AB1215 Signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown

Beginning July 1, 2012 all California auto dealers must run vehicle history reports through the National Motor Vehicle Title Information Service (NMVTIS).  Compliance is not achieved with Carfax, AutoCheck or any other non-NMVTIS reports. 

NMVTIS reports are available through one of four associate members of IADAC.  Click here to jump to the Service Provider Directory. 

The purpose of the report is to identify vehicles with branded titles, such as salvage, lemon-law, flood, etc. If a dealer chooses to sell a vehicle with a branded title, he must affix a red warning sticker to the vehicle so a customer is aware of the branded title status. 

On July 1, 2012 dealers may charge an additional $10 on the doc fee to offset the cost of the report.

Additionally, AB1215 forces all new-car dealers to become DMV Business Partners, whereby each new-car dealer will be able to perform vehicle transfers and issue plates at the store.  DMV urges all independent dealers to become DMV Business Partners also, and has relaxed the requirements to qualify as such.  A DMV Business Partner must have a $50k bond, but if the Business Partner is an auto dealer who already has a $50k bond in place, no additional bond will be required.  Dealers interested in becoming a Business Partner do not need to wait until July 1, 2012 to apply; info is available at http://dmv.ca.gov/otherser/bpa/bpa.htm.  Dealers who are Business Partners or who use a DMV Business Partner for transfers may charge an additional $25 to the doc fee, but not until July 1, 2012.