Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

Honorable Homer Garrison, Jr., Director
Texas Department of Public Safety
Camp Mabry
Austin, Texas
Dear Sir: Attention: Mr. Hill Foreman, Chief
Texas Hlghway Patrol
OpLnion No. O-4547
Re: The effect of the.Certlficate of-.
Title Act on delivery of registra-
tion recefpts and use of dealer's
license plates in the situations
presented.
We are ln receipt of your letter of April 16, 1942,
which presents several questions whlchwe have numbered'ln
quottng your request as ~follows:
"We have been confronteda number of times
recentlg'with the proposition of whether or not
Zt is a violation of law to transfer a second-
hand'motor vehlcl~ewithout delivering to the
transferee a license receipt for the current
year.
II
. . . .
"(1) The questions confronting us in some
cases have been 'would lt'be illegal for a
second-hand car dealer to ~sella used.car that
he had been demonstfitfng on a dealer's lf-
tense for about six months, to.a person.with-
out dellverlng to such person a license reL
ceipt issued by a Tax Collector of this State
for the current year.'
"(2) 'In case of such a sale, could a cus-
tomer legally drive a ,usedcar on a paper deal-
er's license issued as provideddln Article
6686 (b), such use being on local highways, pena-
,lng the issuance of Certlficate~'ofTitle under
Article 1436-1, or should the car be registered
before sold by the dealer as required In Arti-
cle 1434.'
. .
Honorable Homer Garrison, Jr.,,page 2 o-4547
"(3) What, if anything, coul.dthe used car
dealer be charged with under each of the fore-
going fact situations?
"The questions arising in cohnectlon with
Article 1434 and Article 1436-l are based upon
whetheror not any protion of Article 1434 is
still .valld. Please advise us.which portions
of this Article aresstill valid ,sincethe enact-
ment of Article 1436-l."
Article 1434, Penal Code of Texas, provides as fol--~-
lows:
"No per&, acting for himself or another,
shall sell, tra~de,or.otherwise transfer any
used or second-hand ve.hiclerequired to be
registered under the law,sof this State unless
and until said vehicle at the time of delivery
has been duly registered inthis State for the
current year under the provisions of said laws;
provided, however, that.a dealer may demon-
strate such motor vehicle for the ~purpose of
sale, trade'or transfer under a dealer's li-
tense plate issued for demonstration purposes.
Whoever, acting for himself 'oranother, sells,
trades or,~otherwisetransfers~any~such vehicle
shall deliverto the transferee at the time of
delivery of the vehicle the license receipt
issued by a,'Tax'Collectorof this State ~for
the registration thereof for the current Tear
and a bill.of sale in triplicate. . . . .
Article 6686, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, pro-
vlaes as follows:
"(a) Any manufacturer of or dealer in motor
vehicles In thFs State, may, instead of reg,is-
terlng each~vehlcle~he may wish to show or demon-
strate on the public highways, apply for reg-
istration and secure a general dlstlngulsh$.ng
number which may be.attached to any motor
vehicle or motorcycle which he sends temporarily
upon the road. . . . A dealer within the mean-
Fng of this Article means.any person, firm or
corporation engaged In the business of selling
'automobiles who runs,.themupon the public high-
ways or streets,for demonstrat&on for t~hepur-
pose of sale; and this Actshall not be con-
strued as permitting the us,e,o~fa dealer% ll-
Xonorable Bomer Garrison, Jr., page 3 O-4547
ccn:ieor n>umberplate on any vehicle owned or
used by such a dealer for any other purpose
than demonstration for the purpose of sale. . .
"(b) Each dealer holding a dealer's li-
tense ,may issue temporary cardboard numbers us-
ing such dealer's number thereon which may be
used by any person, dealer, or manufacturer
purchasing a motor vehicle, trailer, or seml-
t:aLler. Such person purchasing a motor vehi-
cle, trailer, or semi-trailer from a manufac-
turer or d~ealermay use such cardbcard number
for a reasonable~length of time but in no case
to exceed ten (10) days after such purchase Is
made. . . . .
11
. . . . .
"(f), Any person found guilty of violating
any of the provisions of this Act shall
conviction, be fined not less than Flfti Y~'~
( 50.00) .'
DollarsaM not more than One Hundred Fifty,
($150.00) Dollars, and a&l costs of court. '.
Article 1436-1, Penal Code of~Texas, (Certificate of
Title Act,)provides as follows:
I,
. . . . .
'Sec. 27. Before selling or disposing of
any motor vehicle required,to Wregistered or
licensed In this State onany hLghway or public'
place wlthin this State, except with dealer's
metal or cardboard license number thereto at-
tached as now provided by law, the owner shall
make application to t.hedesignated agent in the
county of his domicile upon form to be prescrib-
ed by the Department for a certificate of title
for such motor vehicle.
II
. . . . .
"Sec. 31. Every designated agent inthis
State recelvlng anapplication for certificate
of title shall, when the provlslons hereof have
been complied w+th, issue a receipt marked
'Original1 to the ~appllcant and shall not~e
thereon the required information concerntng
the motor vehicle and the~existence or non-
existence of liens as disclosed in the appli-
. .
Honorable Homer Garrison, Jr., ,page 4 o-4547
cation and deliver such receipt upon payment
of the required fees to the applicant; provi-
ded, however, that In the event there la a
lien disclosed in the application,,the said
receipt shall be issued in duplicate, one of
which shall be marked' tOriglnalt and shall be
mailed or delivered by every ,suchdesignated
agent to the first lien holder a& disclosed
in sald application; the other said copy shall
.be narked 'Duplicate Original' and shall be
mailed or dellvered to~the address of'the api
plicant as dlsclosea In the said applicatltin, -
and such receipt pending the issuame of the
certlflcate'of titl.6shall authorize the'op-
eratlon of such motor vehicle on the highways
and public places wFthit-.thisState for a period'
of not to exceed ten (10) days and upon the
expiration of such period of time shall cease _
to be effective for any ptipose,~but may be
renewed under such reasonable .rules and re&i-
latlons as may be promulgated by the Department.
1,
. . . . . . .
'Sec. 33., No motor vehicle may~be disposed
of at subsequetitsale-unless the owner ~deslgnat-
ed in the certificate +f title shall transfer
the certificate of title dn'form to be prescr~lbed
by the Department before a Notary Public, which
form shall Include, ~.+mongsuoh other matters as
the Department may detertilne,an affidavit to
the effect that thensigner is the owner of the
motor vehicle, and~tha.tthere are no lien3 ,agalnst
such motor vehicle, except such as are shown on
the certlf,icateof title and no title to any
motor vehlcle,shall pass 'orvest until such trans-
fer be so executed.'
II. . . . .
"Sec. 51. It shall hereafter be unlawful
for any person, elthes by'himself or through any
agent, to offer for sale dr.to sell or to offer
as securFty forany obligation any motor vehi-
cle registered or licensed in this State without
then and there havln&ln his possession the pro-
per receipt or certificate of title covering the
motor vehicle so offered.
"Sec. 52. It shall hereafter be unlawful to
.
Honorable Homer Garrison, Jr., page 5 O-9547
buy or acquire.any title other than a lien in a
motor vehicle registered or licensed in th&s
State without then and there demanding of the
proposed.seller the registration receipt and
certificate of title covering the particular
motor vehicle which shall, upon consummation
of the purchase, be transferred upon such form
as may be provided by the Department.
., ‘.,
"Sec. 53. All..sale.s'
kaae In vlolatlon of
this Act shall be void and no title shall pass
until the provisions of this Act have been corn- _
plied with.
II
. . . . . . .II
In answer to your first inquiry your attention is di-
rected to the fact that the situations you presentfall dl-
rectly under the pr.ovlsionsof Article 6686, above, in that
they deal solely with situations where a dealer's license or
temporary cardboard numbers using such dealer's number Is ln-
valved and not with situations where the car In question is
required to be registered as provided in the general regis-
tration statutes. Your questions therefore concern only an
automobile operated under such dealer's number which are ex-
pressly exempted~from the provisions of the Certlflcate~of -
Title Act insofar as this Act definitely excepts-such a v&i-
cle from being registered or.licensed in this State, as Sec-
tions 27, 51 .and 52 of the Certificate of Title Act use the
language "required to be registered or licensed in this State."
The language of Article 1434, P. C., above, provides
that "'noperson'. . . shallsell . . . any used or second-.'
hand vehicle required to be registered unless . . . said vehl-
cle .,,.. has been duly registered . . . for the current'year
i . . while Article 6686, V.A.C.S., provldes that a dealer
may.issue temporary cardboard numbers which may be used by'a
purchaser for a reasonable length of time not to exceed ten
(10) days, Section 27 of Article 1436-1, P. C., above, con-
tinues the use of dealer&s llaense plates in this language,
"exceptwith dealers metal or cardboard license numbers there-
to attached as now provided by law," which exception from reg-
Istnation seems to be continued throughout the remainder'of
the'%ertlficate of Title Act by virtue of the fact that all
other pf;ovlsionsuse,the language "required to be registered
A vehicle using a dealer153license or cardboard num-
bers'wkd not be one which Is "required to be registered" as
is set out ;I" Article 6686.
,.
It his thereforeour* opinion that htitlcle 6686, hiper-
. ~
\
Honorable Homer Garrison; Jr., page 6 o-4547
sedes Article 1434 and that it, therefore, would.not be il-
legal for a second-hark3car dealer to sell &'i.zsed
car that he
had been demonstrating on a dealers license toa person wlth-
out delivering to such person'a license receipt for the cur-
rent year.
In answer tomyour second inQuiry'you will observe
that Article 6686(b) which permits a purchaser to use a tern-
porary cardboard number issued by a dealer under'hls dealer's
license supersedes the provisions of'Artlcle 1434, P. C., re-
quiring a person td regLster a vehicle before selling same and
permits such purchaser to use the dealerls number for a peridd
of time not to exceed ten (10) days. The use of dealer's met-
al or cardboard license numbers is speclflcal~lg'providedfor
in Section 27 of the Certificate of Title Act and must be con-~
tlnued throughout the remeltiing provisions in order to harmon-
ize the statutes mentioned. We believe that the purchaser
could use the temporary cardboard .dealer's nimber plate for a
period not to exceed teti(10).days after purchase of the car
ln'queptlon; 'The use of such.numbers for a longer period oft
tlme.would be .in vloltitlonof the penal provisions of Article
6686, Section (f)-above.
Your further attent~lon.1~direct& to the'f&c% that
Section 31 of Artlcle~1436-l ptiovidesfor the use of a rebelp't
for an application for certificate of title pending the is-
.; suance of the certificate Itself, for a period of no'tto ex-
ceed ten (10) days. This period-.providesfor the use of--the
receipt instead of the actual certificate. As the regular
lic6nse plates'are issued with,thls receipt 'no longer time
other than the ten (10) days provided for the use of d.ealer's
temporary cardboard numbers,Is granted by this provision for
the use of such dealer's number.
In answer to your inquiry as to the criminal liability
of a used car dealer under the above fact'sltuations you are
advised that we do not believe that such d.ealerwould be
g``ullty
of any criminal off.enseunder the facts presented.
You raise the further'inquiry a$ to whether any por-
tions of,Article 1434 are still valid. In that connection,
you are advised that under the fact situations provided by-
your questioiionly no provisions of Articl6.1434 would con-
trol. Your attention is directed to the fact, however, that
Artitile1434, P. C., in requlrlng reglstratiotiof ordinary
vehlcles'by,prlvate Individuals is continued in the language
of Section 52 of Article 1436-1, P.'.C., (Certlfldate of Title
Act) and could be applied In cases of Sal&s of vehlc;es by
the owners thereof, under the definition of the word owners"
set out,In the section 4 of the latter Act.
_ . ``..
Honorable Homer Garrison, Jr., page 7 o-4547
We trust that the above satlsfactorllyansvers your
inquiries.
Very truly yours
ATTORNEY WNHRAL~ OF 'MEAS
By s/Alfred F. Herbelln
Alfred F. HWbeIln
Assistant
AFE:db:wc
APPROVED MAY 27,~1942
s/Gerald C. Mann
ATTORNBY GBNHRAL OF THXAS .
Approved Oplnlon Comltttie By-&BIiB ChaLrman