Selling a catalytic converter in Alabama

Who may sell a detached converter

Only a secondary metals recycler registered under § 13A-8-31.2 may purchase or otherwise acquire a used, detached converter or any nonferrous part of one, the sale has to take place at the fixed business address of a recycler that is a party to the transaction, and the buyer has to have kept everything § 13A-8-31 requires about the transaction (§ 13A-8-37.3(a)(1) to (3)). That fixed business address is the address registered with the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center, and it may also be the licensed address of a recycler, a new or used motor vehicle dealer, an automotive repair service, a motor vehicle manufacturer, a licensed automotive dismantler and parts recycler, or a converter distributor that is selling or buying the unit (§ 13A-8-37.3(a)(2)).

On the selling side Alabama gives two routes. A registered recycler, a licensed new or used motor vehicle dealer, a licensed automotive repair service, a motor vehicle manufacturer, a licensed automotive dismantler and parts recycler, or a licensed converter distributor may sell if the buyer receives and keeps a copy of the seller's valid business license at the time of the transaction (§ 13A-8-37.3(b)(1)a.). Anyone else has to supply, for the vehicle the converter came off, the name of the person who removed it, the name of the person for whom the removal was done, the make and model, the vehicle identification number, the part or other identifying number of the converter, a copy of the seller's identification card, and a copy of the certificate of title or registration showing the seller's ownership interest in that vehicle (§ 13A-8-37.3(b)(1)b.).

Two general limits sit on top of that. A recycler may not buy metal property at all from a person younger than eighteen (§ 13A-8-31.1(b)), and no metal property may be bought between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. (§ 13A-8-31.1(c)). None of the converter rules reach a unit that has been tested, certified, and labeled for reuse in accordance with the applicable Clean Air Act regulations of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (§ 13A-8-37.3(f)).

What the buyer must record

Every purchase transaction of ferrous or nonferrous metal carries a legible record holding the recycler's own name and address, the name or identification of the employee who made the purchase, the date and time, the weight, quantity, or volume together with a description of the type of metal including a general physical description such as wire, tubing, extrusions, or casting, and the consideration given (§ 13A-8-31(a)(1) to (5)). The record also carries a signed statement from the person taking the money that he or she is the rightful owner or is authorized to sell, that person's name and address, and a photocopy or scanned copy of the personal identification card with its distinctive number and type (§ 13A-8-31(a)(6) to (8)).

A personal identification card means a license or identification card from the Department of Public Safety or a similar card from another state, a military identification card, a passport, or a work authorization issued by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (§ 13A-8-30(6)). The recycler further records the vehicle license tag number and state of issue, or the vehicle identification number where no tag is available, plus the type of vehicle, and takes a time-and-date-stamped digital photograph or video of the person in which the facial features are clearly visible along with one of the metal as it was sold (§ 13A-8-31(a)(9), (10)).

A converter that is not part of an entire motor vehicle is restricted property, so the recycler may not buy it unless a copy of verifiable documentation, in addition to the signed ownership statement, shows the seller owns it (§ 13A-8-37.1(a)(1)). Verifiable documentation means written evidence of ownership that can be verified, such as receipts, bills of sale, titles, purchase agreements, shipping manifests, and work orders (§ 13A-8-30(10)). Before each converter purchase the recycler also verifies through that documentation that the seller acquired the unit legally and may transfer it, keeps a record of that verification, and notes any obvious marking such as paint, labels, or engravings that would aid identification (§ 13A-8-37.3(b)(2)). Records stay on file for not less than one year (§ 13A-8-31(b)), law enforcement may inspect both the metal and the records during usual business hours (§ 13A-8-32), registered recyclers transmit the required fields to the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center database by 9:00 p.m. on the day of purchase (§ 13A-8-31.2(b)(2)), and an officer holding the claimed owner's affidavit may freeze named items for fifteen calendar days, extendable once by thirty more (§ 13A-8-33(a), (b)).

How you are paid

Alabama caps cash rather than banning it. A secondary metals recycler may not enter into any cash transaction above fifty dollars for copper, copper and aluminum air conditioning coils, or catalytic converters, or for the utility access covers and cemetery bronze listed in § 13A-8-37(a)(2) and (a)(10), and may not enter into any cash transaction above five hundred dollars for all other metals (§ 13A-8-31.1(a)). Because a single converter is normally worth well over fifty dollars, the practical effect is that converters are paid by check.

Where payment is by check, the check may be made payable only to the person whose information was recorded under § 13A-8-31 (§ 13A-8-31.1(a)). Nothing in the article makes the recycler wait before paying or hold the unit for a set period, so payment happens at the sale unless an officer has issued a hold notice on that item (§ 13A-8-33(a)(2)). Breaking the payment, age, or purchase-hours rules is a Class B misdemeanor for a first offense, a Class A misdemeanor for a second, and a Class C felony for a third or later offense within a ten-year period (§ 13A-8-31.1(d)).

Penalties

Buying, selling, possessing, or transporting a used, detached converter outside § 13A-8-37.3 is a Class A misdemeanor on a first violation and a Class C felony on a second or subsequent violation within ten years, and each converter counts as its own violation (§ 13A-8-37.3(c), (d)). A converter possessed in violation of the section is contraband that may be seized and forfeited in the same way as other contraband under § 20-2-93 (§ 13A-8-37.3(e)). The 2022 act that created the section also made it a separate offense, graded the same way, for a possessor or seller to provide false, fraudulent, altered, or counterfeit information or documentation of the kind § 13A-8-37.3 requires.

On the record-keeping side, intentionally breaking the record requirements is a Class B misdemeanor, then a Class A misdemeanor, then a Class C felony for a third or later offense within ten years (§ 13A-8-31(c)), and giving false information to obtain money from a recycler in return for metal property is a Class C felony in itself (§ 13A-8-31(d)). Buying restricted property, converters included, without the required verifiable documentation is a Class B felony (§ 13A-8-37.1(b)).

Alabama also punishes the other side of the theft, on two separate ladders. Possessing or controlling listed metal property knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe it was stolen is an offense in itself (§ 13A-8-37(a)). For utility access, manhole and storm drain covers and for cemetery bronze, it is a Class C felony for a first offense, a Class B felony for a second, and a Class A felony for a third or later offense within ten years (§ 13A-8-37(b)). For the other listed items, which include utility-marked metal, street light poles and fixtures, guard rails, signs and signals, water meter covers, beer kegs, government-marked metal, and unused building or utility materials, it is a Class B misdemeanor, then a Class A misdemeanor, then a Class C felony on the same ten-year clock (§ 13A-8-37(c)). Damaging or destroying utility, railroad, farm, or energy infrastructure to get at metal is a Class C felony, or a Class B felony where the damage creates imminent danger to the public or interrupts communications or electric service, and the court may order restitution of at least the value of the metal plus replacement and repair costs (§ 13A-8-36).

What this means when you sell to us

Bring a government photo ID. Shops, yards, dealers, and repair facilities also bring a copy of the current business license, which we keep with the transaction. Private sellers bring the title or registration for the vehicle the converter came off, the removal details, and the converter's part number. We record and photograph each unit and you sign the ownership statement. Alabama caps cash at fifty dollars for converters, so anything above that is paid by check made out to the person whose identification we recorded (§ 13A-8-31.1(a)).