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Letters
| From: | RG |
|---|---|
| To: | Representative Hutchinson |
| Date: | Wednesday, 09/07/05 |
| Subject: | PI Access to PennDOT Motor Vehicle Records |
Dear Mr. Hutchinson,
You should be aware that the Pennsylvania Association of
Licensed Investigators (PALI) has been seeking to convince
PennDOT to reverse its position of November 2004 to deny
licensed investigators access to motor vehicle information
via "Tag query". This decision has had an adverse affect for
legitimate investigators who obey the law and refuse to resort
to subversive means to obtain such data.
On July 5, 2005 PennDOT did relent to some extent. They have
restored our access to there files when we certify that the
request is on behalf of "insurance industry" clients.
However, we continue to be prohibited from the same kind of
information for our legal community clients that are providing
litigation support for civil and criminal matters.
We fail to see the logic to deny the same access for our lawyer
clients and other clients who have legitimate reasons for
requesting this information.
PennDOT Attorney Harold Cramer is actually on record having
stated, "Even with a court order, attorneys are not likely to
receive data from us based on Tag information only."
During a PALI meeting with PennDOT officials, they actually
suggested that we approach our local law enforcement
departments and request them to "pull tags". To do so would be
a violation of law and would jeopardize the freedom of any law
enforcement personnel providing such information! (Although, I
have no doubt that some unscrupulous PI's continue to access
such information via sources working in law enforcement; or,
sources employed at PennDOT that have access to such files.)
PALI has informed PennDOT that it is our position that Congress
intended for "licensed investigators" to have access to motor
vehicle records as delineated in the Federal Drivers Privacy
Protection Act under "Permissible Uses" (4), (6) and (8).
A survey of neighboring states, plus non-neighboring states,
revealed that licensed investigators in these other states are
routinely registered with their respective motor vehicle
departments (MVD's) and provided access to such records.
This protocol of requiring the licensed investigators to
register with their MVD's would seem to be a responsible way
for PennDOT to provide the information needed by legitmate
investigators and still protect the privacy of such records to
the extent that is required by law.
It strikes me as unfair and unreasonable that PennDOT would
relent and agree to provide the information for our insurance
clients, but not for other clients.
In the event that a licensed investigator and/or his client
should misuse this information in any way, the investigator
and/or his agency would be subject to harsh penalties that
might include loss of license. Such misconduct could also
subject the licensee to civil litigation and sanctions.
I look forward to learning your thoughts on this issue. If you
concur with my feelings, I would request that you express those
feelings to PennDOT and use your position as my representative
to try to influence PennDOT to reinstate our access to Tag info.
Respectfully,
Rich Graham
Ross-Graham Investigations, LLC
Franklin, PA 16323
www.ross-graham.com