April 10, 2017—A proposed bill in the Wisconsin Legislature would allow an exemption for repairers to remove and reinstall VIN numbers during repair work.
U.S. Code section 18 USC 511 stipulates that anyone who knowingly removes or tampers with a VIN number for a vehicle or vehicle part can face up to five years in prison, but it makes an exemption for repairers assuming that the removal is necessary for the repair. The bill is designed to reduce a grey area in Wisconsin law.
Senate Bill 90 and Assembly Bill 144 would add exceptions that anyone who repairs a vehicle or vehicle part can remove and replace a decal that contains an ID number if the removal is reasonably necessary for a repair.
