HALTING ILLEGAL ACTIVITY

Documentation & Strategy I

owa has taken a bold step and is now tracking advertising in its borders to report to the authorities to investigate. “As far as we know, the Iowa DOT has the information that we’ve reported to them, but has not reported back to us on their progress with it,” says Mike Swift. Last year, we hired LTAS Technology’s Allen Attemer to use their Harmari software to find all the illegal operators that are buying junk cars in the state of Iowa. I have been totally impressed with Harmari,” said Swift (see results to the right). Harmari Tools, developed by LTAS Technologies, analyzes online classifieds, e-commerce, and social media sites to identify pages suspected of fraud or criminal activity. Harmari Tools can be used in investigating auto theft, auto fraud, and curbstoning, criminal investigations, and unlicensed businesses. “With the information we get from Harmari, we will be able to contact these operators directly to let them know that the manner in which they are oper- ating is illegal and maybe they didn’t know.” IAR’s Executive Director Sue Schauls and board members keep a list of these operators and ultimately send it to the Iowa DOT Enforcement. “We plan to keep track of operators that stop, and will watch to see if the IOWA DOT acts on the infor- mation and enforces it. IAR will also get information from its members on illegal activities in their area and add them to the list. We plan to send them the same letters with information about operating legally. IAR knows that this works. The DOT can’t hire a person for the amount of money that this software tool costs. Our hope is that the Iowa DOT budget for the use of Harmari, as well,” says Swift.

When asked how much progress he thinks they are making in Iowa, Swift says, “that’s a good question. We continue to try and educate our regulators and legislators, and we have gained a lot of ground by continuing to have meetings with the IADOT and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.” “We have some good laws in Iowa; we just need more enforcement. We need to find ways to help IADOT to hire more officers to enforce these laws. We maintain good relationships with our regulators and legislators. We have our IAR and ARA Hill Day to tell them what we do as auto recyclers.” Although there are challenges to overcome, Swift feels they are in a good position to overcome them. “IAR is the voice in Iowa for auto recycling and we have an active board and active members,” says Swift. “We have a very good leader in Sue Schauls who

50 Automotive Recycling | January-February 2015

Report of Investigations Related

to Craigslist Advertisements Advertisements Received; December 2013

through February 2014 • Autos for sale; 10,005 ads total, some for the same vehicle, relisted multiple times. An estimated 1,800 ads involve people who we believe are engaging in the business. These ads contain duplicates and some offer the same vehicle for sale multiple times. Of these ads, we have assigned 62 cases for investigation and many remain open and active. Some of these have been determined to be “blind ads” from licensed auto dealers and IAR has referred them to the Attorney General’s Office. Many of these cases require exten- sive research as they don’t contain names or vehicle specific information. IAR is also looking at these cases for odometer fraud, failing to transfer title, and failing to pay the required registration fee and fee for new registration. • Auto Parts for sale; 10,006 ads. An estimated

1,500 ads from people selling car parts that we believe may be engaging in the business. At this point IAR has not assigned any of these cases for investigation as they do require more research to determine if they are parts for the same vehicle and are component parts. Out of State Investigations:

• 12 cases referred to authorities in bordering

states. These included 275 Craigslist ads; referral states: 10 to Illinois, 1 to Minnesota, 1 to Nebraska.

keeps us up-to-date on all issues in our industry. We have a very good lobbyist, Jim Piazza Jr., who works not only during the session, but also throughout the year. He also helps us to allocate funds from our PAC fund. His track record the last few years has been awe- some. Both Sue and Jim make sure we have friends on both sides of the aisle and this works well for us. “We raise money at our annual IAR outing with an auction. The last few years, we have raised over $18,000 a year at the auction to fund our cause.” Swift offers the following advice to other recyclers across the country. “I know from my experience with ARA’s weekly state legislative update call, hosted each week by ARA Government Affairs Committee chair, Norman Wright, and ARA Director of State Government Affairs, Jessica Andrews, that if you are the person dealing with state legislation, you need to be on that call,” said Swift. “Also if your state has issues and you are at a loss as to what to do, call ARA today. The ARA staff will provide you information and help you with whatever resources you might need. ARA will not be there to tell you what to do, but will lend you a hand with whatever you might need.”