Montana Code 61-3-607. Penalty for tampering with odometer or violating odometer statement requirements
61-3-607. Penalty for tampering with odometer or violating odometer statement requirements. (1) It is unlawful for a person to tamper with the odometer of a motor vehicle. It is considered tampering if a person removes, turns back, or changes the reading on the odometer, except when repairing or replacing a defective odometer and setting it anew to show the true mileage, or if a person sells, offers for sale, uses, installs, or causes to be installed any device that causes the odometer to register a mileage reading other than the true mileage for the purpose of deceiving a prospective purchaser. For purposes of this section, the true mileage is that driven by the motor vehicle as registered by the odometer within the manufacturer‘s designed tolerance.
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-3-607
- Dealer: means a person that, for commission or profit, engages in whole or in part in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, or accepting on consignment new or used motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, or special mobile equipment that is not registered in the name of the person. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Knowingly: means only a knowledge that the facts exist which bring the act or omission within the provisions of this code. See Montana Code 1-1-204
- Manufacturer: includes any person engaged in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, or off-highway vehicles as a regular business. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Motor vehicle: means :
(i)a vehicle propelled by its own power and designed or used to transport persons or property on the highways of the state;
(ii)a quadricycle if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9; or
(iii)a golf cart only if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9 and is operated pursuant to 61-8-391 or by a person with a low-speed restricted driver's license. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- register: means the act or process of creating an electronic record, maintained by the department, of the assignment of a license plate or a set of license plates to and the issuance of a registration decal for a specific vehicle, the ownership of which has been established or is presumed in department records. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
(2)A person who purposely or knowingly violates the provisions of 61-3-206 or subsection (1) of this section is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment in the state prison for a period of not more than 10 years, or both. If that person is a motor vehicle dealer, the department shall revoke the dealer’s license. Action by the department under this subsection must conform to the contested case procedures in Title 2, chapter 4.