Selling a catalytic converter in North Dakota

Who may sell a detached converter

Both sides of the transaction are constrained. Unless the person is registered with the attorney general as a scrap metal dealer under § 51-35-05, a person may not purchase, trade for, or pledge to buy a detached used catalytic converter, or offer or advertise to do any of those things (§ 51-35-06(1)). On the seller's side, unless the seller is one of the exempt manufacturers or generators, a person wishing to sell a detached used converter has to do so in person at the fixed business premises of a scrap metal dealer registered with the attorney general (§ 51-35-06(2)).

Registration is the dealer's license in all but name. A person may not act as a scrap metal dealer or represent to the public that the person is one unless registered under the chapter (§ 51-35-05(1)), and the attorney general issues a certificate to an applicant who applies as directed, presents the evidence of qualifications the attorney general requires, and has a fixed business premises properly zoned under local ordinances for the business conducted (§ 51-35-05(2)). A scrap metal dealer must have fixed business premises, obtain a sales and use tax permit from the tax commissioner, and register with the attorney general (§ 51-35-01(9)).

The definitions are unusually precise about what counts. A detached used catalytic converter means a converter previously removed from a motor vehicle, or any nonferrous part of one previously removed, and does not include a converter incidentally included in a mixed load of ferrous or nonferrous scrap metal (§ 51-35-01(4)). Nonferrous metals include metals contained within detached used converters (§ 51-35-01(7)), and scrap metal expressly includes detached used converters while excluding automobiles, automobile hulks, and aluminum food or beverage containers (§ 51-35-01(8)). One exemption is what the seller-side rule turns on: § 51-35-02 does not apply to a purchase from a person whose business is registered with the secretary of state and is regularly engaged in manufacturing catalytic converters or vehicles, or in generating detached used converters in the ordinary course of business (§ 51-35-03(1)(d)), and that is the class § 51-35-06(2) releases from the in-person requirement. The chapter's other exemptions expressly exclude detached used converters from their carve-outs (§ 51-35-03(1)(c), (1)(e), (2)).

What the buyer must record

The record threshold is fifty dollars and the required fields are short. Every scrap metal dealer keeps business records of any purchase, trade, barter, or other transaction involving the receipt of scrap metals worth over fifty dollars, showing the date, time, and place; a description of the metal received with its weight and type; the amount paid and the manner of payment, including check or electronic transfer; and the name and address of the person selling or delivering (§ 51-35-02(1)(a) to (d)). Identity is documented by a photocopy of a valid government-issued identification card or driver license that includes the seller's full name, photograph, date of birth, and signature (§ 51-35-02(1)(e)).

Converters require one more item, and the statute offers two ways to satisfy it. For a detached used converter the record has to contain either written evidence of ownership of the converter purchased from the person, meaning a bill of sale, a receipt for repair of the vehicle the converter was removed from, or the title, registration, or other ownership documentation for that vehicle, or else a signed statement of ownership by the seller (§ 51-35-02(1)(f)(1), (f)(2)). The second option is what lets an owner without paperwork still sell lawfully.

Retention and inspection are both broad. The dealer keeps the business records at its business premises or another reasonably available location in the state for seven years after the date of each transaction (§ 51-35-02(2)). The premises stay open during regular business hours for inspection by a law enforcement officer, records and business inventory are available at all reasonable times, and converter records in particular are made available for inspection on request (§ 51-35-02(4)). Before inspecting, the officer identifies as a law enforcement officer, states the purpose, and complies with the dealer's reasonable and customary safety requirements (§ 51-35-02(5)), and the dealer may require the officer to sign an inspection log with name, badge or serial number, date, time, and purpose (§ 51-35-02(6)).

How you are paid

North Dakota sets two cash ceilings, and the converter one is much lower. A scrap metal dealer may not pay cash for scrap metal purchases or transactions over one thousand dollars, or for any purchase or transaction over one hundred dollars for a detached used catalytic converter, and above those figures may pay only by check or electronic transfer (§ 51-35-02(3)). The manner of payment, including check or electronic transfer, is itself a required entry in the record (§ 51-35-02(1)(c)).

There is no waiting period and no hold. Nothing in chapter 51-35 tells the dealer to hold a converter, tag it, keep it intact, or wait before processing it, and the chapter creates no law enforcement hold procedure. The only clock in the chapter is the seven year retention clock (§ 51-35-02(2)).

What North Dakota does insist on is where and how the sale happens. The seller appears in person at the registered dealer's fixed business premises (§ 51-35-06(2)), which rules out settling a converter sale anywhere but the yard itself. State law also takes precedence over and supersedes any local ordinance of a political subdivision regulating scrap metal transactions, so the ceilings and records here are the whole of it (§ 51-35-02(7)).

Penalties

The dealer-side ladder turns on what went wrong. A scrap metal dealer that willfully fails to comply with the recordkeeping section is guilty of a class B misdemeanor (§ 51-35-04(1)). Willfully buying, receiving, possessing, or concealing stolen scrap metal worth less than five hundred dollars is a class A misdemeanor (§ 51-35-04(2)), and the same conduct is a class C felony where the metal exceeds five hundred dollars in value or where it includes a detached used converter subject to the chapter without exemption (§ 51-35-04(3)). A person who willfully fails to comply with § 51-35-06, meaning the registration and in-person rules for converters, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor (§ 51-35-04(4)).

Converter theft has its own graded offense. A person commits theft of a catalytic converter by willfully taking possession of, carrying away, or exercising control over a converter with intent to deprive the rightful owner (§ 51-35-07(1)), and the grade runs by replacement value including repair costs: a class B misdemeanor below two hundred dollars, a class A misdemeanor from two hundred to under one thousand dollars, and a class C felony at one thousand dollars or more (§ 51-35-07(2)(a) to (c)).

Repetition removes the value test entirely. An offense under § 51-35-07 is a class C felony where it is a third or subsequent offense, regardless of the replacement value of the converter, and for that purpose a first and second offense include a conviction, an acceptance of, or another form of preliminary disposition entered before sentencing on the present violation (§ 51-35-07(3)).

What this means when you sell to us

Come to the yard in person, because North Dakota requires a converter sale to happen at a registered dealer's fixed business premises (§ 51-35-06(2)). Bring a valid government-issued ID card or license showing your full name, photograph, date of birth, and signature (§ 51-35-02(1)(e)). For the converters themselves, bring a bill of sale, a repair receipt for the vehicle, or the title or registration, and if you have none of those you may instead sign a statement of ownership (§ 51-35-02(1)(f)). Cash is capped at one hundred dollars for a converter transaction, and anything above that goes on a check or an electronic transfer (§ 51-35-02(3)).