H.B. 228 Vehicle Sales Amendments: transcript

I will, thank You. Okay, perfect. Time is yours. Well, great. Uh, great time. If you, let me catch my breath really quick, just running from another committee. Um, so, uh, speaking to the second substitute and my, uh, my great intern has a flyer. Do you mind if she hands that out to the committee? Yeah, please. Thanks. Um, all right. So, uh, I had a constituent reach out to me, um, over the summer that purchased a vehicle, uh, that had a clean title. And after several months of rain and, uh, washing the car or whatever, they started to notice that there were spots all over the car. And it was clear that the car at some point had suffered some pretty significant hail damage. And, uh, there had been repairs on the car. And, um, looking at the history of the car, it had been in another state that, uh, had had significant hail damage. That car was, um, totaled in the state, but then repaired, brought into the state of Utah. The state of Utah doesn't recognize, uh, hail damage as, uh, as a brand on the title, was able to get a new title. And, uh, essentially, uh, had that been titled in the state where it was at, where they deal with this issue and have that brand, um, it would've had a brand entitled, because they brought it to Utah, they were able to whitewash the title. And so it started a, uh, a real serious look into how do we ensure that Utah laws protect consumers and give them the information when they're going out to purchase, uh, these types of vehicles. And that's what you see here in the second substitute of House Bill 2 28. Um, what, what it does here is it, uh, identifies a number of types of title brands that could happen, uh, whether it's flood damage that we currently have in our statute flood, that's the only one in addition to just a rebuilt, uh, title, but flood damage, fire damage, gray market hail damage, stolen and recovered and rebuilt and restored. And there's already language in the code that talks about the process that when you have a total loss, what, uh, the safety inspection has to go through to ensure, uh, that the DMV is comfortable that the car is safe to operate on the road. This bill doesn't change any of that, but what it does say is that if, uh, a car has, has cut, has, uh, has, um, been given or had a significant loss, uh, where the, uh, the insurance company has paid out the car on a total loss for one of these reasons, when it comes back and they've determined that it's safe and it gets a new title, that it will be distinguished on the title, um, that it is a branded title, and it will include the type of brand that is there. The other, uh, real addition to this bill is that it requires the DMV when you're bringing a title from OUTTA State and, and asking for a new title, that they do a title search, um, through the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. This is a system that the DMV already uses, um, but there isn't a requirement right now that they match whatever the brand is that's already been established, uh, in that system. And so, if, if you come to Title a vehicle in Utah, that should have receive one of these, uh, titles, even if it was whitewashed through another state with a clean title, that when the title is issued in Utah, it will reflect the appropriate brand. So I believe that this, uh, helps clear any loopholes that allow for title washing in Utah. It protects everyday buyers and it just clarifies the rebuilding, um, rules, still allowing for those vehicles to be bought and sold just like they can here in Utah today, but giving more information to the consumers. So with that, uh, happy to answer any questions, Mr. Chair.

Oh yeah, we do need to, um, substitute, yeah, the do it. Okay. I move to adopt the second substitute of House Bill 2 28.

Um, to Bill sponsor. Appreciate The motion. Okay. Very

I move to favorably recommend House Bill 2 28, second substitute.

I'll waive wait. She'll waive K to the, uh, bill sponsor.

Again, I appreciate the motion.

Yeah, thank you. Excited to be here and excited to present on House Bill 2 28. Second substitute. Um, uh, in brief, I had a constituent reach out to me. This is the last interim. They had purchased a vehicle, uh, for their, for their son that was a new driver. And after a few months of rain and sitting in the sun, they started to notice, uh, kind of spots across their car. And as they started to look into it, they found that that car had had significant hail damage that had been repaired, um, but was never disclosed. They didn't know about it. Um, come to find out it was from a different state, uh, that had had that hail damage and the car itself had been totaled. Um, but because of the way that state had tracked it and the way our DMV uh, doesn't follow that same information, and we don't have a hail damage, uh, certificate or branded title, um, it, it was given a clean title and there was no disclosure to, to the people that bought that car. And so, uh, once I found out about this, I, I worked closely with, uh, the Department of Motor Vehicles to look at, um, what other states were doing and how we could ensure that titles in Utah were not being whitewashed, and that consumers had as much, uh, information about the vehicles that they were being purchased as possible. And that's what you see here in the second substitute of House Bill 2 28. It clearly defines certain types of title brands. Currently in Utah, we only have, uh, rebuilt, uh, titles and flood damage titles. Those are the only two that we recognize. This adds, uh, what is the consensus, I think, across the states with flood damage, fire damage, gray market hail damage, stolen and recovered and rebuilt and restored. It also has a requirement that before issuing a new title in our state, uh, the DMV has to check the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. And if in there it shows that there was a total loss in the vehicle for a certain reason, it would apply whatever brand, um, should be applied to that car. Uh, it also, which is, is similar to the the current, um, statute, but if for whatever reason there's an odometer discrepancy, it will notate that on the title as well. It doesn't necessarily give it a branded title, but, but it gives that disclosure that for whatever reason, there's an odometer discrepancy. Um, this does not change the process for how a car gets restored. Um, the, the safety inspections that go through it really just is about disclosures and ensuring that Utah is in a place where vehicles can be whitewashed. With that, Mr. Chair, happy to answer any questions.

Thank you Mr. Chair. I would like to send out House Bill 2 28, sub two with a favorable recommendation. I too have a golf ball car that we just bought because it was cheaper, but we did know that it was hail damage. So thank you.

Second substitute House Bill 2 28. Vehicle Sales Amendments by Representative Teuscher. This bill was heard in revenue and taxation with the vote of 7 0 4.

Thank Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, over the summer I had a, uh, constituent come to me, uh, that told me about a situation that they were in. They had bought a, a used car for their 16-year-old son. And, um, after a few months of having the car, they started to see sort of polka dots on the car come out. And it kept getting worse and worse as they washed it and sat in the sun. And, uh, as they looked into it, they found that that car had actually been, uh, in a area of the country that had experienced very heavy hail damage. And, uh, later on, the whoever owned the car or whatever re repaired it, it was declared a total loss in the state that it was. But they took that car and they brought it to Utah. And then when they Uintah title it, it got a clean title because in Utah we don't recognize hail damage as a, as a branded title. And so I started to, to look into this and work with the, um, the DMV to see what, what made sense. And we looked around the country to say, what are the different brands that are being, uh, given to vehicles, and how do we ensure that Utah does not become a state where these types of vehicles are whitewashed in and given clean titles when they clearly should be given a salvage title. And that's what you see here in House Bill 2 28. Um, it clearly defines the different types of TA title brands. Those include flood damage, fire damage, gray market hail damage, stolen and recovered and rebuilt and restored. All of these cars would first have to be Dec declared a total loss by the insurance company. And then if that happens when they go to receive a title in Utah again, um, it would be, it would be a branded title that would clearly distinguish whether it was the flood, fire, gray market, hail damage, stolen, recovered, or rebuilt and restored. It also requires the motor vehicle division to do a check on the National Motor Vehicle Title information system. And if a title was branded in another state prior to coming to Utah, then it would be given the same branding, uh, that it, that it received in that other state. Uh, unless for some reason that other state doesn't recognize one of the, the branded titles, and then it would be given the branded title that Utah recognizes. So we feel like this is a, a bill that gives consumers more disclosure, more transparency as they're going to purchase their vehicles. It doesn't make any changes to the process of how the, the vehicles can come up and be rebuilt, that those processes all stay exactly the same, but just the title itself will be more descriptive. Um, so that, that our constituents know what they're buying, uh, when they're buying those vehicles without Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Mr. President. When a vehicle is badly damaged, uh, or totaled out or salvaged and then rebuilt, the damage is supposed to follow the car. You right. A record of that damage is attached through the title brand so that future buyers know the history of the vehicle. But cars are often sold across state lines, especially now. Uh, you know, when you can, you typically would hop on your phone often to buy a car. So states don't always share or check the same records. So that means it's possible for a car to come to Utah with a clean title. I'm making air quotes, uh, a title that looks clean even though it was damaged significantly in another state that's typically called washing the title. So in these situations, buyers don't found out until it's too late that their vehicle has been damaged and that they likely overpaid sometimes significantly for it. So Senate Bill 2 28 protects everyday buyers by ensuring that any damage history to a vehicle is disclosed on the title across state lines.

I move that Second substitute house Bill 2 28 pass.

Senator Vickers Baldy Lewin Ramer Bus CU Moore. Escamia Fillmore Grover Harper Hankins Ipson Johnson. Kwan McKay Mikel Milner Musselman Owens Pitcher Plum Rebi Sandal Stevenson Stratton Bickers Weiler Wilson Winterton.