VINdication

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott concluded in an Oct. 22 opinion that state Government Code §552.130(a) does not prohibit a governmental body from publicly disclosing a manufacturer’s permanent vehicle number, if the VIN is not identified with personal information about an individual. That might not sound significant, but the Office of the Attorney General’s Open Records Division has, since 1997, opined in letter rulings that governmental entities could not disclose a VIN, the 17-digit identification code that a manufacturer places on a vehicle. Thompson & Knight partner Jeffrey S. Boyd of Austin (pictured), attorney for CARFAX Inc., which maintains a database on used vehicles, says some cities have refused to disclose VINs to his client, because of the OAG’s letter rulings. Without the VINs, CARFAX is unable to obtain a complete history on a vehicle, Boyd says. At CARFAX’s urging, state Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, chairman of the House Law Enforcement Committee, requested an attorney general’s opinion on the VIN issue. CARFAX argued in a May 23 brief to Abbott that the Open Records Division, in Open Records Letter No. 1997-2653, offered no authority and included no analysis of the language or purpose of §552.120(a) when it concluded that the statute prohibits disclosure of VINs. According to the brief, the letter asserted that the statute barred such disclosure, and subsequent letter rulings repeated that assertion. Abbott’s opinion is a win on the VIN for the consumer, who needs to know whether the used car he’s thinking about buying lives up to the salesman’s glowing description. 
-- Mary Alice Robbins