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 registration 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 secondhand'motor vehlcl~e without 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 ~sell a used.car that 

he had been demonstfitfng on a dealer's lftense for about six months, to.a person.without 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 customer legally drive a ,usedcar on a paper dealer's license issued as provideddln Article 

6686 (b), such use being on local highways, pena- 

,lng the issuance of Certlficate~'of Title under 

Article 1436-1, or should the car be registered 

before sold by the dealer as required In Article 1434.' 
. . 

Honorable Homer Garrison, Jr.,, page 2 o-4547 

"(3) What, if anything, coul.d the used car 

dealer be charged with under each of the foregoing 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 ares still valid ,since the enactment 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.hicle required 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 demonstrate such motor vehicle for the ~purpose of 

sale, trade' or transfer under a dealer's litense plate issued for demonstration purposes. 

Whoever, acting for himself 'or another, sells, 

trades or,~otherwise transfers~any~ such vehicle 

shall deliverto the transferee at the time of 

delivery of the vehicle the license receipt 

issued by a,'Tax 'Collector of this State ~for 

the registration thereof for the current Tear 

and a bill. of sale in triplicate. . . . . 

Article 6686, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, provlaes as follows: 

"(a) Any manufacturer of or dealer in motor 

vehicles In thFs State, may, instead of reg,isterlng each~vehlcle~ he may wish to show or demonstrate on the public highways, apply for registration 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 meanFng of this Article means.any person, firm or 

corporation engaged In the business of selling 

'automobiles who runs,.them upon the public highways or streets, for demonstrat&on for t~he purpose of sale; and this Actshall not be construed as permitting the us,e ,o~f a dealer% ll- 
Xonorable Bomer Garrison, Jr., page 3 O-4547 

ccn:ie or n>umber plate 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 litense ,may issue temporary cardboard numbers using such dealer's number thereon which may be 

used by any person, dealer, or manufacturer 

purchasing a motor vehicle, trailer, or semlt:aLler. Such person purchasing a motor vehicle, trailer, or semi-trailer from a manufacturer or d~ealer may 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 attached as now provided by law, the owner shall 

make application to t.he designated agent in the 

county of his domicile upon form to be prescribed 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 nonexistence 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; provided, 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 ,such designated 

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.6 shall authorize the'operatlon of such motor vehicle on the highways 

and public places wFthit-.this State 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&ilatlons as may be promulgated by the Department. 

1, 

. . . . . . . 

'Sec. 33., No motor vehicle may~be disposed 

of at subsequetitsale-unless the owner ~deslgnated 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, ~.+mong suoh other matters as 

the Department may detertilne, an affidavit to 

the effect that then signer is the owner of the 

motor vehicle, and~tha.t there are no lien3 ,agalnst 

such motor vehicle, except such as are shown on 

the certlf,icate of title and no title to any 

motor vehlcle,shall pass 'or vest until such transfer 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 vehicle registered or licensed in this State without 

then and there havln&ln his possession the proper 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 

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. 

a 

., ‘., 

"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 directed to the fact that the situations you presentfall dlrectly under the pr.ovlsions of 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 lnvalved and not with situations where the car In question is 

required to be registered as provided in the general registration statutes. Your questions therefore concern only an 

automobile operated under such dealer's number which are expressly exempted~from the provisions of the Certlflcate~ of - 

Title Act insofar as this Act definitely excepts- such a v&icle from being registered or.licensed in this State, as Sections 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 "'no person'. . . shallsell . . . any used or second-.' 

hand vehicle required to be registered unless . . . said vehlcle .,,. . 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, continues the use of dealer&s llaense plates in this language, 

"exceptwith dealers metal or cardboard license numbers thereto attached as now provided by law," which exception from regIstnation seems to be continued throughout the remainder'of 

the'%ertlficate of Title Act by virtue of the fact that all 

other pf;ovlsions use,the language "required to be registered 

A vehicle using a dealer153 license or cardboard numbers'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 

legal for a second-hark3 car 

had been demonstrating on a dealers license toa person wlthout delivering to such person'a license receipt for the current year. 

it, therefore, would.not be ildealer to sell &'i.zsed car that he 

In answer tom your second inQuiry'you will observe 

that Article 6686(b) which permits a purchaser to use a ternporary cardboard number issued by a dealer under'hls dealer's 

license supersedes the provisions of'Artlcle 1434, P. C., requiring 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 metal or cardboard license numbers is speclflcal~lg 'provided for 

in Section 27 of the Certificate of Title Act and must be con-~ 

tlnued throughout the remeltiing provisions in order to harmonize 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 vloltitlon of 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 ptiovides for 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't to exceed ten (10) days. This period-.provides for 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.ense under the facts presented. 

You raise the further'inquiry a$ to whether any portions of,Article 1434 are still valid. In that connection, 

you are advised that under the fact situations provided byyour questioii only no provisions of Articl6.1434 would control. Your attention is directed to the fact, however, that 

Artitile 1434, P. C., in requlrlng reglstratioti of ordinary 

vehlcles'by,prlvate Individuals is continued in the language 

of Section 52 of Article 1436-1, P.'.C., (Certlfldate of Title 

Act) and 

the owners 

could be applied In cases of Sal&s of vehlc;es by 

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 satlsfactorlly ansvers 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