Automobile Repair and Service 

South Carolina Code > Title 56 > Chapter 29 > § 56-29-30 - Penalty, restitution

(1) own, operate, or conduct a chop shop;

(2) transport a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part to or from a location knowing it to be a chop shop; or

(3) sell, transfer, purchase, or receive a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part either to or from a location knowing it to be a chop shop.

A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than ten years or fined not more than one hundred thousand dollars, or both.

(B) A person who knowingly alters, counterfeits, defaces, destroys, disguises, falsifies, forges, obliterates, or knowingly removes a vehicle identification number, or causes any of the above to be done, with the intent to misrepresent the identity or prevent the identification of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not less than five thousand nor more than ten thousand dollars, or both.

(C)(1) A person who buys, disposes, sells, transfers, or possesses a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, with knowledge that the vehicle identification number of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part has been altered, counterfeited, defaced, destroyed, disguised, falsified, forged, obliterated, or removed, or causes any of the above to be done, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not less than five thousand nor more than ten thousand dollars, or both.

(2) The provisions of item (1) of subsection (C) do not apply to a motor vehicle scrap processor who, in the normal legal course of business and in good faith, processes a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part by crushing, compacting, or other similar methods, provided that any vehicle identification number is not removed from the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part before or during the processing.

(D) A person commits an attempt when, with intent to commit a violation proscribed by subsection (A), (B), or (C) of this section, the person does any act which constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of the violation proscribed by those subsections and is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not less than five thousand nor more than ten thousand dollars, or both.

(E) A person commits the offense of conspiring to violate the provisions of this act if he knowingly and wilfully agrees with another person to the commission of the offenses proscribed by subsection (A), (B), or (C) of this section and is guilty of a felony. Upon conviction, the person must be imprisoned not more than five years, or fined not more than five thousand dollars.

(F)(1) In addition to any other punishment, a person who violates this section must be ordered to make restitution to the lawful owner of the stolen motor vehicle or the stolen motor vehicle part, or to the owner's insurer to the extent that the owner has been compensated by the insurer, and to any other person for any financial loss sustained as a result of a violation of this section.

Financial loss includes, but is not limited to, loss of earnings, out-of-pocket and other expenses, repair and replacement costs, and claims payments. Lawful owner includes an innocent bona fide purchaser for value of a stolen motor vehicle or stolen motor vehicle part who does not know that the motor vehicle or part is stolen; or an insurer to the extent that the insurer has compensated a bona fide purchaser for value.

(2) The court shall determine the extent and method of restitution. In an extraordinary case, the court may determine that the best interests of the victim and justice would not be served by ordering restitution. In that case, the court shall make and enter specific written findings on the record concerning the extraordinary circumstances presented which militated against restitution.

Previous section	Motor Vehicle Chop Shop, Stolen, And Altered Property Act Table of Contents	Next section

________________________________________________________________________

Questions & Answers: Automobile Repair and Service

Scott and Fred, When a repair shop is holding your vehicle your only real option is to take them to court, perhaps small claims court depending on the value of the vehicle. Either...

I have a mechanic who is refusing to finish work on my bus because I inquired about what parts were being ordered and why. He told me to order a tow truck to get it off of his prop...

First and foremost a shop could conduct a thorough diagnosis compression test, coolant pressure test etc. Then depending on the failure a technician should recommend necessary repa...

When the battery dies due to a bad alternator the radio , gps and certain electronic components will have to reset with a 4 or 5 digit code. In some cases it could be the Engine co...

got a car from buy here pay here. about 5 months later it had a transmission fluid leak. the car lot told me to bring it back to them because they could get it fixed for cheaper th...

company replaced transmission and gave 2 year warranty, sold business to new owner who does not want to honor the warranty. what can we do?...

South Carolina Laws: Automobile Repair and Service

Comments (0)