Honorable Homer Garrison, Jr.,Director

TexasDepartment of Public Safety Camp Mabry Austin, Texas

Dear Sir: Attention: Mr. Hill Foreman, Chief Texas Hlghway Patrol OpLnionNo. O-4547 Re: The effect of the.Certlficate of-. Title Act on delivery of registration recefpts and use of dealer's licenseplates in the situations presented.

We are ln receipt of your letter of April 16, 1942, which presents several questionswhlchwe have numbered'ln quottng your request as ~follows:

"Wehave 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 confrontingus 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 lftense for about sixmonths, 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) 'Incase of such a sale, could a customer legally drive a ,usedcar on a paper dealer's license issued as provideddlnArticle 6686 (b), such use being on local highways,pena- ,lngthe issuance of Certlficate~'of Title under Article 1436-1, or should the car be registered before sold by the dealer as required InArticle 1434.'. .

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

"(3) What, if anything, coul.d the used car dealer be chargedwith under each of the foregoing fact situations?

"Thequestions arising in cohnectlonwith 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 thisArticle aresstill valid ,sincethe enactment of Article 1436-l."
Article 1434, Penal Code of Texas, provides as fol--~- lows:

"Noper&, acting for himself or another, shall sell, tra~de, or.otherwisetransfer any used or second-handve.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 currentyear under the provisions of said laws; provided, however, that. a dealer may demonstrate suchmotor vehicle for the~purposeof sale, trade'

or transfer under a dealer's litense plate issued for demonstrationpurposes. Whoever, acting for himself 'oranother, sells, trades or,~otherwise transfers~any~

such vehicle shalldeliverto the transfereeat the time of delivery of the vehicle the license receipt issuedby 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, 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 registrationand secure a general dlstlngulsh$.ng numberwhich may be.attached to any motor vehicle or motorcyclewhich 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 'automobileswho runs,.them upon the public highways or streets,

for demonstrat&on for t~hepurpose of sale; and thisActshall 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 ,mayissue temporary cardboard numbers using such dealer's number thereonwhich 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 cardbcardnumber 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 thisAct shall conviction,be fined not less than Flfti ( 50.00) .' Y~'~ DollarsaM not more than OneHundred Fifty, ($150.00)Dollars, and a&l costs of court. '.
Article 1436-1, Penal Code of~Texas, (Certificateof 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, exceptwith 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 theDepartment 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 compliedw+th, issuea receipt marked 'Original1to the~appllcantand shall not~e thereon the required informationconcerntng the motor vehicle and the~existence or nonexistence of liens as disclosed in the appli-. .

HonorableHomer Garrison, Jr., ,page4 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 shallbe issued in duplicate, one of which shallbe marked'tOriglnaltand shallbe mailed or delivered by every ,such designated agent to the first lien holder a& disclosed in sald application; the other said copy shall .benarked 'DuplicateOriginal' and shallbe 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'oftitl.6shall authorize the'operatlon of suchmotor 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 .rulesand re&ilatlons as may be promulgatedby theDepartment. 1,

. . . . . . . 'Sec. 33.,No motor vehiclemay~be disposed of at subsequetitsale-unlessthe owner~deslgnated in the certificate+f title shall transfer the certificate of title dn'form to be prescr~lbed by theDepartment before a Notary Public,which form shall Include,~.+mong suoh other matters as theDepartment may detertilne, an affidavit to the effect that thensigner is the owner of the motor vehicle, and~tha.t there are no lien3 ,agalnst suchmotor vehicle, except such as are shown on the certlf,icate

of title and no title to any motor vehlcle,shallpass '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 hereafterbe 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 shallpass until the provisions of this Act have been corn-

_ plied with.
II II

. . . . . . .
In answer to your first inquiryyour attention is directed to the fact that the situationsyou presentfall dlrectly under the pr.ovlsions of Article 6686, above, in that they deal solelywith situationswhere a dealer's license or temporary cardboardnumbers using such dealer's number Is lnvalved and not with situationswhere 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 

### provisionsof 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 .and52 of the Certificate of Title Act use the language "requiredto 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 ofArticle 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 "requiredto be registered A vehicle using a dealer153license or cardboard numbers'wkd not be one which Is "requiredto be registered" as is set out;I"Article 6686.

,.

It histhereforeour* opinionthat htitlcle 6686, hiper-. ~

\

Honorable Homer Garrison;Jr., page 

### 6 o-4547

sedesArticle 

### 1434and that legal for a second-hark3 car had been demonstrating on a dealers license toa personwlthout delivering to suchperson'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'youwill observe that Article 

### 6686(b)which permits a purchaser to use a ternporary cardboardnumber issuedby a dealer under'hls dealer's license supersedesthe provisionsof'Artlcle 

### 1434,P. C., requiring a person td regLster a vehicle before selling same and permits suchpurchaser 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 'providedfor in Section 27 of the Certificateof Title Act and must be con-~ tlnued throughout the remeltiing provisions in order to harmonize the statutesmentioned. We believe that the purchaser could use the temporary cardboard.dealer'snimber plate for a period not to exceed teti(10). days after purchase of the car ln'queptlon; 'Theuse of such.numbersfor a longer period oft tlme.wouldbe .invloltitlon of the penal provisions of Article 

### 6686, Section (f)-above.

Your further attent~lon.1~ direct& to the'f&c% that Section 

### 31 ofArtlcle~

### 1436-lptiovides 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'tto exceed ten (10)days. This period-.provides for the use of--the receipt instead of the actual certificate. As the regular lic6nse plates'are issuedwith,thls receipt 'nolonger time other than the ten (10)days provided for the use of d.ealer's temporary cardboardnumbers, Is granted by this provision for the use of suchdealer's number.

In answer to your inquiryas to the criminal liability of a used car dealer under the above fact'sltuationsyou 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'inquirya$ to whether any portions of,Article 

### 1434are stillvalid. In that connection, you are advised that under the fact situationsprovided byyour questioiionly no provisionsof Articl6.1434would 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.,(Certlfldateof 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 latterAct._ . ~~..

Honorable 

### HomerGarrison,Jr.,page7 o-4547



### We trustthattheabovesatlsfactorlly ansversyour inquiries.
Very trulyyours

ATTORNEY 

### WNHRAL~OF 'MEAS

By s/AlfredF. Herbelln Alfred **F.** 

### HWbeIln

Assistant

AFE:db:wc

APPROVED MAY 27,~1942 s/Gerald C. Mann ATTORNBY GBNHRAL OF THXAS

. Approved Oplnlon ComltttieBy-&BIiB 

### ChaLrman