By Estephania Baez
In San Diego County, there are individuals who pretend to be used car dealers and sell vehicles without being licensed to do so. They tend to buy cheap vehicles that have been repaired after being totaled. Buyers can easily fall victims of fraud, given that in most cases these cars’ frames have hidden defects and damages.
“What these people do is just not right, I do everything by the book, these are my cars, my customers, I pay the insurance, I pay everything I need to so that my business is all legal,” said Ernesto Duran, owner of a well-known car lot in National City.
“These people do it the easy way. They just come and park their cars and sometimes they have salvage titles. And the prices? Well, yes, they’re cheaper so they get more customers because they buy cars on the street and then they [fix them] here, almost in front of my sidewalk so that it looks like it’s part of my business”, added Mr. Duran.
According to a report issued by the San Diego D.A. ’s Office, the crime these illegal resellers most often incur in is tax evasion, since they leave the vehicle titles open or blank so that they do not appear in the ownership history; this way, the buyer is unaware that they did not pay Federal Income Tax or any other legally-required filings.
The way these illegal resellers work is by parking a large number of vehicles at a single location all the time. Sometimes they block roads, as well as private property and parking lots. They also attract buyers through online ads using different names and phone numbers.
“This makes our people and other car dealers mad. It is unfair for them to continue operating. The worst thing is that sometimes they sell more cars than we do. We’ve seen how many cars they park out there, and by the end of the week there are only a few left. When the place [their cars] out in front of our lots, it makes it look like we’re the ones selling them, and we have nothing to do with them, we sell good cars. This has been going on for a long time now, so what we did was to contact the Department of Motor Vehicles,” stated Andrew Duran, another used car dealer.
After becoming aware of this, the California Department of Motor Vehicles organized an operation throughout the state in which undercover officers went to these illegal resellers posing as potential buyers, and then fined them. The investigation resulted in 93 fines and 68 warnings. They also seized 109 vehicles and arrested 4 individuals. In addition, a series of warnings were posted on the DMV website regarding the consequences of selling vehicles illegally and alerting would-be buyers so they will not fall victims to these illegal resellers.
The San Diego District Attorney’s Office shared that whoever commits this crime can face severe consequences, up to and including jail time.
“Over the years, our investigators have come across many of these cases, due to the fact that we border with Tijuana, Baja California, and many Tijuana residents come over for the sole purpose of buying cars on this side of the border”, stated Jesse Navarro, Director of Community Relations for the D.A. ’s Office.
“They do the same illegal activity, but in Mexico; however, the punishments there are not as harsh. Every case is different, of course, but [illegal resellers] can get as much as 3 years in jail”, closed Navarro.
For more information, please visit: www.dmv.ca.gov