By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – Legislators gave final approval to a bill yesterday that was sponsored by state Representative Ron Johnson and recommended by the Automobile Dealers Association of Alabama. Under the legislation, water-damaged vehicles that are totaled out by insurance companies and then rebuilt will have to carry the words ``flood vehicle'' on the title. Before a salesman can sell one of the vehicles, he will have to notify the customer in writing of the vehicle's past. More than 500-thousand vehicles were flooded during hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year. Tom Dart, the executive director of the Automobile Dealers Association, says Alabama was at risk of becoming a dumping ground for those rebuilt flooded vehicles because most other Southeastern states -- including all of Alabama's neighbors -- already had disclosure laws.