The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has an article up at their website to let people know about flood damaged cars that may have bee sold to consumers recently. From the article:

State insurance officials are warning consumers that about 120 former rental cars damaged in accidents were cleaned up and put back on the market through what they say was a scheme conducted by an Orlando-area company. Financial Services spokeswoman Nina Banister said investigators don't know the extent of the damage for the cars, which would have been purchased since 2002 and include 2005 models of the Chrysler Pacifica and Chevrolet Impala.

"But there is a concern that there could be something wrong, in some cases, that would make these cars unsafe and the consumer would not know," she said.

If the previous damage was discovered after the new owner had an accident, Banister said, it could cause the insurance claim to be denied or lower the car's value.

Allen Monello, education director of the Florida Independent Automobile Dealers Association, said used-car dealers and their customers are prime targets for damaged auto fraud because there is no national uniform title reporting system and paper titles are easy to alter.

The Florida Department of Financial Services is fielding phone calls to check the vehicle identification numbers of the autos possibly involved. But their investigation has a wide focus and currently covers 16 states. Some people need to learn to run the (VIN) before they even offer a vehicle for sale on their lots. Is there no regualtions on this?

Read the full article here.