1-1 By: Uher (Senate Sponsor - Brown) H.B. No. 1137
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 17, 1997;
1-3 April 18, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on State
1-4 Affairs; May 1, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 13, Nays 0; May 1, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the discharge of a lien on a motor vehicle and the
1-9 subsequent sale of or issuance of temporary tags for the vehicle.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 501.115(a), Transportation Code, is
1-12 amended to read as follows:
1-13 (a) When a [If the] debt or claim secured by a lien has been
1-14 satisfied, the lienholder[, on the demand of the owner,] shall,
1-15 within a reasonable time not to exceed 21 days from receipt of the
1-16 final payment, execute and deliver to the owner, or the owner's
1-17 designee, a discharge of the lien on a form prescribed by the
1-18 department.
1-19 SECTION 2. Section 501.152, Transportation Code, is amended
1-20 to read as follows:
1-21 Sec. 501.152. Sale or Offer Without Title Receipt or Title.
1-22 (a) Except as provided by this section, a [A] person commits an
1-23 offense if the person:
1-24 (1) sells, offers to sell, or offers as security for
1-25 an obligation a motor vehicle registered in this state; and
1-26 (2) does not possess the title receipt or certificate
1-27 of title for the vehicle.
1-28 (b) It is not a violation of this section for the beneficial
1-29 owner of a vehicle to sell or offer to sell a vehicle without
1-30 having possession of the certificate of title to the vehicle if the
1-31 sole reason he or she does not have possession of the certificate
1-32 of title is that the title is in the possession of a lienholder who
1-33 has not complied with the terms of Section 501.115(a) of this code.
1-34 SECTION 3. Section 503.063, Transportation Code, is amended
1-35 by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and by adding Subsection (f) to
1-36 read as follows:
1-37 (a) Except as provided by this section, a [A] dealer may
1-38 issue to a person who buys an unregistered vehicle one temporary
1-39 cardboard buyer's tag for the vehicle.
1-40 (b) Except as provided by this section, the [The] buyer's
1-41 tag is valid for the operation of the vehicle until the earlier of:
1-42 (1) the date on which the vehicle is registered; or
1-43 (2) the 21st day after the date of purchase.
1-44 (f) A dealer may issue an additional temporary cardboard
1-45 buyer's tag to a person after the expiration of 21 days after the
1-46 issue of a temporary cardboard buyer's tag, and the person may
1-47 operate the vehicle for which the tag was issued on the additional
1-48 temporary cardboard buyer's tag if the dealer has been unable to
1-49 obtain on behalf of the vehicle's owner the necessary documents to
1-50 obtain permanent metal license plates because the documents are in
1-51 the possession of a lienholder who has not complied with the terms
1-52 of Section 501.115(a) of this code. An additional tag issued under
1-53 the terms of this subsection is valid for a maximum of 21 days
1-54 after the date of issue.
1-55 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
1-56 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-57 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-58 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-59 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-60 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-61 passage, and it is so enacted.
1-62 * * * * *