Copart recently joined the eStart Coalition, a collaborative effort among many companies in the auto remarketing industry and the technology sector that supports it. The goal of the coalition is to bring auto titles, transfers, and vehicle registrations into the 21st century.
Right now, it’s easier to buy a house across the country than a vehicle thanks to technologies already common in the real estate industry like e-signatures and paperless documents.
Where Do Things Stand Now?
Currently, buying and selling a car is a manual, paperwork-intensive endeavor. The world has expanded beyond the days when a vehicle was bought with a handshake and two signatures on a title on the hood of the car.
Different states require different documents like odometer disclosures, title transfer documents, lienholder papers from the lender, and more. Most of these documents must be signed and processed, and most states have different procedures.
On top of that, a federal law called the Truth in Mileage Act (TIMA for short) requires the odometer statement must be done on “secure paper.”
Where Do Things Start to Change?
The first step would be to work out a way so that all 50 states can accept eSignatures for title transfers and odometer statements. While the National Transportation and Highway Safety Administration (NTHSA), the agency that enforces TIMA, said in 2019 it considers e-signatures to be compliant with the law, some states still have concerns.
While physical documents can be more secure and harder to alter than digital ones, advances in technology and remote identity verification may mitigate any advantages of physical paper.
Moreover, the NTHSA’s opinion on eSignatures could change due to shifts in political or organizational leadership, which would cost states large amounts of money to return to compliance with the law.
The coalition is in the early stages of discussing these concerns with relevant stakeholders and developing ideas to resolve them. This could include anything from introducing new legislation to evolving accepted industry standards.
What Happens After eSignatures Go Nationwide?
Copart plans to utilize our technological expertise to help create more ways to make the process of selling a vehicle a digital one.
Future innovations could include virtual vehicle titles secured by blockchain, a single nationwide industry standard for transferring such digital titles, all-online vehicle registration, and a seamless digital title transfer experience.
Why Do Titles & Transfers Need to Go Digital?
In one word, efficiency. Taking titles into the digital realm brings about time savings, cost reductions, increased productivity, scalability so businesses can grow, and ultimately a better experience for everyone involved.
Most importantly, it will take a lot of time, paperwork, and stress off the second-largest purchase most people make in their lives. And that is a goal worth working toward.
Mark Binder, director of government affairs, & Jarrod Gadd, senior director of Title Express, contributed to this article.
