342.155 Mileage disclosure requirements of transferors and transferees.
(1)
(a) Unless exempted by rule of the department, no transferor may transfer ownership of a motor vehicle without disclosing the vehicle's mileage in writing to the transferee by specifying the odometer reading. The disclosure shall state either that the reading is known to be actual mileage, or that the reading is not the actual mileage and should not be relied upon, or that the reading reflects the mileage in excess of the designed mechanical limit.
(b) The mileage disclosure statement required under par. (a) shall be made in the spaces provided on the certificate of title or on a form or in an automated format authorized by the department. The transferee shall print his or her name on the mileage disclosure statement, sign the statement and return a copy of the statement to the transferor. Except as authorized by rule of the department, no person may sign a mileage disclosure statement as both the transferor and transferee in the same transaction.
(c) The department shall promulgate rules that do all of the following:
1. Establish the form and manner of the mileage disclosure.
2. Identify which vehicles are exempt from the mileage disclosure requirements under this subsection.
3. Prescribe the mileage disclosure requirements applicable to leasing companies and their lessees.
4. Establish requirements relating to the creation, retention and inspection of mileage disclosure records of persons who acquire or consign motor vehicles for resale or lease, including motor vehicle salvage pools and auction dealers.
5. Establish the form content and format and procedures for any power of attorney disclosing a vehicle's mileage for purposes of this section.
6. Identify and define terms relating to the mileage disclosure requirement.
(2) No transferor may knowingly make a false statement, including providing an odometer reading that is different from the actual reading on the odometer, in disclosing the vehicle's mileage to a transferee under this section.
(3) No transferee, nor any other person, may alter, erase or obliterate any information, including the mileage disclosure, contained on any mileage disclosure statement.
(4)
(a) Except as provided in par. (b), any person who violates this section may be required to forfeit not more than $1,000.
(b) Any person who violates this section with intent to defraud is guilty of Class H felony.
History: 1993 a. 159; 1997 a. 27, 283; 2001 a. 109; 2017 a. 363.