Are You About To Buy a Flood or Junk/Salvage Car? Check NMVTIS Before You Buy!

• NCJ Number: 254685
• Date Published: December 2019
• Length: 10 pages
• Agencies: BJA-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Technical); Report (Technical Assistance); Program/Project Description

Annotation

This report describes the features and services to the public of the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS), which is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice to protect consumers from fraud and unsafe vehicles, as well as to keep stolen vehicles from being resold.

Abstract

Created by the Anti Car Theft Act, NMVTIS is required to include data from all state motor vehicle agencies, including brand information that describes a vehicle's prior use and condition, as well as the latest odometer reading. It is the only vehicle-history database in the nation to which all states, insurance carriers, and junk and salvage yards are required by federal law to report. Federal law also requires all insurance companies and all junk and salvage yards in the United States to report their salvage and total-loss vehicles to NMVTIS. The data and information contained in NMVTIS enables prospective car buyers to detect fraud and determine whether a car has been totaled or classified as salvage or junk. A vehicle history report that contains NMVTIS information from an Approved NMVTIS Data Provider is different from other vehicle reports. It draws on data from NMVTIS as the only vehicle history database in the nation to which all states, insurance carriers, and junk and salvage yards are required by law to report.