The Oklahoma House Insurance Committee passed a bill that requires the state keep a list of the total loss damages sustained to vehicles with salvaged titles and requires applicants for a rebuilt title to prove those damages were repaired. 

SB2882 passed the Insurance Committee Feb. 24 with a 7 to 0 vote in favor and was moved to the House Commerce and Economic Development Oversight Committee. 

Rep. Mark Chapman (R-12), sponsor of the bill, said during the meeting that the bill improves the process of converting to a rebuilt title. 

“The intent is to provide full disclosure and also reduce or eliminate fraud and protect consumers if and when these vehicles are sold,” Chapman said. 

No one else spoke for or against the bill prior to the vote. 

The bill requires insurance companies or any junk dealer to provide a list of the total loss damages sustained to a total loss vehicle to the state’s Service Oklahoma department. 

A list of damages also must be provided to the state department if the claim is less than a total loss but the cost of repairing the vehicle for safe operation on the highway exceeds 60% of the fair market value of the vehicle. 

The state is required to maintain computer files with the list of damages to the salvage title vehicle for five years, the bill says. 

An applicant applying for a rebuilt title on a salvaged vehicle will be required to present receipts and documents showing proof that appropriate repairs of damage were performed that correspond to damage list data, the bill says. 

Last year, A Michigan mother purchased a $17,000 vehicle from a used auto dealer to later discover it was a salvaged vehicle needing $13,000 in repairs, according to an 8 Wood TV news report. 

The Collision Industry Conference Industry Relations Committee reported in January 2024 that it found significant frame damage, totaled vehicles, and a lack of OEM-recommended procedures such as alignments and calibrations when it reviewed 26 cases of improper repairs. 

It found that 90% of the vehicles were totaled after having an independent post-repair inspection. About 50% of the vehicles had significant frame damage. 

“We looked at 26 of these vehicles,” said Ron Reichen, Precision Body and Paint owner. “That is just a fraction of those vehicles that are still out there on the streets. It should be terrifying because those vehicles are coming at us and they’re coming at our families.” 

A lawsuit was filed earlier this year alleges Destiny Byassee, a mother of two, was killed in a June 12, 2023 collision when a counterfeit front driver-side air bag exploded. The suit says the vehicle was in a collision previous to Byassee purchasing the vehicle and the air bag was installed during an improper repair at that time.

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