Registration and Title Bulletin #022-07

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.

PURPOSE
To advise you of a program to revise VTR forms for “customer friendliness” and electronic access.

DETAILS
In an effort to make our forms easier to use and understand, VTR initiated a program to review and revise approximately 140 VTR forms. The benefits of this program extend to all VTR forms users.

Benefits of electronic forms (e-forms) include:

• Current VTR form version is easy to find online (or via an RTS workstation)
• Customer can fill out e-form online and then print for submission
• Using e-forms reduces the need for inventory and storage at the County
• Reduced usage/submittal of old versions of forms
• Electronic revision and immediate posting of the forms

We also encourage you to advise your customers to print forms directly from the Web site at www.txdot.gov. To promote use of the Web, revised forms are being posted as fillable Portable Document Format (PDF) files that can be filled out online. Fillable PDF is the new TxDOT standard for forms on the Web and conversion of all forms to fillable PDF will only occur as the forms are revised.

VTR forms also remain available for printing through your RTS workstations although technical limitations prevent the use of fillable PDFs. Updates of the forms on RTS will occur at the same time as the Web site update. You will be notified in advance before a new/revised form will be available.

As we have previously discussed with you, our intent is to use electronic forms as much as possible. This is the same approach the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are taking. We realize there are some pre-printed forms that will still need to be provided and we will work with your offices to determine which ones these are.

We are taking a phased approach to this project. This summer, we will begin reviewing and revising some of the highest volume forms. These include the Application for Disabled Person Placard and/or Disabled Person License Plate (VTR-214), the Power of Attorney to Transfer Motor Vehicle (VTR-271), and the Request for Texas Motor Vehicle Information (VTR-275).

In preparation for specialty plate application processing in the counties, we are currently revising specialty license plate forms to identify the counties as the point of contact. We are consolidating these forms when possible, and eliminating obsolete forms when appropriate. Before the end of the year, we will revise these specialty plate forms and review the remaining title and registration forms.

You may have already noticed small yet significant changes incorporated into seven of our exempt license plate forms and our Application for a Certified Copy of a Texas Certificate of Title (VTR-34). While not every form can be structured identically, we are attempting to standardize all VTR form designs as much as possible. This includes standardizing the basic customer information fields and dividing the name section into separate areas (i.e., Last Name, First Name, Initial) to help with future database search tools. Attached are examples of two recent forms revisions, the VTR-34 (Rev. 4/2007) and the VTR-139 (Rev. 12/2006) that incorporate these features.

On June 14, 2007, the Web site and RTS were updated with new revisions of the Texas Motor Vehicle Transfer Notification (VTR-346) and the Souvenir License Plate Order Form (VTR-998). On the VTR-346, the $5 fee previously required to file the form has been eliminated. On the VTR-998, three souvenir license plates have been added for “Keep Texas Beautiful (Don’t Mess with Texas),” “Native Texan (Daughters of the Republic of Texas),” and the “University of St. Thomas” in Houston. These form revisions are attached.

CONTACT
If you have any questions or need any additional information, please contact your local VTR Regional Office.

In some cases the Registration and Title Bulletins (RTB) contain attachments. If you require a copy of the original signed RTB and the attachments, please e-mail us and include the RTB number. Repeat requests are subject to charges in accordance with Open Record policies.