Defacing a VIN , or possessing a car with a defaced VIN can get one arrested in Alabama,
Wrong on 17 different levels.
I can deface VIN's all day long, as long as no FRAUD is involved.
So if a person looses control of their car on ice, hits a tree the car is smashed so bad the VIN is damaged, while the driver lays bleeding in the car, the police will cancel the ambulance and cuff them for defacing a VIN?
A person is burning their trash, and accidently sets the grass on fire, and burns up his car, police are going to drag him away in chains for defacing a VIN?
Junk yard operator is crushing junk cars, and a SWAT team descends to send him off to GITMO?
When Unique Performance was busted, the headlines SCREAMED over and over about VIN tampering. Cars were taken down to bare nothings, VINs removed, etc. There was extensive information printed referencing the can and cannots of VIN work.
What does the law say? (Hint: Read the whole section, don't stop at paragraph a 1
18 U.S. Code § 511.Altering or removing motor vehicle identification numbers
(a)A person who
(1)knowingly removes, obliterates, tampers with, or alters an identification number for a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part; or
(2)with intent to further the theft of a motor vehicle, knowingly removes, obliterates, tampers with, or alters a decal or device affixed to a motor vehicle pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Act,
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
(b) (1)Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to a removal, obliteration, tampering, or alteration by a person specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection (unless such person knows that the vehicle or part involved is stolen).
(2)The persons referred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection are
(A)a motor vehicle scrap processor or a motor vehicle demolisher who complies with applicable State law with respect to such vehicle or part;
(B)a person who repairs such vehicle or part, if the removal, obliteration, tampering, or alteration is reasonably necessary for the repair;
(C)a person who restores or replaces an identification number for such vehicle or part in accordance with applicable State law; and
(D)a person who removes, obliterates, tampers with, or alters a decal or device affixed to a motor vehicle pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Act, if that person is the owner of the motor vehicle, or is authorized to remove, obliterate, tamper with or alter the decal or device by—
(i)the owner or his authorized agent;
(ii)applicable State or local law; or
(iii)regulations promulgated by the Attorney General to implement the Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Act.
If it is my car, I can deface to my hearts content, every day, 24 x 7 smack away on the VIN. I probably will never be able to sell the car, but it is mine (Paragraph B(2)D).
It is the same type argument (quote part, but ignore the specifics) when people WAIL that it is illegal to destroy money, put a coin on the railroad tracks, squash it in a machine at the fair, etc.
18 U.S. Code § 331.Mutilation, diminution, and falsification of coins
U.S. Code
Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or are in actual use or circulation as money within the United States; or
Whoever fraudulently possesses, passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or brings into the United States, any such coin, knowing the same to be altered, defaced, mutilated, impaired, diminished, falsified, scaled, or lightened—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
People refer to this all the time, but leave out the key word FRAUDULENTLY. I can do whatever I want, as long as I do not attempt to FRAUDULENTLY pass it on (cutting a $100 bill into pieces, then taping on parts of a $1 bill to make a pair of $100's)
What the Law States
82.1 Prohibitions.
Except as specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury (or designee) or as otherwise provided in this part, no person shall export, melt, or treat:
(a) Any 5-cent coin of the United States; or
(b) Any one-cent coin of the United States.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 31, Subtitle B, Chapter 1, Part 82, Section 82.1
Ok, so as we can see here, this is focused on pennies and nickels. This says pretty clearly that you can’t melt down either of these coins. However….
Section 82.2 of that law lists the exceptions. Here’s the one of interest:
(b) The prohibition contained in § 82.1 against the treatment of 5-cent coins and one-cent coins shall not apply to the treatment of these coins for educational, amusement, novelty, jewelry, and similar purposes as long as the volumes treated and the nature of the treatment makes it clear that such treatment is not intended as a means by which to profit solely from the value of the metal content of the coins.
