Are Your a "curbsider"?
well today threw me an interesting twist. i was sorting a load getting ready to head the the yard and i got a text message saying
that my phone number has been identified as belonging as a possible curbsider, an illegal seller of motor vehicles. and to call a 1-800 number. at first i tried calling the number that that texted me (6475600255) and it was just a recorded message from OMVIC (Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Counsel) So i called the 1800 number in the message and got passed around 5 times before talking to who im guessing is a investigator. who didn't tell me her name. I asked her what i did wrong. She asked if i had kijiji ads looking to buy or sell cars, i said yes!. i have an ad up looking for junk cars, we use them in demo derbys, and we scrap them, sometimes we keep them. she asked if i had any ads selling cars. I told her i did last week. i bought a car for scrap, but it was to nice to scrap so i was going to keep it but my wife said sell it so i put an ad up. long story short apparently its illegal to sell a car if the owner ship isn't in your name. i didn't know that. i figured if you had a bill of sale it was good to go. I told her i sold it to a guy from Bellville. "thats illegal" she says. lol ok so now my brain is in over drive. I didn't know that so i started asking questions
question 1) so your telling me that every towing company in the province has to transfer the ownership and pay the tax just to scrap a vehicle? that doesn't make any sense. when the yards are just turning the paper work into the ministry. "well that illegal" she says.
2) what about all the guys that that compete in demolition derby's all over North America, we always have ads up looking for junk cars, offering cash on the spot. Some get scrapped, some get used in derby's parted out, then scraped. "thats illegal" she says lol ok
so i went on to explain to her that im in the process of starting a legit scrap metal recovery business and were still in the "working on biz planes and web sites stage" and also doing industry research for the type of recovery and recycling we'll be doing. So i asked her if im buying scrap cars and selling them to the scrap yards do i need to become a member of your association? she said yes. i'm confused still didn't make sense to me because i'm not a car dealer or car sales men. and have no intention of becoming one. well....
3) Would a towing permit, venders permit or salvage yard permit make this legal? or what if i was selling to people with these permits would i still need to be a member? she went on to tell me that posting advertisements for services and not listing the business name in the ad is illegal. I told her that my business isn't registered yet. I still have 2.5 years before i have to register it, and I'm advertising my services. I'm not misleading anyone, i recycle their end of life vehicles, and offer metal recovery services.
by this point the lady on the phone was getting flusterd and starting talking circles and her voice got faster and kept giving me the same responses instead of telling me what i was asking. she just kept referring me to the web site and saying if i had any questions i was more then welcome to contact them. lol are you serious? im asking you now and your just referring me to the web site.
Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council Home Page
so after doing some reading I'm still shaking my head
A curbsider is defined as one who is in the business of offering vehicles to the public for the primary purpose of making a profit, but behaves as if he or she is selling their own personal vehicle.
What Is A Curbsider?
here is a interesting video about curbsiders lol turn on your creep meter.
Creepometer
well after i did some reading and had 13 hours of curb shopping to reflect on my ads and what i read....i realized i put my phone number on the receipt i gave the guy that bought the car, thinking if they had any questions or wouldn't believe he bought a car with 118,000km for 500 they could call and confirm. Not that the lady at the MTO would report me. (just a guess) i was up front with every one and even said in the ad "bout the car and its to nice to scrap" needs brakes, lines and power steering pump. blah blah blah. so I'm not sure why they are looking into me. but i guess we'll see if i get charged or not. i remember 2 guys asking how long I've owned the car and am i the original owner? i told them both " i bought it monday was going to scrap it, decided not to" i dunno....we'll see what happens just thought I'd pass my drama on lol
turns out if i would of had a letter from the seller stating that they are giving me permission to sell the car on their behalf then that is legal.
after i buy something I'll do what i want with it. Was my thinking, the tax man will get his cut at the end of the year when do my taxes anyways, didn't think it it mattered. When i asked the Yard owner today if hes ever herd of them it took a few min for him figure out who i was talking about just said the yard next door is a memeber becuase they sell parts.
well thought i'd share
so just a heads up for the other Canadian Scrappers. i even told the lady i was going to post most of what i could remember on the "scrap metal fourm" later....she said good lol
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Originally Posted by cummins
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