California judge suspends license for salvage inspection business

A California judge has suspended the license of a Los Angeles-based automotive dealer after a Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) investigation found the business performed fraudulent vehicle safety systems inspections. 

Industry Smog also issued 15 certificates of compliance without performing the required inspections, according to a press release. 

An administrative law judge granted the suspension in response to a BAR petition filed to protect consumers, the release states. 

“Automotive repair dealers engaging in fraudulent activity and allowing unsafe vehicles on the road threatens both the physical and financial safety of Californians,” the release states. 

Vehicles repaired after being declared a total loss by an insurance company, known as revived salvage titles, must pass a safety systems inspection before they can be registered with the DMV and driven on roadways, the release said. 

“Certificates of compliance issued without the required safety systems inspection can lead to unsafe total-loss vehicles being back on the road, posing serious dangers to Californians in communities across the state,” the release said. 

BAR says Industry Smog’s license is the third Los Angeles area repair facility to have its license suspended in three months as a result of investigations. Ponce’s Smog Check’s license was suspended for 12 months in July for fraudulent certificates of compliance, and Danny’s Test and Repair Inc.’s license was suspended for issuing 10 fraudulent certificates of compliance. 

The interim suspension orders will remain in place until associated pending disciplinary actions are resolved, the release states. BAR is seeking to revoke the licenses of all three businesses. 

Last month, a Michigan police officer was sentenced for falsifying salvage vehicle inspections, according to a Michigan Department of Attorney General press release.  

Jonathan Chase, a former Lincoln Township Police Department detective lieutenant, was sentenced in the 2nd Circuit Court in Berrien County to 18 months’ probation, with the first 90 days served in the Berrien County Jail. 

Chase, 55, pleaded no contest to falsifying the inspections, the release states. 

“We trust law enforcement to protect our communities, not misuse their authority,” said Attorney General Dana Nessel at the time the defendant pleaded, according to the release. “By falsifying these inspections, this officer put unverified vehicles on our roads and jeopardized public safety. I am proud of the FORCE Team and the Michigan State Police for securing this conviction and holding him accountable.”

The release adds that salvage vehicle inspections ensure vehicles extensively damaged or reconstructed with parts from other sources are safe and that their components are not traced to stolen vehicles. 

Salvage inspections are one way deadly counterfeit parts, such as airbags, can be stopped from entering the consumer market, Teena Bohi, an Automotive Anti-Counterfeiting Council (A2C2) board member, said during a panel discussion at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) meeting held in Chicago last month.  

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently identified an 11th death caused by a counterfeit airbag part that the agency banned earlier this year.  

After a salvage vehicle is repaired, vehicles are retitled, and the process can vary state to state, including the inspection process, Bohi said. Many don’t require airbag inspections.  

“There are a lot of gaps where attention could be focused that could help address these types of issues,” Bohi said.

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