When a truck’s title is stamped with a title or odometer brand, such as “Junk”, “Salvage”, “Flooded” or “Odometer Not Actual Mileage”, the truck immediately has a lower market value and will be more difficult to sell.

That’s why sellers (criminals) use a process of washing off the brand from the title.  Sellers wash the title by transferring a title branded vehicle to a state that doesn’t recognize the brand. Or, by altering the title so the new state doesn’t realize the vehicle previously included a brand.  When the state issues a new title, it can result in a clean title.  This clean title is what the seller (criminal) will present to an unsuspecting buyer.

To help protect the consumer’s interest, RigDig partnered with the Department of Justice’s NMVTIS database to help consumers detect previous title brands that may have been washed from the current title.