Legislative action is being floated in Congress that would keep hurricane-damaged automobiles with phony titles from being sold to potential buyers, according to a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee report.

Title fraud occurs by altering or duplicating the title of a flood-damaged or totaled car to give it a clean title history. The scale of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita highlighted the title fraud problem, with some estimating that more than 600,000 vehicles may have been damaged.

The flood-damaged vehicles being sold across the country as used cars have been cosmetically altered to appear almost new, according to the Automotive Service Association, an organization that represents the mechanical and collision repair segments of the industry. Although the salt water damage may not be visible, the inner workings of the vehicle are typically beyond repair. Instead of being destroyed, some of these damaged vehicles are being sold to wholesalers nationwide and then to unsuspecting consumers who unknowingly put themselves at risk.