Earlier this month, a Boston employee of the Registry of Motor Vehicles is under hot water after they were found “Title Washing” out of state vehicles. Title washing is the practice of taking salvaged and unsavory vehicles and rewriting the title to show a clean accident record. This is, of course, highly illegal. Unregistered damage to a vehicle can cause safety issues. If a car has been declared “totaled,” that car is no longer safe to drive.
However, a group of people took advantage of at least one RMV employee who conducted in shady business practices while on the job. Investigations led to the discovery that one person collected checks totaling over $268,000 for resold vehicles. These vehicles were all totaled in other states and brought to Boston to be resold with clean titles.
Liberty Mutual Issues Lawsuit
Liberty Mutual issued a lawsuit against 9 individuals engaged in title washing in Boston. They discovered that for one BMW, the value of the vehicle tripled after the Boston RMV cleared the title. Included on the vehicle list is a Maserati from Texas and an Aston Martin from Florida. These types of vehicles are famous for their high-priced resale value. None of the people listed on the lawsuit works for the RMV. Most of the defendants works in used car dealerships or auto repair shops.
Even though the RMV employee has been fired, the Boston Registry of Motor Vehicles still has some cleaning up to do. These fraudulent vehicles are still out there, and the new owners are none the wiser that they are driving around in unsafe vehicles. According to federal law, RMV employees must enter title information into the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. This system stores all records for every vehicle in America. Boston RMV employees do not always consult this database when issuing titles.
What are the Police Doing?
The Liberty Mutual lawsuit sites all the vehicles and the VIN numbers that they found with washed titles. They found written off or totaled titles for every vehicle on the list. Liberty Mutual claims that the RMV failed to catch blatant fraud. Further details about the lawsuit are still pending until their investigation is complete.
As of March 16, 2022, the investigation is still ongoing. Liberty Mutual is not suing the Boston RMV directly but rather the individuals who capitalized on title-washing practices. There is no word yet if there’s a criminal investigation.
If you are purchasing a new vehicle, you should always check the VIN before you purchase it. Anyone can access the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. All you have to do is input your VIN number and you will receive a detailed report about the history of your vehicle. Check to make sure that your vehicle is safe before you buy it. If you are purchasing a vehicle from out of state and would like to ship it, use an honest auto transport company. BostonCarTransport.com is a great option for all your vehicle shipping needs.
