Florida is threatening to suspend Carvana’s dealer license over issues related to title transfers on vehicles it sold, according to a report.
WFLA reported that the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles told Carvana in an email last week that the online-based used-car retailer had until Jan. 31 to submit title applications for all vehicles sold in 2021 before Dec. 1. Should the company fail to do so, the department “may commence administrative action to suspend Carvana’s dealer license in Florida,” the email reads, according to WFLA.
The email reportedly included a spreadsheet showing 300 Carvana vehicle sales dating to 2019 that have not had their titles transferred, including more than 100 in Florida. State law requires retailers to apply for a title within 30 days of completing the sale.
“The Department remains concerned with Carvana’s apparent inability to comply” with Florida law, the email reads in part. “Florida law allows the Department to suspend licenses of dealers who have failed to apply for a transfer of title in a timely manner.”
Automotive News has requested comment on the report from spokespersons for Carvana and the Florida department.
In addition to delivering vehicles to customers, Carvana, the second-largest used-vehicle retailer in the U.S., operates four vending machine locations in Florida, in Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa. A spokeswoman for the state of Florida told Automotive News in August that Carvana had applied for around 23,500 titles in the state over the previous 12 months.
According to WFLA, Carvana settled with Florida regulators this year over previous complaints about undelivered titles. The company agreed to pay $500 each to 12 customers who had waited between three and eight months to receive titles on vehicles they purchased from Carvana.
The company in August had its dealer license suspended in Wake County, N.C., for 180 days for violating the state’s dealer licensing laws, including by not delivering title work in a timely manner. Carvana is prohibited from selling vehicles at its Raleigh location until late January, and the company was required to conduct a review of its sales across North Carolina to ensure it was meeting title and registration requirements.
Carvana is the country’s second-largest retailer by 2020 used-vehicle volume, with 244,111 used retail vehicles sold that year, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center.
In November, the company reported third-quarter retail sales of 111,949 vehicles, up 74 percent from a year earlier.
