Selling a catalytic converter in Wisconsin
Wisconsin added the catalytic converter to its list of proprietary articles in 2021, which is the same tier as marked utility metal, copper conductors, beer kegs, manhole covers, cemetery bronze, and railroad track parts. That means a converter cannot be bought on identification alone: the dealer needs either documentation of lawful possession or a documented diligent inquiry plus a report to local law enforcement within one business day. Records run two years. The statute is silent on payment and imposes no waiting period.
Last checked September 13, 2026; source material current as of September 4, 2026. Laws change. Confirm the current statute and its effective date before relying on this page. This is not legal advice.
Who may sell a detached converter
Wisconsin licenses nobody under this section and sets one blanket qualification: age. A scrap metal dealer may purchase scrap metal other than nonferrous scrap, a metal article, or a proprietary article from any person over the age of eighteen (§ 134.405(2)), and a scrap dealer may purchase nonferrous scrap, metal articles, or proprietary articles from any person over the age of eighteen where the conditions in § 134.405(3)(a) are met (§ 134.405(3)(a)). A scrap metal dealer is simply a person engaged in the business of buying or selling scrap metal (§ 134.405(1)(h)).
Converters sit in the proprietary article tier. A proprietary article means a metal article marked to identify it as the property of a governmental entity, telecommunications provider, public utility, cable operator, electricity entity, or transportation, shipbuilding, ship repair, mining, or manufacturing company; a copper conductor, bus bar, cable, or wire; an aluminum conductor, cable, or wire; a metal beer keg; a manhole cover; a metal grave marker, sculpture, plaque, or vase whose appearance suggests it came from a cemetery; railroad track components; a plastic bulk merchandise container; or a catalytic converter (§ 134.405(1)(f)1. to 9.).
The seller's identity comes first and it has four required fields. Where the seller is an individual, at the time of sale the seller provides a motor vehicle operator's license, a tribal identification card, or other government-issued current photographic identification that includes the seller's full name, current address, date of birth, and recognized identification number; where the seller is not an individual, the person who brings the material in provides the same for himself or herself (§ 134.405(3)(a)1.). Purchases from a commercial account sit outside subsection (3) entirely, provided the dealer keeps a commercial account record (§ 134.405(3)(b)).
What the buyer must record
The transaction record has five components. The dealer records and maintains at its place of business the seller's or deliverer's identification information, the time and date of the purchase, the number and state of issuance of the license plate on the seller's or deliverer's vehicle, and a description of the items received, including the weight of the scrap or articles and a description consistent with guidelines promulgated by a national recycling industry trade organization (§ 134.405(3)(a)2., 2.a., 2.b.).
Ownership is proved differently depending on the tier. For a purchase of nonferrous scrap or a metal article the dealer obtains the seller's signed declaration that the seller is the owner of the items being sold (§ 134.405(3)(a)4.). For a proprietary article, and therefore for a converter, one of two things has to happen: either the dealer receives documentation from the seller such as a bill of sale, receipt, letter of authorization, or similar evidence establishing that the seller lawfully possesses the article, or the dealer documents that it has made a diligent inquiry into whether the seller has a legal right to sell and, not later than one business day after the purchase, submits a report to a local law enforcement department describing the article together with a copy of the seller's or deliverer's identifying information (§ 134.405(3)(a)5.a., 5.b.).
Retention is two years and access is narrow. The dealer makes the § 134.405(3)(a)2. to 5. and (3)(b) records available to a law enforcement officer presenting credentials at the place of business during business hours (§ 134.405(4)(a)), and maintains the § 134.405(3)(a)2., 4., and 5. and (3)(b)4. and 5. records for not less than two years after recording them, with commercial account details kept not less than two years after the most recent transaction with that account (§ 134.405(4)(b)). A local law enforcement officer may request that all dealers in the city, village, town, or county furnish reports of all purchases of nonferrous scrap, metal articles, and proprietary articles, in which case the dealer reports each purchase no later than the business day following it, with each seller's or deliverer's name, date of birth, identification number, and address and the vehicle's plate number and state (§ 134.405(4)(c)). Personally identifiable information may be disclosed only to a successor in interest to the dealer, and a law enforcement officer or agency that receives such a record may disclose it only to another law enforcement officer or agency (§ 134.405(3)(c), (4)(d)).
How you are paid
Wisconsin does not regulate payment. Section 134.405 names no method, no cash ceiling, no payee, and no mailing requirement, so state law leaves settlement to the parties and regulates identity, ownership documentation, reporting, and retention instead.
There is also no waiting period. Nothing in the section tells a dealer to hold a converter, tag it, keep it intact, or wait a set number of days before processing it, and the section creates no law enforcement hold procedure. The only clock that runs is the two year record retention clock, alongside the one business day deadline for a report where the diligent-inquiry route is used (§ 134.405(3)(a)5.b., (4)(b), (4)(c)).
Local government can tighten some of this, but only in one city. A county, town, city, or village may enact an ordinance governing the sale and purchase of scrap metal if the ordinance is not more stringent than § 134.405, except that a first class city may enact one that is more stringent (§ 134.405(6)(a)). Any city, village, town, or county may separately require dealers to submit the § 134.405(4)(c) reports in an electronic format (§ 134.405(6)(b)).
Penalties
The dealer ladder climbs from fine to felony on repetition. A scrap dealer who knowingly violates the section without a previous knowing violation is subject to a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars or imprisonment not to exceed ninety days, or both (§ 134.405(5)(ad)); with one previous knowing violation the exposure is a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars or imprisonment not to exceed nine months, or both (§ 134.405(5)(ah)); and with more than one previous knowing violation the dealer is guilty of a Class I felony (§ 134.405(5)(ap)). Each day on which a dealer knowingly violates the section is a separate violation (§ 134.405(5)(b)).
The penalties in this section are aimed at the dealer. Subsection (5) speaks only of a scrap dealer, so a seller who misrepresents ownership is reached through the general criminal law rather than through § 134.405(5), while the documentation and declaration requirements in § 134.405(3)(a)4. and 5. are what the dealer has to satisfy before buying.
Owners have a private action with real teeth. Any owner of nonferrous scrap, a metal article, or a proprietary article who incurs injury or loss as a result of a violation of § 134.405 or of the theft statute § 943.20 may bring a civil action against the person who committed the violation (§ 895.09(1)), and a prevailing owner is granted actual damages, any lost profits attributable to the violation and not already counted, and costs, disbursements, and reasonable attorney fees notwithstanding the usual statutory limits (§ 895.09(2)(a) to (c)). Where the court finds the violation was committed for the purpose of commercial advantage it may award punitive damages, awards are reduced by any restitution collected for the same act, and the owner carries the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence (§ 895.09(3), (4), (5)).
What this means when you sell to us
Bring a Wisconsin operator's license, a tribal identification card, or another government photo ID that shows your full name, current address, date of birth, and identification number, because Wisconsin names all four (§ 134.405(3)(a)1.). You have to be over eighteen (§ 134.405(3)(a)). For converters, bring documentation that you lawfully possess them, such as a bill of sale, a receipt, or a signed letter of authorization; without it we have to document our own inquiry into your right to sell and report the purchase to local law enforcement by the next business day (§ 134.405(3)(a)5.). Businesses with an ongoing account with us are recorded differently and skip the per-transaction route (§ 134.405(3)(b)). Wisconsin sets no payment rule and no waiting period, so nothing in state law restricts how or when we settle with you.