Shipe v. Mason

• Decision Date: 04 October 1978
• Docket Number: No. CIV-2-78-7.,CIV-2-78-7.
• Citation: 500 F. Supp. 243
• Parties: James H. SHIPE, etc. et al. v. Jim MASON, etc. et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Tennessee

500 F. Supp. 243

James H. SHIPE, etc. et al. v. Jim MASON, etc. et al.

No. CIV-2-78-7.

United States District Court, E. D. Tennessee, Northeastern Division.

October 4, 1978.

Greg W. Eichelman, Morristown, Tenn., for plaintiffs.

Kenneth C. Anthony, Jr. and John B. White, Jr., Spartanburg, S. C., and Jerry W. Laughlin and Herbert R. Silvers, Greenville, Tenn., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

NEESE, District Judge.

This is a civil action to enforce the liability of the defendant for violation, with intent to defraud, of the motor vehicular odometer requirements upon the transfer of ownership of 3 automobiles. 15 U.S.C. § 1989(a).¹ This Court has jurisdiction of the subject matter hereof and of the parties. 15 U.S.C. § 1989(b).² A bench trial was conducted on September 28, 1978.

The defendant Mr. Jim Mason, doing business as Jim Mason Used Cars and Mason Brothers Used Cars, transferred the ownership of a certain 1974-model Pontiac automobile, a certain 1974-model Oldsmobile automobile and a certain 1975-model Chevrolet Caprice automobile to the plaintiff Mr. James H. Shipe, doing business as Shipe Auto Sales, on February 17, 1977 through Clanton's Auto Auction Sales, Inc. in Darlington, South Carolina. Mr. Mason admitted that he disclosed to Mr. Shipe cumulative mileage of 30,400 miles registered on the odometer in such Pontiac automobile when, in fact, its cumulative registered mileage was a minimum of 60,100 miles; that he disclosed to Mr. Shipe a cumulative mileage of 47,966 miles registered on the odometer of such Oldsmobile automobile when, in fact, its cumulative registered mileage was a minimum of 77,173 miles; and that he disclosed to Mr. Shipe a cumulative mileage of 32,464 miles registered on the odometer of such Chevrolet automobile when, in fact, its cumulative registered mileage was a minimum of approximately 68,000 miles. However, he claims that he reset or "rolled-back" those cumulative registered mileages and issued false odometer certificates thereon at the request of Mr. Shipe, and as a condition precedent to Mr. Shipe's purchasing these vehicles from him through the aforenamed auction. That is not a viable defense.

It was the declared purpose of the Congress in enacting the afore-quoted legislation "* * * to prohibit tampering with odometers on motor vehicles and to establish certain safeguards for the protection of purchasers emphasis supplied with respect to the sale of motor vehicles having altered or reset odometers." 15 U.S.C. § 1981. It was found by the Congress prefatorily thereto "* * * that purchasers, when buying motor vehicles, rely heavily on the odometer reading as an index of the condition and value of such vehicle; that purchasers are entitled to rely on the odometer reading as an accurate reflection of the mileage actually traveled by the vehicle; that an accurate indication of the mileage traveled by a motor vehicle assists the purchaser in determining safety and reliability; and that motor vehicles move in the current of interstate and foreign commerce or affect such commerce. * * *" Idem. Thus, it is evident that the Congress moved to protect, not only the immediate purchaser of a motor vehicle, the odometer of which had been set-back, but also any subsequent purchasers thereof.

To act with "intent to defraud" usually means to act wilfully, and with the specific intent to deceive or cheat, ordinarily for the purpose of either causing some financial loss to another or bringing about some financial gain to oneself. Cf. United States v. Lepowitch (1943), 318 U.S. 702, 704, 63 S.Ct. 914, 916, 87 L.Ed. 1091, 1093-1094 (headnote 4). In the context of 15 U.S.C. § 1989(a), however, this Court is of the opinion that "intent to defraud" must be held to mean to act wilfully and with the specific intent to deceive any purchaser or potential purchaser of a motor vehicle who inspects the odometer of a motor vehicle as an index of the condition and value of such vehicle. Thus, even if Mr. Shipe, as the immediate purchaser of the aforedescribed automobiles, were to be found to have known in advance of his purchases that one or more of them had accumulated greater mileage than was shown at the time of the sale(s) by its odometer, this would not provide probative evidence that any purchaser subsequent to Mr. Shipe would not be in danger of being defrauded. The salient showing was that Mr. Mason acted with the intent to defraud, not that anyone was actually defrauded.

The purpose of this portion of the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act, supra, is to punish odometer tamperers by imposing civil penalties upon them and to reward purchasers who discover such tampering and bring it to the attention of the federal courts. Delay v. Hearn Ford, D.C.S.C. (1974), 373 F.Supp. 791, 7969, cited and quoted from in Stier v. Park Pontiac, Inc., D.C.W.Va. (1975), 391 F.Supp. 397, 4012. As Mr. Mason offered no...