vehicle record disclosure notices – disturbing

[Big Bling]

I rec’d a notice from the state dept. of licensing that someone PAID and pulled the record of my license plate and rec’d records of where I live.

I live alone and am feeling a bit uneasy about this.

The notice says the state will not disclose who or why is asking this information. When I called the number they said the law was put into effect by private investigators and attorneys.

I have no idea why someone would want to find out where I live. I have no pending legal items.

This is very bothersome.

Why can they pull records on you and be protected from us knowing who it was ?

I don’t know who voted YES for this law but in this day of having all your records and information displayed everywhere it seems unfair we can’t find out who is looking for us.

Here is link to RCW 46.12.635

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.12.635

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[birdrescuer]

According to this you are supposed to be told WHO made the request and why.

(4) Whenever the disclosing entity grants a request for information under this section by an attorney or private investigator, the disclosing entity shall provide notice to the vehicle owner, to whom the information applies, that the request has been granted. The notice also shall contain the name and address of the requesting party.

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[Big Bling]

birdrescuer – if you read further it was revised and they can now request without letting us know who/why.

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[metrognome]

big bling — apparently, the amendment was made in the most recent session. I can’t figure out how to link the search results here, so here’s what to do …

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/ click on ‘search full text of a bill’

on the new page, enter ‘disclosure individual vehicle owners 46.12.635’ in the search box.

in the middle section, Law Documents, check ‘RCW Disposition’ and select ‘2013’ under yearly documents.

in the bottom section, check ‘All Bills, Memorials and Resolutions’ (this will auto-check most of the rest of the boxes) and 2013-14 from the biennium list. Then go back to the top section and click Search.

The last 6 to 8 hits relate to this change; that might help you understand what’s going on although you still apparently won’t know who requested your info. If you print out the results, you can go back to the first page and enter the bill numbers individually. Staff reports, etc. usually contain explanatory info. You should be able to figure out which bill version was actually signed.

Good luck; if you need more help, post a note out here and I’ll see what I can do.

Is it possible you got tagged by a red light camera?

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[Big Bling]

metrognome: thanks for info on finding bill.

i did not run a red light – and if so, since they are all over – they would not have to disclose they were checking on my vehicle and where i live. that info would come right up and they would have the right to look it up without notifying me, well, until i rec’d a ticket.

and the links to other bills all looked like tracking info for sex offenders, etc.

i guess i can’t seem to figure the purpose of the bill. thanks.

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[metrognome]

Big Bling – I forgot to mention that it does sound creepy. I did some more research and found the legislative history; here is the rationale from the committee report:

‘Staff Summary of Public Testimony: PRO: This bill passed in its present form out of the Senate last year. The primary purpose driving this bill is the safety of a private investigator (PI) or attorney. There are many protections built into the system before you can access this vehicle owner information. You have to contract with DOL to get this information. The notification puts PIs and attorneys in jeopardy by giving their name and address to a person being investigated. Often times these peoples are felons or violent people and attorneys and PIs often work out of their homes so a person who is upset about being investigated or sued now has a PI’s or attorney’s home address. This bill has been worked on for a long time and we have accommodated other stakeholders. The time has come to move this forward. We are licensed, bonded, and experienced hard-working professionals. The first thing that I do is a background check, so if there is a protection order in place we would know. We are not going to abuse the system and go after a domestic violence victim. We are good, law abiding people who are trying to protect ourselves and our families.’

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/5182%20SBA%20TRAN%2013.pdf

here’s the entire legislative history:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5182&year=2013

I truly hope this turns out to be a non-issue.

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[miws]

Bling, are you the original owner of the car?

Might it be a previous owner that they are trying to track/trace?

Mike

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[Big Bling]

original owner

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[ocean]

Ugh, that is just creepy.

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[sbre]

There is a chance that the requester entered the wrong plate, mis-entering a number or letter.

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[trickycoolj]

I would feel really uneasy about a notification like that too also living by myself. I see the law is written to protect the lawyer/PI but what about single residents? Why can’t I be protected? What if an ex is the one snooping around with a PI? They say they do their do-diligence checking for standing protection orders but knowing the way some of our state government agencies tend to operate I’m very skeptical. And who is to say someone even has a standing protection order? Every once an a while the ex-girlfriend of a guy I dated in high school over ten years ago tries to contact me on social media because she blames me for him being a repeated cheater ever since. I have no idea where she lives other than her family lives in a town near the town my mom lives in. I’m always leery about whether or not I might run into her. She knows what I look like, but I don’t know what she looks like since she went to another school. I would hate to think this girl could come out of the woodwork in this way.

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[dhg]

Badly written addendum. PI’s have to have a license, that license is public info. There should be no harm in telling you who asked for your information. Perhaps they should make an exception for violent felons only.

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[waterworld]

As I read the statute, specifically subsections (4)(a) and (4)(b), if the DOL has refused to disclose the identity of the requesting person, then it must be an attorney or PI who made the request. You can find out the occupation of the requesting person — attorney or PI — from DOL by asking for it in writing within five days of when you received the notice.

Not that it will make you feel better, but I also note that RCW 46.12.630 limits how the information can be used. I would expect that the disclosure agreement between the DOL and the requesting person also imposes limitations on use of the information. Additional cold comfort: both attorneys and private investigators operate under relatively strict rules of professional conduct, and if you learn that the information is being used improperly, you can file a complaint with the relevant disciplinary authority. More importantly, the threat of potential discipline is enough to prevent most lawyers and PIs from mis-using personal information, should their moral compasses fail to do the job.

As for why an attorney or PI would want this information, I can think of lots of non-nefarious reasons. For example, perhaps your car was seen in the area where a serious accident or a crime occurred. A lawyer representing one of the parties to a related legal action might want to contact you to ask if you saw anything. Or it could be something entirely legal, although unpleasant, such as a lawyer or PI hired by a commercial parking lot operator to track you down for an alleged parking violation.

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