By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

AUBURN – A Center Street used car dealer is ready to fight the state over rules that require him to have original titles on hand for every car on his lot.

“I’m prepared for them to arrest me, to bail myself out and fight this out in the courts,” said Joe Lavigne, owner of North Star Used Cars.

The state advised Lavigne last week that his dealership could sell only nine of the 31 cars on his lot. Lavigne had the original title to those nine cars in his possession. The rest are kept at a Massachusetts holding company. He has photocopies of the titles at his dealership and said he can get originals overnight if someone decided to buy one of his cars.

It’s a practice called floor planning, and most used car dealers do it, Lavigne said.

“Every other state allows floor planning, but not Maine,” he said. He accused the state of being anti-business and trying to ruin small entrepreneurs.

It’s the only way a small-business owner can afford to sell cars, he said. How it works: The dealer selects a car to put on his lot and a finance company pays for it. The car goes to the dealer and the title goes to the finance company.

“As soon as I sell a car, I pay it off and they send me the title,” Lavigne said.

That’s illegal, according to Doug Dunbar, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office. Dealers need to keep all original titles on hand.

Dunbar said a state inspector told Lavigne that he could sell any vehicle on his lot for which he has an original title. The state has not fined Lavigne or threatened his license in any way.

But Lavigne said he plans to push the matter. He will sell any car on his lot. “I don’t run from a fight,” Lavigne said.

“The state of Maine is wrong, and I’m willing to take them on to prove it.”