TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The State of Florida is threatening to pull used car company Carvana’s dealer license for its ongoing title issues, 8 On Your Side has learned.
Better Call Behnken reviewed an email sent to Carvana from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles this week. The email gives a deadline of Jan. 31, 2022, to resolve any title-related issues for vehicles sold before Dec. 21, 2021.
In the email, the FDHSMV says it “remains concerned with Carvana’s apparent inability to comply with the provisions of Florida law requiring a dealer to apply for title within 30 days of the sale and the impact that has on Florida consumers.”
If Carvana fails to submit title applications by Jan. 31 for any sale made before Dec. 1, the FDHSMV warns it “may commence administrative action to suspend Carvana’s dealer license in Florida.”
Consumer Reporter Shannon Behnken has reached out to Carvana for a comment on the FDHSMV email and is waiting for a response.
Better Call Behnken has reported extensively on Carvana’s title troubles, including customers who waited months for the title to be issued for their new vehicle and Florida filing complaints against the company.
Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis weighed in, saying in a recent interview, “if there’s not [a] clear title, how did this car end up in your vending machine?”
Several customers even told Better Call Behnken that Carvana offered to repurchase their vehicles and give them a replacement after apparent failures to transfer the title within 30 days and repeatedly issue temp tags instead.
The email exchange reviewed by Better Call Behnken also included a spreadsheet with 300 vehicle sales dating back to late 2019, where the title is still awaiting transfer. Over 100 of those transactions were in Florida, records show.
None of the Carvana customers Better Call Behnken has spoken to during previous reports are on the list, raising questions about how many more buyers nationwide have been stuck in title limbo.