Opinion ID: 2063931
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Odometer Act

Text: The Odometer Act was enacted by Congress to prohibit tampering with odometers on motor vehicles and to establish certain safeguards for the protection of purchasers with respect to the sale of motor vehicles having altered or reset odometers. 15 U.S.C.A. § 1981. The statute included a finding by Congress that purchasers, when buying motor vehicles, rely heavily on the odometer reading as an index of the condition and value of such vehicle. Id. The additional provisions of the Odometer Act at issue in this case were the following: (a) [T]he [U.S.] Secretary [of Transportation] shall prescribe rules requiring any transferor to give the following written disclosure to the transferee in connection with the transfer of ownership of a motor vehicle: (1) Disclosure of the cumulative mileage registered on the odometer. (2) Disclosure that the actual mileage is unknown, if the odometer reading is known to the transferor to be different from the number of miles the vehicle has actually travelled. Such rules shall prescribe the manner in which information shall be disclosed under this section and in which such information shall be retained. (b) No transferor shall violate any rule prescribed under this section or give a false statement to a transferee in making any disclosure required by such rule. 15 U.S.C.A. § 1988. The Odometer Act defined motor vehicle as any vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power manufactured primarily for use on the public streets, roads, and highways, except any vehicle operated exclusively on the rail or rails. 15 U.S.C.A. § 1901(15) (West 1982). The Act also provided for a private cause of action in 15 U.S.C.A. § 1989: (a) Any person who, with intent to defraud, violates any requirement imposed under this subchapter [15 U.S.C.A. §§ 1981-91] shall be liable in an amount equal to the sum of  (1) three times the amount of actual damages sustained or $1,500, whichever is greater; and (2) in the case of any successful action to enforce the foregoing liability, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney fees as determined by the court. (b) An action to enforce any liability created under subsection (a) of this section, may be brought in a United States district court without regard to the amount in controversy, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, within two years from the date on which the liability arises.