Dealer Investigations

There are numerous activities of automobile dealers or other occupational licensees investigated by the DMV. Most of the work of DMV Investigators is centered on driver license matters, dealers and dismantlers. This is not to say that there are no other things investigated by DMV.

The Bureau of Investigations of the DMV is also charged with the background investigations of applicants for various type of occupational licensees. There are various types of licensees of the DMV and they include, but are not limited to dealers, dismantlers, manufacturers, distributors, vehicle verifiers, just to name a few.

I began my career in the DMV as a Special Investigator with the DMV. Within a short time, I promoted to Senior Special Investigator. While assigned to DMV Investigations, I was selected to teach classes at the Academy for Basic Training of DMV Investigators and DMV’s Academy for Advanced Officer Training.

It was not too long after that time that I found my place as a DMV Lawyer in the legal office of the DMV. In total, I worked about six years at the DMV.

The conduct of licensees can be criminal or it can be administrative. When a matter is criminal it is prosecuted in the State Courts. When a matter is administrative, then the DMV has the right to discipline the licensee after an Administrative Hearing. These hearing can lead to a suspension or revocation of that business license.

Some matters are prosecuted both criminally and administratively at the same time.

Activity such as making false statements to DMV is prosecuted under Section 20 of the Vehicle Code as misdemeanors. But the matters can be prosecuted as felonies. It depends upon the severity of the crime. There are many other crimes that become felonies, such as odometer tampering, vehicle identification number (VIN) switching, and many types of theft.

What seems to be a civil problem such as failing to pay the auction for car, becomes grand theft when the car is resold to a customer.

Another group of problems for dealers or occupational licensees comes from failing to maintain the status of their corporation or business records. A review for a trained DMV Attorney can locate and solve problems before they become critical.

As a former Senior Special Investigator for the DMV and a DMV Attorney, I was intimately involved with many of these prosecutions. I was involved in cases involving mass advertising fraud by auto dealers. I was the lead investigator in a case that defined California Vehicle Code, section 20, which makes it illegal to give false information to the DMV. (People vs. Millar. LA County-Unpublished).

I was also intimately involved in developing a new method for prosecuting welfare fraud when it involved a fraudulently obtained driver’s license. Since leaving the DMV, I have spent over 20 years in representing many people who have been charged with various violations of the law.

If you or someone you know is charged with any type of fraud that involves any part of the DMV, or if you are alleged to have violated some section of the vehicle code in the operation of your dealer’s license, as a DMV Attorney who formerly worked in the Legal Office of the DMV, I am uniquely qualified to represent you or that person.

If this should happen to you or someone you know, it is extremely important that you consider retaining a qualified DMV Attorney. And the time for making that decision is sooner rather than later.

Thinking that you can outsmart the DMV is not a good strategy. In my opinion, I am the best attorney for the job because I was a DMV Attorney, who previously worked as an attorney for the DMV.