Bushing Guidelines Statewide Shortage License Plates

B U S H I N G G U I D E L I N E S

Bushing Guidelines atg.wa.gov/bushing-scams

Bushing occurs when a dealer attempts to change the terms of a sale agreement more than four business days after the deal was signed. Also known as “spot delivery” or “yo-yo” sales, this switcheroo is strictly forbidden under Washington state law, RCW 46.70.180(4), and is a per se violation of the state Consumer

Protection Act. Dealer Obligations

Under the law, car dealers are allowed four working days to find financing and finalize a sale after a buyer has signed a contingent contract. If the financing falls through, the dealer must tell the buyer that the contract is voided and return any initial payment or security given by the buyer, including but not limited to money, check, promissory note, vehicle keys, trade-in, or certificate of title. This must occur before renegotiating a new contract with different terms and before the end of the fourth working day If a dealer calls the buyer back more than four days after the contract was executed to change the deal (even if the new terms are favorable), bushing has occurred.

Dealers often sell a trade-in vehicle within 24 hours of receiving it. The buyer should be entitled to the cash value of the trade-in if the trade-in has been sold. If the dealer over-values the trade-in, the buyer is still entitled to the cash value of the trade-in as listed in the contract.

Calculating business days

Car Sold: Car Deal Must Be Approved or Unwound By:

Monday COB that Friday

Tuesday COB the next Monday

Wednesday COB the next Tuesday

Thursday

Fri, Sat, Sun COB the next Wednesday

COB the next Thursday

STAT E W I D E S H O RTAG E L I C E N S E P L AT E S

“ I n summer 2020, Correctional Industries (CI) started experiencing license plate production issues due to COVIDrelated reasons. While DOL’s Inventory Control team has been working with CI over the past 8 months to balance plate issuance statewide, the situation began to worsen in late April.

Office inventory levels started to get dangerously low with a few Vehicle Licensing Offices (VLOs) briefly running out of inventory. Department of

Corrections (DOC) quickly responded with a plan to increase staffing at the prison and outsource production of license plates to another state. Production levels have increased; however, the gains are insufficient.

The contract for the outsourcing effort will not be in place until July 31, 2021. The vendor anticipates shipping two truckloads, each with 100,000 sets of license plates. The first in approximately 4 weeks (plus 1 week for shipping). The second approximately 4 weeks after (again add time for shipping). This means we are looking at about mid-September for the first large production.

The staffing increase solution implemented at CI in May has allowed us to triage supply challenges by shifting, balancing, and expediting partial or complete orders to make sure VLOs do not run out of inventory. However, we anticipate the situation will worsen, so we need to be prepared with an option should we run out of license plates to issue to customers.

Solution:

Provide paper temporary permits for transactions issuing license plates.

The VLO performs the transaction, and then perform a second transaction to issue a temporary paper permit in DRIVES. The customer would place the temporary permit in their window in lieu of a license plate (similar to a temporary permit issued by a dealer when purchasing a vehicle). The office would contact the customer or mail the plates when they arrive.”

All dealer transactions will have priority to receive standard plates unless inventory levels worsen, and we have no other choice than to issue paper permits as a last resort. Paper plates will be provided by the department and or VLO if a standard plate is not issued.”

If the transfer is a private party sale, and the buyer does not have an Odometer Disclosure Statement:

• If the seller is available, direct the buyer and seller to complete an Odometer Disclosure Statement.

• If the seller is not available, have only the buyer complete an Odometer Disclosure Statement.

If the transfer is a dealer, RTTO, or auction house sale:

• If there is a WA record or out of state title with the prior odometer disclosure printed on it, enter the last disclosed mileage as the current mileage.

• If you cannot find the last disclosed mileage, a new odometer between the dealer, RTTO, or auction house and buyer will be required.

Once you’ve completed the transaction, enter a note on the ownership account stating what you’ve done, per Communication 2021: 183-001.

Odometer Disclosure Rule Update

New Odometer Disclosure Rule Implementation

The new rule is effective for all transfers after January 1, 2021. Updates for the new rule in DRIVES and ePermitting are part of the V12 update, starting Tuesday, July 6.

All vehicles of model year 2010 and older that are already exempt from odometer disclosure remain exempt. Only vehicles of model year 2011 and newer are subject to the new odometer disclosure period of 20 years.

Model Year 2011 Grace Period

We are aware transactions will be presented for model year 2011 vehicles where the Odometer Disclosure Statement is required under the new rules but is not available because it wasn’t required at the time of sale, including:

• Vehicles accepted into dealer, registered tow truck operator (RTTO), or auction house inventory.

• Private party sales where the seller is not in the office with the buyer to transfer title.

• Mailed in title applications. New Odometer Disclosure Statements

We are providing a grace period for transactions where the trade-in or purchase date is between January 1, 2021 and July 31, 2021.

We are working to update the Odometer Disclosure Statement form to reflect this new rule. Until the new forms are available continue to use the existing form. You should inform customers about the new disclosure period when you provide them with the form.