The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office charged 30 people and 21 businesses for “title-washing” and re-titling stolen vehicles.
The 21 businesses includes three in Lebanon County: Amatti Auto Sales LLC, Grig LLC and Newroad Motors LLC. All are located at the same property on N. 16th St. in Lebanon City.
The businesses were closed on Friday and there was no contact information for them available online.
According to the AG’s office, some of the businesses charged had purchased totaled vehicles, then resold them to unwitting customers as safe to drive.
The practice, called title-washing, is when crash or damage information is illegally removed for a car’s title. This can be done in several ways, such as moving the car to a new state, altering the original title or applying for a new title with fraudulent information.
Title-washing can make a car seem more valuable. It also bypasses safety inspections that are legally required to put damaged cars back on the road.
“On the front end it’s total fraudulent activity and on the back end, it’s putting people’s lives in danger,” said Scott Cooper, an attorney with law firm Schmidt Kramer.
Title-washing can put car dealerships at risk, too, since they can be held liable for selling a car with a fraudulent title.
The issue has long been a headache for car buyers. In March 2022, Attorney General Josh Shapiro said a quarter of complaints submitted to his office in 2021 had to do with car dealers, particularly used car dealers.
“Misrepresenting their warranties, misrepresenting their value, misrepresenting the history of those cars,” Shapiro said at the time.
Attorney Scott Cooper agrees title-washing is rampant in used car sales. He has personally represented victims of the scam.
“I had a client a few years ago where their car was damaged in an accident. At the appraisal process they found out that it actually had been in a hurricane down in Alabama,” he said. “They ended up washing the title and [the accident] is how they found out.”
To avoid buying a car with a washed title, consider buying the vehicle history report from Carfax or AutoCheck.
If you suspect a dealer is title-washing, report it to the Attorney General’s office.