Interpretation 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.