Registration and Title Bulletin #007-08

Attachment [word, 1 page, 44kb]
Attachment [word, 1 page, 40kb]

These documents contain text of correspondence sent by TxDOT to the county tax assessor-collectors, statutory agents who provide vehicle registration and titling services for citizens in Texas. This information is provided to apprise the general public of issues affecting the state’s vehicle titling and registration process.

SERIOUS SITUATION
This is very serious due to the impact it may have on subsequent buyers and lien holders when this brand is left off the title. These buyers may be unaware of the previous salvage status and lien holders may have approved a loan for a vehicle they otherwise would not.

This is a critical issue and we cannot eliminate this problem without your attentiveness to carrying forward value-limiting remarks on future title transactions.

We will begin running a quarterly report in an effort to catch and correct any future errors. If these errors continue at this level we will need to consider having the owner and/or lien holder contact your offices directly to correct the problem.

MAGNITUDE AND REMEDY

• This problem was reported at the November 2007 V.G. Young conference. At that time 333 Texas titles had been issued without the proper salvage brand.
• In less than 4 months, the same mistake has been made on 304 more titles. These errors are not isolated to only a few counties.
• Of particular concern is that, in several cases, the transactions were caught and
  rejected to the county for correction but the corrections were not made.
• Titles must be revoked for more than 630 vehicles.
• Letters will be sent to the vehicle owners/lien holders (see attached samples) advising them of the problem and directing them on how to proceed.
• It is imperative that salvage remarks are carried forward to the new record when processing transactions supported by out-of-state and Texas ownership evidence identifying the vehicle as salvage. (Remarks have also been removed from existing Texas records.)

CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS
For customer convenience, all of these customers are being directed to TxDOT for resolution of this problem. This includes lien holders and customers with liens released but not removed from the title record.

COUNTY PROCESSING INFORMATION

• Customers will be able to renew registration on these vehicles.
• Customers will only be allowed to transfer title on these vehicles prior to issuance of the corrected title if the buyer:
  • is available for direct discussion with the county clerk and understands the title to be issued will reflect a value-limiting salvage remark, or
  • submits a signed statement of fact.

CONTACT
If you have any questions or need any additional information, please contact your local Vehicle Titles and Registration Division Regional Office. You may also call Mike Craig, Deputy Director, or me at (512) 465-7570.