Title Search

[rich p]

Thought you guys might like this artile !!

Auto title search opens to public


In a significant victory for consumers, the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System has been made available to the general public.
A statement released by Consumer Action, consumer-action.org, says, 'NMVTIS will contain title information from every state motor vehicle department, every junkyard, salvage yard and insurance carrier. The data will reveal if a car has been so badly damaged that it has been designated as a `totaled' vehicle, has been in a flood, fire, or is on record as stolen. It will also include information about the car's appearance and its latest odometer reading.''

Consumer Action, Public Citizen and Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety sued the Department of Justice for failing to make the database available as mandated by Congress in a 1992 law.

However, Public Citizen, citizen.org, says the information, ''is still incomplete and covers less than two-thirds of U.S. vehicles.'' That is because insurers and junk yards have until March 31 to begin reporting data. Currently, 14 states are not reporting vehicle data at all, while three states that are -- New York, California and Pennsylvania -- are attempting to prevent public access to that data.

The data is available through third-party websites, which charge a nominal fee per record search.

Learn more at nmvtis.gov.