplete. Therefore, in order for a dealer or distributor to be in compliance with section 408 of the Act, he must take steps to ensure that he receives a written disclosure and that it is complete in all respects prior to executing the transfer of ownership documents.

Part 580.7 of 49 CFR merely requires that those statements which the dealer or distributor is required to obtain are retained.

ID: nht78-3.46

DATE: 07/31/78

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; John Womack; NHTSA

TO: Maryland Independent Automobile Dealers Association

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This to confirm your telephone conversation with Kathy DeMeter of my staff concerning the Federal odometer disclosure requirements imposed on dealers and distributors. Part 580 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations requires that each transfer of a motor vehicle be accompanied by an odometer disclosure statement and that dealers and distributors retain for four years copies of statements which they issue and which they receive. In States that have incorporated the Federal statement into their certificates of title the dealer need not execute a separate Federal form. He must, nevertheless, retain a copy of whichever statement he completes. If, for example, he discloses the mileage solely by means of the statement on the certificate of title, he must make a copy of the title for his own records. He may also issue a separate statement to the purchaser and retain a copy of that statement for his records.

For your information, I have enclosed a copy of the law, the regulations issued under it and several interpretations and pamphlets. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to write.

ID: nht78-3.47

DATE: 04/19/78

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; John Womack; NHTSA

TO: Cary C. Boyden

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of February 22, 1978, concerning the Federal odometer requirements.

The question you raised was whether the lessor can leave the transferee's name and address on the odometer disclosure statement blank in cases where the transferee is a bank who has not yet determined whether the vehicle will be leased or the subject of a secured lending arrangement.

As defined in 49 CFR @ 580.3, "Transferee" means "any person to whom the ownership in a motor vehicle is transferred by purchase, gift, or any means other than by creation of a security interest." Therefore, if the bank is taking possession of the vehicle in order to lease it, the lessor should indicate that the bank is the transferee. If the bank is taking possession of the vehicle in order to make it the subject of a secured lending arrangement, the bank's customer, and not the bank, should appear on the disclosure statement as transferee.

You indicated that additional paper work would result if the bank were required to be listed as the transferee in both of the above situations until it decided how to dispose of the vehicle. As a result, you suggested that it be acceptable to list as transferee the bank or its customer as their respective interest may appear. You stated that "this alternative would allow the bank either to retain the statement on its own behalf or to forward the disclosures to the ultimate debtor at the time it is determined to consummate the transaction as a secured loan rather than a lease."

It is our opinion that your proposed alternative is acceptable under 49 CFR Part 580, so long as the bank transmits the disclosure to the transferee. The lessor, as transferor, would be responsible for furnishing the transferee with the statement. Should the bank fail to transmit the statement, the lessor could be held responsible for the bank's negligence.

ID: nht78-3.48

DATE: 02/03/78

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; John Womack; NHTSA

TO: Rhoda; Stoudt & Bradley

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of December 23, 1977, requesting clarification as to whether the modified Odometer Disclosure Form which you prepared would meet the Federal requirements. Specifically, you are requesting permission to inform the buyer of the vehicle that the mileage is unknown because the vehicle was subject to a commercial lease. It has been the position of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that if the seller does not know that the mileage indicated is wrong, he should not state that the mileage is unknown. More than mere lack of knowledge is necessary to check the mileage unknown box. The seller is not, however, precluded from adding a statement that the vehicle was subject to a commercial lease or otherwise outside of his control.

It appears from the form which you submitted that you are modifying the disclosure statement which is no longer to be used. The form was substantially changed, with those amendments to be effective as of January 1, 1978. For your information, I have enclosed a copy of the Federal Register notice of the amendments. Your client must certify to the accuracy of the odometer to the best of his or her knowledge under the amendments, however, as I stated before, he or she is free to add additional statements explaining the vehicle's history.

ID: nht78-3.49

DATE: 04/24/78

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; John Womack; NHTSA

TO: Alliance of American Insurers

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of March 22, 1978, requesting that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) interpret "primary place of business" under 49 CFR Part 580 to include regional offices and other places of business where companies' records are customarily maintained.

It is our opinion that "primary place of business" includes, in the case of a business with multiple offices, a regional or local office where transactions involving the subject vehicles took place and the records are maintained, in addition to the home office or headquarters of the business. For example, if a vehicle is repossessed by an insurance company that has its home office in New York, but the regional office in Chicago handled and retained all the paperwork on the repossessed vehicle, then the Chicago office would be the primary place of business for that transaction and the odometer disclosure statements should be retained in the Chicago office. The office that the purchaser dealt with would be the one he would contact if a problem arose at a later time. Therefore, it would be the logical office to maintain the records. If, however, the Chicago office handled the paperwork but upon completion forwarded it to the New York office, the New York office, as the repository for all paperwork, would be the primary place of business and odometer statements, like all other documents should be forwarded to that office. The place of retention, like the manner of retention, must be consistent so that systematic retrieval is possible.

ID: nht78-3.5

DATE: 02/22/78

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Francis Armstrong; NHTSA

TO: Asthi Glass Company, Ltd.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your inquiry of January 23, 1978.

Speedometer covers on motorcycles are not subject to FMVSS No. 205.

ID: nht78-3.50

DATE: 03/14/78

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; John Womack; NHTSA

TO: Rohm and Haas Company

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of January 27, 1978, requesting that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration review the draft of the form with which you propose to satisfy the Federal odometer requirements.

The form you are proposing to use differs from the Federal form in that the two sets of certifications are combined into an introductory certification with four exceptions. The regulations require the transferor to certify that the odometer reading reflects the actual mileage, reflects the mileage over 99,999 miles, or is not actual. Your form would allow a transferor to execute a disclosure statement without making any of the above certifications. The introductory statement says "if none of the exception block(s) below is checked, the Seller hereby certifies. . . ." Therefore, by checking the third or fourth box the transferor would be indicating that the exception applies but neither of the introductory statements applies. For this reason we cannot give our approval to use this form as the Federal disclosure form.