2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE NINE - Highways and Traffic (§§ 1-8 — 5725) › Chapter 27 - Vehicle and Traffic Law (2000) › Subchapter I - Definitions; Registry of Motor Vehicles, Trailers or Semi-Trailers, and Authorization to Operate on Public Roads (§§ 5001 — 5044) › § 5012 - Renewal of motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer license

At the request of the owner of any motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer, and after payment of the corresponding fees, the Secretary may renew the license of said motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer. Likewise, a new license shall be issued when the motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer changes ownership, when the use for which it was originally authorized, for it to travel on the public highways, is altered, or when the term for which the license was originally issued expires. In all of the abovementioned situations, it shall be the duty of the Secretary to issue a certificate of title to those motor vehicles, trailers or semi-trailers that did not have one because they were registered in the Motor Vehicle and Trailer Registry prior to July 10, 1987. Said certificate of title shall be the sole valid document to execute the transfer of title of said motor vehicles, trailers or semi-trailers.
The Secretary shall maintain a staggered system for the payment of license fees for motor vehicles, trailers or semi-trailers registered in the motor vehicle registry, to travel on the public highways. Said system shall be designed so that the license fees are renewed and paid each year on the same month in which the motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer was first registered in the Registry. When said date coincides with a non-working day, the date of renewal and payment of the license fees shall be due on the next working day. The Secretary shall exclude the motor vehicles, trailers or semi-trailers that belong to the Commonwealth Government and the municipalities, from the staggered system, and may exempt other motor vehicle, trailer, or semi-trailer categories when he/she deems it necessary or convenient, through regulations to such effect.
During the last month before the expiration date of the license, the motor vehicles, trailers or semi-trailers may travel bearing the licenses and license plates of the following year, whose owners have obtained them from the Secretary, but any matter related to the provisions of this chapter that would require the use of the license, shall be executed using the one in effect, which shall not be discarded until its effectiveness expires. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to the execution of the transfer of title, which shall be done on the certificate of title.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall reimburse to every owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer who returns the license plate and license of the motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer to the Secretary, the fees paid for the license in proportion to the remaining complete months of the year for which said license or license plate were issued, if so requested. No proportional reduction of the license fees shall proceed when the owner requests a new license within the forty-five (45) days that follow the date of issue or renewal thereof.
History —Jan. 7, 2000, No. 22, § 2.11; June 3, 2004, No. 132, § 2; Aug. 19, 2005, No. 57, § 2.