SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Laura Murphy passed a measure to protect consumers by cracking down on unlicensed car dealers deceiving consumers with sales of defective cars.

“Unlicensed car sales bypass inspections, hide serious damage and leave families with costly repairs or unsafe transportation,” said Murphy (D-Des Plaines). “Ending curbstoning is about safety, transparency and fairness for every car buyer.”

The goal is to make the already illegal practice of “curbstoning” — a scheme where individual sellers draw car shoppers to places like parking lots and side streets to sell used cars without a license — more difficult. The cars are sold for more money than they are worth and typically have significant issues such as water damage, mileage rollbacks, mechanical issues, or salvaged titles — which are only issued if the car has sustained enough damage to be declared a total loss.

Under the measure, vehicle dealers would not be able to park and advertise cars on public streets or highways, public parking lots or public property. Law enforcement agencies would be allowed to authorize towing services to remove a car if it is displayed for sale with a damaged, destroyed, removed, covered or altered vehicle identification number.

In addition, the legislation would create the Unlicensed Motor Vehicle Dealer Enforcement Task Force to review unlicensed car dealership enforcement in the state. The task force would recommend ways to extend additional protections to customers, investigate online sellers, and explore enhanced penalties and enforcement mechanisms.

“Empowering law enforcement to have unlicensed dealers’ cars towed will deter curbstoners and protect consumers,” Murphy said. “We need to hold unlicensed car dealers accountable and ensure every car sale meets the standards of safety and honesty.”

House Bill 2751 passed the Senate Wednesday.