Successful prosecution by Registrar of Motor Vehicle Traders

Media release
1 November 2013

Successful prosecution brought by Registrar of Motor Vehicle Traders

The Registrar of Motor Vehicle Traders at MBIE has successfully brought a prosecution against a Morrinsville man for operating a motor vehicle trading business without being registered.

The 24 year old was fined $4,500 in the Morrinsville District Court on Wednesday 30 October after pleading guilty to selling 11 vehicles between February 2012 and January 2013. Under the Motor Vehicles Sales Act 2003 individuals can legally sell six vehicles in a 12 month period without being registered as a Motor Vehicle Trader.

Team Leader of the Registry Integrity and Enforcement team within the Companies Office, Karla Flood, says this week’s prosecution follows a similar prosecution of a 20 year old man in the Dunedin District Court in early September.

“The number of unregistered motor vehicle traders is on the rise, largely due to a change in trader behaviour towards online markets. However, prosecutions such as this one act as a deterrent. Unregistered motor vehicle traders are not subject to the checks that apply to those who are registered and consumers may have less protection when something goes wrong.”

The Registrar of Motor Vehicle Traders works with organisations such as Trade Me, New Zealand Customs and Land Transport New Zealand to help identify unregistered traders. The Registrar's aim is to assist the traders to register so they are compliant with the legislation and only if this does not succeed does enforcement action take place.

The Registrar of Motor Vehicle Traders has investigated 332 unregistered motor vehicle traders since July 1, 2012. Of those 240 investigations have been finalised, 79 remain under investigation with the view of achieving compliance, and 13 cases are currently before the courts.

Of the 240 completed investigations:
• 156 were closed as compliance was achieved;
• 71 were closed as no offence was identified;
• 12 traders were issued with written warnings and are being monitored; and
• 1 conviction was obtained.

Find out more about the Motor Vehicle Traders Register here:
http://www.motortraders.med.govt.nz/cms

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