AUTOMOTIVE
“I just didn’t realize it was time to renew,” Salman said. “I’m going to take care of it right now.”
Several teams of investigators from the DMV’s compliance enforcement team were dispatched across the Las Vegas Valley on Tuesday to seek out roughly 120 garages with lapsed business licenses.
Known as “Impact Day,” the annual canvassing is aimed at creating a level playing field among automotive businesses that obey the law, DMV officials said.
“The majority of businesses renew in a timely manner, so part of it is a matter of fair competition,” said Lori Billingsley, a DMV supervisory compliance investigator.
“The other part is consumer protection,” Billingsley said. “There isn’t much recourse if somebody gets bad service from a company with an expired registration and no bond.”
Auto businesses can register with the DMV for $26 annually. On top of that, minimum bond requirements are $5,000 for repair garages, $10,000 for body shops and $100,000 for car dealers.
However, the first offense for failing to maintain a DMV permit can result in a $500 fine. The fee doubles if businesses don’t have an updated county or city business license. Failure to comply after two warnings could lead to an order to shut down the business.
Under state law, the DMV is charged with regulating the auto repair industry by fielding consumer complaints about scofflaw mechanics, DMV spokesman Kevin Malone said. Statewide, there are 350 body shops registered with the DMV as of Tuesday, along with 1,633 repair garages.
While making their rounds on Tuesday, Billingsley, Ramirez and compliance investigator George Dunn dropped in for a surprise visit at Double Eagle RV on Boulder Highway.
The shop’s manager, Kathy Brandt, said the DMV registration wasn’t necessary, because her mechanics only repair vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or more. While that’s true, Dunn said he found several lighter vehicles that were clearly being worked on.
“It’s just frustrating to deal with all the regulation, all the red tape and all the fees,” Brandt said, placing a hand to her head as she stared at the $500 citation.
“It’s so hard to do business anymore,” Brandt said. “It’s just so difficult.” Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-0336. Follow @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.