79R1616 KSD-D

By:  Casteel                                                      H.B. No. 1754



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the perfection of a child support lien on a motor 
vehicle.      
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 157.316(b), Family Code, is amended to 
read as follows:  
	(b)  If a lien established under this subchapter attaches to 
a motor vehicle, the lien must be perfected in the manner provided 
by Chapter 501, Transportation Code, and the court or Title IV-D 
agency that rendered the order of child support shall, unless the 
lien will be perfected electronically under Section 501.117, 
Transportation Code, include in the order a requirement that the 
obligor surrender to the court or Title IV-D agency evidence of the 
legal ownership of the motor vehicle against which the lien may 
attach.  A lien against a motor vehicle under this subchapter is not 
perfected until:
		(1)  the obligor's title to the vehicle has been 
surrendered to the court or Title IV-D agency and the Texas 
Department of Transportation has issued a subsequent title that 
discloses on its face the fact that the vehicle is subject to a 
child support lien under this subchapter; or
		(2)  the lien is perfected in accordance with the rules 
adopted under Section 501.117, Transportation Code, for the 
electronic perfection of a child support lien on a motor vehicle.
	SECTION 2.  Section 501.117(a), Transportation Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(a)  The department by rule shall develop a system under 
which a lien on [security interest in] a motor vehicle may be 
perfected, assigned, discharged, and canceled electronically 
instead of by record maintained on a certificate of title.  The 
rules adopted under this section must include specific provisions 
for the electronic perfection of a child support lien asserted on a 
motor vehicle by the Title IV-D agency, as defined by Section 
101.033, Family Code.  Participation by a lienholder in the system 
is voluntary.
	SECTION 3.  The Texas Department of Transportation shall 
adopt rules as required by Section 501.117(a), Transportation Code, 
as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective 
date of this Act.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.