THERE are only a few days left before this US state makes a major change with a new license plate law that’s leaving drivers worried about possible theft.
Starting July 1, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles will stop issuing temporary license plates after it was revealed how easy it was for thieves to sell fraudulent paper tags.
A new law in Texas is getting rid of temporary paper tags on new vehicles cars[/caption]
The state DMV warned that thieves were making money from bogus tags[/caption]
The Texas state legislature unveiled a plan to eliminate paper tags in 2023, aiming to end “Paper Tag Nation” by this summer.
The law changes how people will buy and sell cars within the state, causing possible issues along the way.
“There’s always gonna be some curve balls and there’s always going to be some changing,” Jerry Smith, a car dealer, told local NBC affiliate DFW-TV.
“This is going to be probably as big a change as we’ve ever had.”
Smith, who has worked in the industry for more than 50 years, offered insight on how the new law could change the car-buying process.
“When we sell a car, we will be putting permanent metal plates on it,” he said, which will be the case with most dealers.
Some dealers can print window registration stickers, but if not, they can get them for buyers from the county tax office.
Meanwhile, the DMV is creating new metal temporary tags with colored stripes to indicate that they aren’t permanent.
This is done in the event that the dealership has run out of metal plates
But the state has also created three other temporary metal tags for other situations, such as cars used for test drives or if a dealership sells a car to an out-of-state buyer.
“You will have a metal plate that’s a one-way tag to go out of state,” said Smith.
The DMV created a purple “buyer provisional” plate for situations where a dealer is waiting for a specific kind of plate that might not be in stock, such as a specialty plate or a disabled veteran plate.
However, the DMV said it will ensure that dealers have an adequate supply of regular plates and that the purple plates aren’t a substitute for regular plates.
When the law goes into effect, dealers can request additional standard plates if they need them.
For people trading in their cars, the plate will stay with the car and be transferred to the new owner.
The dealer will take the plate off and hold it until the car is sold before completing the paperwork to register the old plate with the new owner.
However, lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow a dealer to transfer the old plate to another car in their inventory.
Drivers with personalized or specialty plates are exempt from the new transfer rule, with the plate staying with the original owner.
However, the rules can get complicated during private sales when no dealer is involved.
In this case, the plates have to be transferred to the new owner, however, this can cause problems if the new owner is driving with a plate still registered to the previous owner.
“If they’re running up and down the George Bush or someplace, running up tolls, you’re gonna get them because you’re going to be the last registered owner,” said Smith.
He recommended that sellers go the the tax office with the buyer and complete the registration paperwork as soon as possible
“Then you have the peace of mind knowing that it’s not in your name anymore and you’re not gonna be responsible,” he said.
However, the new law can change the buying and selling process[/caption]
New metal tags were created by the DMV[/caption]
