Let’s assume you’re sitting in your car at the supermarket and — bam — the person next to you slams his door into yours, smiles, shrugs and drives away. You write down the license plate number of the offending vehicle, thinking you will now be able to track down the owner and make a demand for the cost of your repair (which will inevitably be just slightly less than the deductible on your insurance policy).

Or, let’s assume you see someone who owes you money driving around in a shiny new S Class Mercedes and you want to know if that car is leased or owned and, if owned, what liens might be against it. Again, you write down the license number thinking this, along with the driver’s name, will allow you to obtain the information you want.

In both these cases, and many others, you will be disappointed. That’s because of a federal law — the Drivers Privacy Protection Act — and a couple of confusing state statutes that try to bring Colorado law into compliance with the federal act.

Also, if you start your search for information at your local clerk and recorder’s office, you will discover that, although this office processes title, registration and license plate applications as an agent for the state Department of Revenue, it doesn’t have access to the Department of Revenue’s database. Instead, you will be referred to a Department of Revenue office in Lakewood. 

There, you will be told you must fill out a form — DR 2489 “Requestor Release and Affidavit of Intended Use” — and submit that form, along with a fee, before your request for information will be considered. However, DR 2489 requires you, under penalty of perjury, to affirm that your request falls into a permitted use category, and requires you to check a box identifying the category you are relying on. The form warns that you could be subject to civil penalties under federal and state law if you misrepresent the purpose of your inquiry. In the circumstances describe above, you will find that none of the permitted use categories covers your request for information.

Not everyone is prohibited from accessing motor vehicle records maintained by the Department of Revenue. Government agencies, for example, can review these records when performing a function approved by the Drivers Privacy Protection Act. The information is available to manufacturers implementing a recall program. Insurance companies can obtain the information for purposes of claims administration, processing applications or setting premiums. Towing companies can access the information to notify an owner that a vehicle has been towed.  Toll road operators can use the information to send bills to toll road users. 
The Drivers Privacy Protection Act would allow Colorado to be less restrictive about vehicle information access, but only if it puts in place a system by which vehicle owners could opt out. Colorado has seemingly rejected that option.
—
Jim Flynn is a private attorney
 at Flynn Wright & Fredman LLC in
Colorado Springs. Reach him at
jtflynn@fwflegal.com.

New Home for the El Paso County Centennial Hall Motor Vehicle and Recording Departments

COLORADO SPRINGS 

The El Paso County Clerk & Recorder has moved its Centennial Hall Motor Vehicle and Recording Departments to a new location. The Colorado Springs Department of Motor Vehicle Department is now located on the lower level of the County’s new Citizens Service Center. The Colorado Springs new DMV office is located at 1675 W. Garden of the Gods Road.  The Clerk & Recorder office is still maintaining a small branch location inside the Centennial Hall downtown office.

This move includes the Recording Department’s Public Search and Copy area. To view archived recorded documents or to purchase copies of older documents, you will now have to come to Citizen Service Center. "The biggest change will be for our recording customers that are looking to use the Public Document Search Area. That area is now located at Citizens Service Center it is no longer available at Centennial Hall branch location," said Clerk & Recorder Wayne Williams. "As we prepared to locate our main office to Citizens Service Center we worked out a compromise to maintain a small office downtown to continue to service that community," said Clerk & Recorder Wayne Williams.

The new office is smaller in size and has fewer counters than the previous office but you can still can access many of our services at this location. The new branch offers Election and Recording services in addition to the Motor Vehicle and Driver’s License Renewal services.

The El Paso Country Clerk’s services include Motor Vehicle Titles, License Plate Renewal, Driver’s License Renewal, Voter Registration, Document Recording, and Marriage Licenses.

The Clerk & Recorder’s current offices are: 

Centennial Hall (Downtown) 200 S. Cascade Ave (Cascade and Vermijo)
Union Town Center (North) 8830 Union Blvd (Union and Research) 
Powers (East) 5650 Industrial Pl. (Airport and Powers) 
Citizens Service Center (West) (Currently, only Elections Department Services) 1675 W. Garden of the Gods Rd.

For more information about the Colorado Springs, El Paso County Motor Vehicle and Recording Departments contact Alissa Vander Veen at 719-351-9626 or AlissaVanderVeen@elpasoco.com

• Used Vehicles Wa State

  Looking to buy a used car in Washington? Find out what vehicles we have for sale in Washington, or sell your own car.

• Vehicle Title With No Signature State Of Texas

  Fredericksburg, Virginia: The news and information source for the Fredericksburg, Virginia area.

• Department Hawaii Motor Vehicle

  Hawaii does not have a statewide Department of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Registration is managed by each county government. For information please contact:

• The Bad Boy Military Vehicle

  Fredericksburg, Virginia: The news and information source for the Fredericksburg, Virginia area.

• Reconstructed Vehicle Title

  Title Explanations. NOTE: Each state has its own rules and regulations governing vehicle titles. You must familiarize yourself with your state's procedures regarding ...