Selling a catalytic converter in Mississippi

Who may sell a detached converter

It is unlawful for any person to purchase or otherwise acquire a used, detached converter or any nonferrous part of one unless the purchaser is registered as a scrap metal dealer under § 97-17-71, the sale, transfer, purchase, or acquisition occurs at the fixed business address registered under that section, and the purchaser has maintained all the information § 97-17-71 requires (§ 97-17-71.3(1)(a) to (c)). One of three origin conditions also has to hold (§ 97-17-71.3(1)(d)).

The first two are commercial. The converter was obtained by the seller as part of a vehicle, or it was bought in a dealer-to-dealer transaction or from a bona fide new or used motor vehicle dealer, automotive repair service, motor vehicle manufacturer, vehicle demolisher, or distributor of converters (§ 97-17-71.3(1)(d)(i), (ii)). A dealer-to-dealer transaction means any transaction of regulated metals, regardless of compensation, between registered scrap metal dealers (§ 97-17-71(1)(d)).

The third is the private route. The seller provides, 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 completed, the make and model of the vehicle, its vehicle identification number, and a copy of the seller's driver license or nondriver identification card (§ 97-17-71.3(1)(d)(iii)). Before each purchase the dealer, including an agent, employee, or representative, retains the records and information needed to comply (§ 97-17-71.3(1)(e)). Two general limits also apply: no purchase from anyone younger than eighteen (§ 97-17-71(14)), and no metal property may be purchased, acquired, or collected between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. (§ 97-17-71(15)). A used, detached converter does not include one tested, certified, and labeled for reuse under the applicable federal Clean Air Act regulations (§ 97-17-71.3(5)).

What the buyer must record

Metal property includes catalytic converters not attached to a motor vehicle, alongside railroad track materials, copper and aluminum materials, utility brass, service access covers, bridge pilings, irrigation wiring, stainless steel sinks, and metal beer kegs (§ 97-17-71(1)(f)). Every scrap metal dealer or other purchaser keeps an accurate and legible record entering, for each purchase transaction, the name, address, and age of the person the metal came from as obtained from that person's personal identification card, which means any government-issued photographic identification card, including a valid card issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe, carrying a color photograph, legal name, residence address, and date of birth (§ 97-17-71(1)(h), (2)(a)).

Where someone other than the seller brings the metal in, the purchaser also enters that person's name, address, and age from their identification card, unless that person is the dealer's own employee acting in an official capacity at the dealer's direction (§ 97-17-71(2)(a)(i)). Where the seller is a registered business entity and a different person delivers, the purchaser additionally enters the entity's name, principal business address, state of incorporation or formation, federal Employer Identification Number, and the name and telephone number of a contact person (§ 97-17-71(2)(a)(ii)).

The metal is photographed separately. The purchaser photographically captures the metal property as it exists when acquired, with the time and date digitally recorded on the photograph and the identity of the photographer recorded, and permits any law enforcement officer or Secretary of State examiner to inspect the metal while it remains in the purchaser's possession along with all photographs, which are admissible in any civil or criminal proceeding (§ 97-17-71(3)). Records are maintained for not less than two years from the date of the purchase transaction and made available to any law enforcement officer or Secretary of State examiner during usual and customary business hours (§ 97-17-71(2)). Dealer-to-dealer transactions carry a shorter record: the selling dealer's name and address, the date and place of acquisition, the weight, quantity, or volume with a general description, and the amount or type of consideration, kept for the same two years (§ 97-17-71(6)).

How you are paid

Cash is prohibited across the board. A scrap metal dealer or other purchaser shall not enter into any cash transactions in payment for the purchase of metal property, and payment has to be made by check issued to the seller of the metal property or by electronic funds transfer (§ 97-17-71(8)). There is no dollar threshold and no exception for small tickets, so a converter is always settled by check or transfer.

Mississippi imposes no standing waiting period on the converter itself, but the hold power is substantial. Where a law enforcement officer has reasonable cause to believe an item of metal property in a dealer's possession has been stolen, and holds an affidavit from the claimed rightful owner identifying the property with specificity including any identifying markings, the officer may issue and deliver a written hold notice, after which the dealer may not process or remove the identified property for fifteen calendar days unless released sooner (§ 97-17-71(5)(a)). Before that period expires, an officer with additional substantive evidence beyond the initial affidavit may issue an extended hold notice adding another fifteen calendar days (§ 97-17-71(5)(b)), after which the hold is automatically released unless a court has ordered otherwise (§ 97-17-71(5)(c)).

Failing to keep the records or to hold material as a law enforcement officer requests carries an evidentiary consequence rather than a fine: it is prima facie evidence that the person receiving the metal received it knowing it to be stolen, in violation of § 97-17-70 (§ 97-17-71(9)). Where a lawful owner recovers stolen metal from a compliant dealer and the seller is convicted under the section or of receiving stolen property, the court orders full restitution to the dealer including attorney's fees, court costs, and other expenses (§ 97-17-71(5)(e)).

Penalties

The general grading turns on value. Any person willfully or knowingly violating the act is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to one thousand dollars per offense, unless the related purchase transactions, plus any costs incurred or that would be incurred in repairing or attempting to recover property damaged in the theft or removal of the metal, including replacement costs, come in aggregate to more than one thousand dollars but less than five thousand dollars, in which case the person is guilty of a felony and may be imprisoned for up to five years, fined up to ten thousand dollars, or both (§ 97-17-71(16)). The ladder continues above that. Where the same aggregate exceeds five thousand dollars but is less than twenty-five thousand dollars the person is guilty of a felony and is imprisoned for not less than one year and not more than ten years, fined not more than fifteen thousand dollars, or both (§ 97-17-71(17)), and where it exceeds twenty-five thousand dollars the term is not less than three years and not more than twenty years, with a fine of not more than twenty thousand dollars, or both (§ 97-17-71(18)). Anyone found guilty of stealing metal property or of receiving it knowing it to be stolen under § 97-17-70 is ordered to make full restitution to the victim, including for property damage resulting from the theft (§ 97-17-71(16)).

The converter section folds into that scheme and multiplies it. Each converter purchased, possessed, obtained, transported, or otherwise acquired in violation of § 97-17-71.3 is a separate violation (§ 97-17-71.3(3)), and a person who violates it is guilty of a misdemeanor, or a felony for subsequent violations, as §§ 97-17-71 and 97-17-71.1 specifically prescribe (§ 97-17-71.3(4)). It is separately unlawful for a seller of a used, detached converter or nonferrous part to provide any false, fraudulent, altered, or counterfeit information or documentation the section requires (§ 97-17-71.3(2)), and it is unlawful for any person to give a false statement of ownership or a false or altered identification or vehicle tag number and receive consideration from a dealer in return for metal property (§ 97-17-71(7)).

Registration is with the Secretary of State and carries its own criminal exposure. A first violation of the registration requirement draws a fine of not less than five hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars, and any subsequent violation of the section requiring registration is a felony punishable by up to three years imprisonment, a fine of up to five thousand dollars, or both (§ 97-17-71.1(2)). Registrants declare under penalty of perjury whether they have ever been convicted of a felony or, within the preceding five years, a misdemeanor involving fraud, dishonesty, or deceit, with business entities declaring the same for every owner participating in operation or management (§ 97-17-71.1(3)(a)). An applicant with such a conviction may be barred from registering for five years, and a false statement made to register is punished as perjury under § 97-9-61 and disqualifies the person for life (§ 97-17-71.1(3)(b)). The Secretary of State reports suspected criminal violations with all relevant records to the Attorney General and the appropriate district attorney, may conduct criminal background verification, may compel testimony and records, and may issue cease and desist orders (§ 97-17-71.1(4), (6)).

What this means when you sell to us

Mississippi requires the sale to happen at our registered fixed address, between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., and we have to be a registered scrap metal dealer (§ 97-17-71.3(1)(a), (b), § 97-17-71(15)). Bring a government photo ID; we scan it and record your name, address, and age from it (§ 97-17-71(2)(a), (g)). For each converter that did not come in on a whole vehicle or from a dealer, repair shop, manufacturer, demolisher, or distributor, bring the removal details: who removed it, for whom, the make and model, and the vehicle identification number (§ 97-17-71.3(1)(d)(iii)). You sign the ownership statement, and we photograph you with the units and the units on their own, time-stamped (§ 97-17-71(2)(f), (h), (3)). Cash is prohibited: payment is a check issued to you or an electronic funds transfer (§ 97-17-71(8)).