FDLE Investigates Buy Here Pay Here Abuses
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement published a study entitled Driving Illegal, Buy-Here Pay-Here Car Lots and Illegal Alien Drivers.
It focuses on BHPH dealer abuses in registering cars sold to illegal aliens in Florida.
Current Florida law allows a person with no driver license, who has never passed a driving test or proven they can read and understand road signs, the privilege of registering a vehicle. In fact, an applicant for registration can show any type of identification, including expired identification, when registering a vehicle. Although in years past this may have been unproblematic or even necessary due to the high population of elderly Florida residents who wish to legally maintain their vehicles even after they have relinquished their driving privileges, this is the legal loophole that is being exploited by BHPH dealers.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) conducted an investigation of businesses actively assisting undocumented aliens in illegally obtaining vehicle titles and registrations. During the course of the investigation it was determined that the businesses were also fraudulently registering the vehicles using bogus insurance information.
Following review and analysis of the two (2) months data, investigators found that for Business A, 99% of the insurance policies reported for vehicle registration purposes were fraudulent. For Business B, 89% of the 119 total policies reported were fraudulent. The transactions were processed to the tag agency reporting insurance via a “Florida Insurance Affidavit”, as opposed to a copy of an issued insurance card.
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