I noted this report with cynical amusement.
The general manager of a DeLand car dealership was arrested Oct. 7 on a warrant after failing to appear in court in September on charges he did not register temporary tags on vehicles he was selling, court documents show.
. . .
Florida troopers started investigating the dealership's temporary tags after an unregistered one was found on a vehicle during a traffic stop March 3.
The report states that the driver of the Ford Escape stopped by a trooper said she bought the vehicle with the unregistered temporary tag from DeLand Reliable Cars and Trucks.
The driver of the Ford Escape was cited for not having a vehicle registration.
Troopers said the temporary tag was not registered and the Department of Motor Vehicles did not have any information on file for the tag attached to the Ford Escape.
Troopers towed the Ford Escape and requested an audit be done on DeLand Reliable Cars and Trucks, according to court documents.
. . .
Investigators discovered that the dealership had issued four different unregistered temporary tags to the driver of the Ford Escape, an arrest report shows.
Investigators said they also found 20 temporary tag numbers issued to DeLand Reliable Cars and Trucks that were never registered to a person or vehicle but were found attached to cars at the dealership.
"(The vehicles) were driven on public roadways throughout the state of Florida," investigators noted in their report.
There's more at the link.
It reminded me of multiple incidents after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I reported at the time:
I've ... heard reports from Texas, Alabama and Tennessee of brand-new high-end motor vehicles (e.g. Cadillacs, Lincolns, BMW's, etc.), with New Orleans dealer tags, being driven through various towns on their way North and West. The drivers were described as "gang-bangers" (and sundry less complimentary terms). However, there have been no reports of stolen vehicles from New Orleans, because there are no workers to check out dealer lots, or report thefts, and no working computers to enter VIN's, etc. into the NICS database of stolen vehicles - so officers have had no choice but to let these vehicles proceed. Draw your own conclusions.
Many of those vehicles turned out to have been stolen, but in the absence of any way to check on the validity (or otherwise) of their temporary tags, they couldn't be detained by local cops as they were ferried to whatever their final destination might be. I understand many ended up being sold on the West Coast or in the Midwest. Still others, I'm sure, found their way to Mexico and points south.
Do I believe the dealer's manager when he protested his innocence about the misuse of dealer tags? Like hell I do! It's a common tactic when a dealer - even an employee at a dealer who has access to the tags - makes a deal with criminals. If they have 24 to 48 hours to get a head start, they can evade or avoid detection and pursuit until they and their stolen vehicles are safely out of the original jurisdiction. In the case of Florida, a 48-hour period without questions being asked will allow the thieves to drive the vehicles all the way to Mexico - and once they're across that border, say goodbye to them for good.
Another problem is that if such vehicles are involved in accidents, they frequently have no insurance coverage at all. If you're in a fender-bender with a car with a temporary tag, make sure to call a cop to the scene, and ask them to verify the tag number and insurance status. If the other driver does his best to stop you doing that, be very suspicious. If you fail to do that, your own insurance company might say that you're partly to blame for the costs of repairing your own vehicle, because you didn't check that the other driver's information was valid.
Something useful to file away in the old memory banks . . .
Peter
5 comments:
Texas has a 'paper tag' scourge, but I notice them becoming less prevalent in Houston as ICE has been out and about. Strange isn't it?
Texas changed from paper tags to temporary metal plates. It will help. Temporary paper tags could be created with a computer, and there were many on cars all through the state. Some I observed were months past the expiration date, and some were so faded, I wondered how the drivers were never stopped.
Another way this scam works is when a used dealer takes cars from an auction on a "floor plan", i.e. not paying cash at auction, but on a 30 days to pay agreement, title to be delivered when paid. The temp tags allow the dealer to sell the car and delay paying for it, despite state laws requiring delivery of title to the buyer.
John in Indy
being (originally) a Noo Yawker, I'd be cautious about: :make sure to call a cop to the scene"
if you do, you might want to call for an emergency med vehicle before you call the cop to the scene
It's been this way for decades. It's how drug dealers get away driving their vehicles for years without getting tags.
I've noticed it in the parking lot of my apartment complex.
Now do rental car agreements. When was the last time you tried renting and the agency made you jump through hoops? Would it surprise you if I tell you that drug dealers and thugs with money can and do drive rental vehicles all the time and often get new vehicles delivered to their addresses by the rental companies and the old vehicles get taken away.
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