Selling a catalytic converter in Virginia

Who may sell a detached converter

Converters are a proprietary article by name. The definition lists any catalytic converter from a motor vehicle exhaust system that has been detached from a motor vehicle, alongside marked government and utility metal, heavy copper and aluminum conductors, stainless steel beer kegs, large telecommunications cable, manhole covers, bronze or copper cemetery plaques, aluminum bleacher seats and guardrails, and marked mining cable (§ 59.1-136.1). A scrap metal purchaser is any person or business, other than an authorized scrap seller or a broker buying or selling processed scrap metal, who purchases scrap metal directly or through an authorized agent in excess of twenty thousand dollars during any twelve-month period (§ 59.1-136.1).

The seller's identity is what gates the sale, not a license. At the time of sale the seller of any nonferrous scrap, metal article, or proprietary article provides a driver's license or other government-issued current photographic identification including the seller's full name, current address, date of birth, and social security or other recognized identification number (§ 59.1-136.3(A)(1)). No purchase of any scrap metal may be made from a person under the age of eighteen (§ 59.1-136.4).

Selling outside that route is a felony. Any person who sells, offers for sale, or purchases a catalytic converter detached from a motor vehicle exhaust system, except where the sale, offer, or purchase is made to or by a scrap metal purchaser that has adhered to the compliance provisions of subdivisions B 1 or 2 of § 59.1-136.3, is guilty of a Class 6 felony (§ 18.2-146.1). That section does not prohibit the sale, offer, or purchase of a new converter that has never been installed on a motor vehicle (§ 18.2-146.1). A separate class of seller sits outside the whole procedure: an authorized scrap seller, meaning licensed plumbers, electricians, HVAC contractors, building and construction contractors, demolition and debris contractors, public utilities, transportation companies, industrial and manufacturing companies, marine, automobile, and aircraft salvage and wrecking companies, and government entities (§ 59.1-136.1, § 59.1-136.3(D)).

What the buyer must record

The ledger is permanent and the retention is five years. The purchaser records the seller's identification information, the time and date of the transaction, the license number of the seller's vehicle, and a description of the items received, in a permanent ledger maintained at the purchaser's place of business, made available on request to any law-enforcement official or conservator of the peace presenting credentials at the normal business location during regular business hours, and kept at that location or another readily accessible and secure location for at least five years (§ 59.1-136.3(A)(2)).

Proprietary articles add proof of possession and, failing that, a report. The purchaser may buy a proprietary article from someone who is not an authorized scrap seller if it either receives documentation such as a bill of sale, receipt, letter of authorization, or similar evidence establishing that the person lawfully possesses the articles (§ 59.1-136.3(B)(1)), or documents a diligent inquiry into whether the person selling or delivering has a legal right to do so and, having bought without that documentation, submits a report to the local sheriff's department or chief of police by the close of the following business day describing the article and including a copy of the seller's identifying information (§ 59.1-136.3(B)(2)). Every proprietary article bought from anyone other than an authorized scrap seller is photographed or video recorded at a quality sufficient to reasonably identify the subject, kept no less than thirty days, and made available on the request of any law-enforcement officer conducting official business (§ 59.1-136.3(C)).

Converters are held to both of those provisions at once. For purchases of a catalytic converter or the parts of one, a scrap metal purchaser shall adhere to the compliance provisions of subdivisions B 1 and 2, and copies of that documentation have to establish that the person the converter was bought from had lawful possession at the time of sale or delivery and detail the purchaser's diligent inquiry into whether that person had a legal right to sell or deliver it (§ 59.1-136.3(E)). Those copies are maintained at the normal place of business or another readily accessible and secure location for at least two years after the purchase, and produced on request to any law-enforcement officer or conservator of the peace presenting credentials during normal business hours (§ 59.1-136.3(E)). On request of the locality's chief law-enforcement officer, the purchaser also furnishes a report of all purchases of nonferrous scrap, metal articles, and proprietary articles, submitted the next business day, carrying the seller's name, date of birth, identification number, address, height, and weight and the license number of any vehicle the goods arrived in, electronically where the locality requires it, on a form the Virginia State Police prescribes (§ 59.1-136.5).

How you are paid

Virginia does not regulate the method of payment. Article 4 names no cash ceiling, no required check, no payee restriction, and no mailing requirement, so state law leaves settlement to the parties while regulating identity, documentation, reporting, and timing.

The timing is where converters bite. Under the route that applies where the purchaser did not obtain third-party documentation, the purchaser holds the proprietary article for not less than fifteen days following purchase (§ 59.1-136.3(B)(2)), and because § 59.1-136.3(E) directs a purchaser of a converter to adhere to the compliance provisions of subdivisions B 1 and 2, that fifteen day hold attaches to converter purchases (§ 59.1-136.3(E)). The two provisions are not worded identically across the code: § 18.2-146.1 speaks of adherence to subdivisions B 1 or 2, while § 59.1-136.3(E) says B 1 and 2.

Other clocks run shorter. The photographic or video image of a proprietary article is kept no less than thirty days (§ 59.1-136.3(C)), the converter documentation for at least two years (§ 59.1-136.3(E)), and the permanent ledger for at least five years (§ 59.1-136.3(A)(2)). None of those delay payment; they run alongside it. Purchases from an authorized scrap seller or its authorized agent or employee are made directly and sit outside the § 59.1-136.3(B) procedure entirely (§ 59.1-136.3(D)).

Penalties

The article grades by state of mind. Any scrap metal purchaser who negligently violates any provision of the article may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars for each violation, recoverable in a civil action brought by the attorney for the county, city, or town where the violation occurred and paid into the local treasury (§ 59.1-136.6(A)). Any scrap metal purchaser who knowingly violates any provision of the article is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor (§ 59.1-136.6(B)).

The converter offense is far heavier and it reaches the seller. Selling, offering for sale, or purchasing a detached converter outside the scrap metal purchaser compliance route is a Class 6 felony, which is a felony grade rather than a misdemeanor and applies to any person, not only to a purchaser (§ 18.2-146.1). The exception is drawn around the compliance provisions themselves, so the paperwork the yard collects is what keeps an ordinary sale lawful for both sides (§ 18.2-146.1, § 59.1-136.3(B), (E)).

One narrow exemption exists and it has nothing to do with vehicles. Nothing in the article applies to the purchase, sale, or disposal of any material used in the provision of health care by a professional licensed, certified, or registered to practice by a board within the Department of Health Professions under Title 54.1 (§ 59.1-136.7). Purchases of ferrous scrap remain open: scrap metal processors may purchase ferrous scrap directly from any person, subject only to the minimum age rule (§ 59.1-136.2, § 59.1-136.4).

What this means when you sell to us

Bring a license or other current government photo ID showing your full name, current address, date of birth, and your social security or other recognized identification number, because Virginia names all of those (§ 59.1-136.3(A)(1)). You have to be at least eighteen (§ 59.1-136.4). Bring proof that you lawfully possess the converters, such as a bill of sale, a receipt, or a signed letter of authorization, and expect us to document our own inquiry into your right to sell, because for converters Virginia requires both (§ 59.1-136.3(B)(1), (2), (E)). We photograph each unit, report the purchase to the sheriff or chief of police by the close of the next business day, and hold it at least fifteen days (§ 59.1-136.3(B)(2), (C), (E)). Virginia sets no payment rule, so nothing in state law restricts how we settle with you.