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OADA
Puts Brakes on “Ghost Lien” Pursuit
The
Ohio Department of Jobs & Family Services recently filed a
rule with the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR)
that would have allowed county child support enforcement
agencies to attach liens against vehicles whose owners are in
default of a child support order. JCARR consists of
legislators and is the entity that all state agencies must go
through in order to file administrative rules.
The
proposed rule would have allowed a child support lien to
simply be placed on the Ohio BMV’s automated titling
processing system instead of following the current established
lien procedures. While
we applaud efforts to collect overdue support, we believe
attaching liens to motor vehicles (as opposed to other types
of property where these liens have been effective) would
create significant problems for our industry by putting
dealers in a challenging position when entertaining vehicles
on trade. In
addition, the proposal did not allow for an “innocent
purchaser option” to cover dealers who have no knowledge of
the lien. ODJFS
indicated dealers should not qualify for an innocent purchaser
option because they “are in the business” and can check
the BMV title website for lien information, a website that the
BMV acknowledges may be down or not updated during the vehicle
transaction at the dealership!
OADA
met with legislators who serve on JCARR and expressed our
opposition. We
argued ODJFS did not have statutory authority to create a
motor vehicle lien mechanism and that this proposal went
beyond the intent of the legislature. The members of JCARR
agreed and ODJFS quickly withdrew the rule.
While
we hope ODJFS now understands the flaws associated with their
proposal, we won’t be surprised if they pursue legislation
to create in statute a child support lien process.
As always, we will promote and protect dealer interests
should proposed legislation surface.
Dealers may contact Joe Cannon at OADA at (800)
686-9100 or via e-mail at jcannon@oada.com with any questions.
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