Dealer Experiences: Insights on DMV Investigator Raids and Your Rights

In response to our previous article about DMV Investigator Raids and your rights as a dealer, some dealers reached out to us to also share their experience. The following story reflects the general experience of the other dealers.

“We had four investigators, all of them with guns and badges. They were in an unmarked Ford F150 Truck. One was a sergeant with guns and full army uniform in the bed of the truck. They also had a second vehicle, a black Charger. Two of the investigators came into the office searching the files for inaccuracy and the other two including the sergeant were looking at the 80 vehicles on the lot.

Intimidation was a factor that did not work with us. They soon realized they were talking to an experienced dealer. All the paperwork was in order, EVEN THE REFUND CHECKS FOR DMV EXCESS FEES FOR CLIENTS. The investigators in the lot found two paper copies of the dealer plates on the vehicles returning from mechanic shops and only one vehicle with "Buyers Guide" on the floor due to a test drive 1/2 hour before. They had nothing, but they said we should not have made paper copies of dealer plates and Buyers Guide not being on the windshield (Buyers Guide was on the floor due to the test drive).

They wrote me a citation for these items. I had to go to court to contest the citations, but the District Attorney luckily dismissed the citation. Although the citation was dismissed, it was nevertheless a hassle, so we recommend that you keep your paper work in good shape and know where everything is. Confidential credit applications and other confidential customer information should not be in a filing cabinet that is easily available to non-staff”.