A new bill in the state of Florida is quite possibly the most confusing and concerning piece of legislation we’ve seen in years as it relates to consumers and car buying. SB 1346: Motor Vehicles in the Florida state Senate was proposed by Senator Tom Wright of Florida’s district 14.
We have contacted Mr. Wright’s office and have not heard back from them.
The bill as proposed would remove the legal requirement for a car dealer or motor home dealer to “obtain certificates of title”. The bill would also remove the requirement that a dealer be required to inform the state about transfers of ownership of a vehicle.
This is pure craziness, especially amidst the ongoing lawsuit against Carvana that claims the company has not been able to get customers the permanent title and registration for their vehicles. How convenient would it be if the law changed to no longer make that a requirement? Wow.
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Carvana and other startup online car dealers like Vroom and Shift have been plagued with issues. Their Better Business Bureau pages paint a concerning story. Many customers have waited months to get their permanent registration for their vehicle. Without the title and registration you cannot get insurance or legally operate a vehicle. This issue has occurred in many states.
Now, this proposed law in Florida would get rid of that issue by simply removing the law that required Carvana and all dealers to obtain the title of a vehicle. That’s purely insane, as the title is the one document that states who truly owns the property.
SB 1346: Motor Vehicles
Here is the complete language of the bill:
Motor Vehicles; Providing that motor vehicle dealers or mobile home dealers should apply for, rather than are required to obtain, certificates of title in the name of purchasers; providing that certain applications relating to transfers of motor vehicles or mobile homes should, rather than must, be filed within a certain timeframe; revising grounds on which the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles may deny, suspend, or revoke a motor vehicle dealer license, etc.
We’ll update this page as the bill progresses through the Florida state Senate.
“Florida Man, unimpressed by individual efforts of causing havok in the state, gets elected to ensure that wide swaths of Floridians experience enduring chaos.” I’ve never seen such an effort to make not only make car purchases in Florida dubious, but potentially cripple any business that depends on selling and shipping used cars out of Florida. The only constituents who’ll like the proposed law are borderline car dealers and criminal gangs.