Oct. 3--Dear Action Line: Is there any government database that tracks stolen cars so it's not so easy for car thieves to sell them with bogus VINs and titles? I know there are private databases for this but their information is not official.-- W.B., Tulsa

There is supposed to be one, says a 1992 law, but the U.S. Department of Justice has been dragging its feet on establishing one. The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, mandated by Congress, has been on the back burner for 16 years. The database was also to keep track of "junked" autos to save people from buying rebuilt junkers with forged titles as "new cars." Congress ordered the DOJ to establish the database and make it public by 1997. Apparently the wheels of the Justice Department turn slowly.

In February, the consumer groups Public Citizen, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, and Consumer Action sued the DOJ, saying the agency's unlawful delay in implementing the database was putting consumers at risk. On Sept. 22, U.S. Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, of San Francisco, ruled DOJ has until Jan. 30 to make this information available to consumers and ordered insurers and junkyards to submit their latest updates (on "junk" titles and vehicle identification

numbers of vehicles reported stolen) by March 31 and to thereafter make monthly updates.

"We applaud the judge's decision to hold the government's feet to the fire," said Public Citizen attorney Deepak Gupta. "When Congress passed the law in 1992 calling for the database, no one expected it to take this long to deliver such critical information to consumers. During that time, countless people have unwittingly purchased rebuilt or stolen vehicles. The ruling forces DOJ, finally, to implement what Congress demanded 16 years ago."

Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information on it visit tulsaworld.com/PublicCitizen.

Consumer Action (tulsaworld.com/ConsumerAction) and Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (tulsaworld.com/AutoReliability) joined the Public Citizen lawsuit against DOJ over its failure to implement the system, meant to be "a single, federal database that would provide the public with access to information gathered from states, salvage yards and insurance companies. Before buying a potentially dangerous used car, consumers would be able to check the validity of its title and mileage and whether it had been stolen or branded as junk or salvage," said Consumer Action's Web site.

Submit Action Line questions by calling 699-8888 or by e-mailing phil.mulkins@TulsaWorld.com or by U.S. mailing it to Tulsa World Consumer, PO Box 1770, Tulsa OK 74102-1770.

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