New state law proposal aims to stop catalytic converter thiefs cold

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Washington state lawmakers are set to convene next week at the state Capitol in Olympia for a new legislative session and one of the bills set to come up is a proposal to undercut the thriving marketplace for stolen catalytic converters.

State Sen. Jeff Wilson introduced the bill, saying he is targeting unscrupulous scrap metal dealers by going right to the point of sale where the stolen parts are converted into cash.

Wilson says he wants his proposal to garner bi-partisan support, and he said he is still open to suggestions to improve it.

Under's Wilson's proposal, the bill would:

Make it illegal to buy catalytic converters from anyone who walks into a shop and tries to sell the automotive part on the spot.
Add the possibility of misdemeanor charges to any dealer who knowingly buys or receives the stolen goods.

-more-

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/new-state-law-proposal-aims-to-stop-catalytic-converter-thiefs-cold/ar-AASrZB6

[SheltieLover]

1. How about mandatory 5 yrs, no loopholes, for perps?

[Best_man23]

2. While this will help, it won't 100% stop catalytic converter thefts

When I was a technician back in the early 1990s, the scrap metals dealers came to the shop to pick up parts like starters, alternators, and catalytic converters. My thought to try and curb this would be to require shops and technicians to show the converters were removed legitimately, and that proof would come through associating the removed converter with a repair order. Scrap metal dealers should also be required to document and report to the state how many scrap converters are coming from a particular shop. That way, if a fictional shop called "Midnight Auto Repair" is generating 300 scrap converters a month (nearly impossible, a high volume repair shop might have 10-15 in a month), the scrap dealer would be required to report the number of converters collected to the state. The state can then pay "Midnight Auto Repair" a visit and request they provide proof the converters were legitimately removed (the repair orders tied to legitimate VINs).

My bet is if this system were put in place, a lot of the converter thefts will be mitigated, but its not going to be 100% stopped. In the auto world, the term "Midnight Auto Parts" is a real term used to describe any sourced parts that do not seem legitimate. Guess we now use this term to describe stolen catalytic converters.

[mitch96]

3. It's probably gonna devolve into a dark of the night, dope deal kind of thing.

Nothing out in the open, all back room..YMMV
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