BILL ANALYSIS
AB 647
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mike Eng, Chair
AB 647 (Yamada) - As Introduced: February 25, 2009
SUBJECT : National Motor Vehicle Title Information System
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
make certain federal vehicle titling information available to
prospective vehicle buyers. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires DMV to make the federal National Motor Vehicle Title
Information System (NMVTIS) available to a prospective
purchaser of a vehicle for the sole purpose of obtaining
titling, brand, and theft data of that vehicle.
2)Requires DMV to adopt rules and regulations consistent with
existing confidentiality restrictions that apply to disclosure
of its records.
3)Allows DMV to charge a fee to pay for the cost of furnishing
the NMVTIS information.
EXISTING LAW : Requires DMV to furnish, upon the request of the
legal owner of a vehicle, information regarding the current
registration status of the vehicle, including the license plate
number and address of the registered owner of the vehicle.
Existing law grants DMV the authority to charge a fee to pay for
the cost of furnishing this information.
Existing federal law requires the United States Attorney General
to establish NMVTIS to provide individuals and entities, as
prescribed, with instant and reliable access to specific
information maintained by states related to vehicle titling.
Individuals and entities allowed to access this information
include:
4)States that are participating in NMVTIS;
5)Law enforcement;
6)Prospective automobile purchasers; and,
7)Prospective or current insurers.
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The federal act requires that NMVTIS be paid for by user fees
and declares that the system should be self-sufficient and not
dependent on the United States government for financial support.
States are required to make information available for use in
operating NMVTIS. States are also required to provide
prospective automobile purchasers with instant and reliable
access to information in NMVTIS.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The federal Anti-Car Theft Act (the Act) of 1992
directed the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish a
national information system enabling states and others to access
automobile titling information. In 1996, the Act was
reauthorized, transferring the responsibility for this system to
the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), under authority of the
United State Attorney General. The federal act allows the use
of a third party to operate NMVTIS and DOJ has contracted with
the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA)
for that purpose.
Although the Act was enacted nearly 20 years ago, DOJ just now
issued final rules governing implementation of NMVTIS by states.
In this final rulemaking, issued January 30, 2009, DOJ stated:
"Although DOJ has worked closely with the system operator to
reduce the need for state system modifications, and although the
requirements of the Act have been in place since 1992, DOJ
understands that it will take time for states to implement some
provisions of the regulation. To provide relief in this regard,
DOJ has elected to extend the compliance date for states not yet
participating to January 1, 2010."
At the state level, DMV entered into a contract, in April 2008,
with a third-party provider, R.L. Polk & Company (Polk), to
translate and consolidate data maintained by California to the
format required by AAMVA and then provide that data to NMVTIS.
The contract contained a clause that limits the release of
titling information maintained by California and translated by
Polk to law enforcement and governmental entities. The
contract, however, restricts release of information supplied by
Polk to consumers. DMV has stipulated that it has no objection,
in theory, to removing restrictions to access. Rather, it
contends that it entered into its contract with Polk prior to
final regulations being promulgated by DOJ and, as a result, is
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bound by the terms of that contract, rather than the subsequent
regulations.
This bill's sponsor, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety
(CARS), along with Consumer Action ion San Francisco, joined
Public Citizen in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of California to compel DMV to remove
restrictions to accessing titling information, despite DMV's
contract with Polk that prohibits such access.
According to court records, DMV believes that it is not
technologically able to provide titling data directly to AAMVA
in a format usable by NMVTIS (which is why it entered into a
contract with Polk). If DOJ directs AAMVA to release
California-supplied data that is currently in NMVTIS, California
believes that Polk will terminate the data provision contract.
As a result, a new vendor would have to be secured to provide
the service. The process of contracting with a new vendor could
take seven months and cost many hundreds of thousands of
dollars. In the meantime, data contained in NMVTIS would grow
stale and useless to consumers, law enforcement, and other
states.
DMV has been actively pursuing contract amendments with Polk to
provide consumer access to NMVTIS data. To date, no agreement
has been reached. Parties to the lawsuit have stipulated that a
court-ordered grace period be extended until May 30, 2009, so
that California can continue to pursue its negotiations with
Polk.
Suggested amendments :
The purpose of this bill is to ensure consumers have access to
NMVTIS information. Unfortunately, DMV's current contract
restricts this access and legislative attempts to force changes
to that contract may run afoul of general prohibitions against
"retroactive legislation"-i.e., changing the rules of a contract
after the contract has been entered into.
Consequently, the committee suggests, and the author agrees to
accept, the following amendments that would govern DMV's
NVMTIS-related contracts prospectively.
(b) The Legislature intends that the department fully comply
with the Anti-Car Theft Act of 1992. Furthermore, effective May
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1, 2010, any contract entered into by the department to provide
information from the National Motor Vehicle Title Information
System shall include consumer access in full compliance with the
Anti-Car Theft Act of 1992.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (sponsor)
California Auto Dismantlers and Recyclers Alliance
Consumer Action
Consumer Watchdog
North American Export Committee
Public Citizen
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093