Updated November 8, 2026 · By John C. Hubbard, Attorney
Alabama law gives a car buyer a claim against a dealer that misrepresents a vehicle, hides a salvage or flood title, or rolls back an odometer. John C. Hubbard, LLC reviews auto dealer fraud cases for buyers in Birmingham and across Alabama. Call or text 205-378-8121 or use the form below.
The Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act
Ala. Code § 8-19-5 lists the practices that are unlawful. The ones that apply to car sales include representing a vehicle as having characteristics or qualities it does not have (§ 8-19-5(5)); representing a used, reconditioned or altered vehicle as new (§ 8-19-5(6)); advertising a vehicle with intent not to sell it as advertised (§ 8-19-5(9)); knowingly selling flood, fire or collision damaged goods without labeling them as such (§ 8-19-5(12)); and altering or disconnecting an odometer with intent to deceive (§ 8-19-5(15)). Subsection (27) reaches “any other unconscionable, false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice.”
Under § 8-19-10, a buyer may recover actual damages or $100, whichever is greater, together with the costs of the action and a reasonable attorney’s fee. The court may, in its discretion, award up to three times actual damages, considering among other things how often the dealer engaged in the practice, how many people it affected and the extent to which it was intentional. The statute requires a written demand to the dealer at least 15 days before suit that identifies the claimant and describes the deceptive act and the injury. The claim must be brought within one year of when the buyer discovered or reasonably should have discovered the violation, and in no event more than four years after the transaction (§ 8-19-14).
Salvage, rebuilt and flood titles
Ala. Code § 32-8-87 requires anyone transferring a vehicle with a salvage or rebuilt title to disclose that in writing to the buyer, at or before the transfer, in type no smaller than 10 point (§ 32-8-87(p)). The same written disclosure is required for a vehicle designated as a flood vehicle (§ 32-8-87(q)).
Odometer fraud
Federal law requires the seller to give the buyer a written mileage disclosure, and to state that the actual mileage is unknown if the seller knows the odometer reading is wrong (49 U.S.C. § 32705). A seller who violates the disclosure requirements with intent to defraud is liable for three times the buyer’s actual damages or $10,000, whichever is greater, plus costs and a reasonable attorney’s fee (49 U.S.C. § 32710). The claim must be filed within two years. Federal regulations exempt older vehicles from the disclosure requirement, so the model year matters.
The Buyers Guide
The Federal Trade Commission’s Used Car Rule requires a Buyers Guide to be displayed on every used vehicle a dealer offers for sale, and the information on the final Buyers Guide is incorporated into the sale contract and overrides any contrary term in the contract (16 C.F.R. §§ 455.2, 455.3). The Rule is enforced by the FTC; a dealer’s failure to follow it is raised under the Alabama Act or the contract.
The dealer bond
Licensed Alabama dealers post a surety bond of at least $50,000 (Ala. Code § 40-12-398). The bond is in favor of any person who recovers a judgment for a loss caused by the dealer’s failure to comply with a contract for the sale of a vehicle or by a violation of the laws governing the dealer’s business. A claim on the bond requires a judgment first, and the bond is a single $50,000 limit for all claims against that dealer.
What to keep
The buyer’s order, the retail installment contract, the Buyers Guide, the title or title application, the odometer statement, any vehicle history report, any inspection or repair estimate, the dealer’s advertisement or listing, and every text, email and voicemail from the dealer.
Contact the firm
Leave your name and number and tell us briefly what the dealer did. John reads every message and will call you.
Related: the Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act, wrongful repossession, car repossessed by mistake, TILA disclosures when buying a car.
This page is general information about Alabama and federal law and is not legal advice. Contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.