BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2947

By: Harper-Brown

Transportation

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties assert that only a very small percentage of car buyers in Texas have a preference as to what county the vehicle title application is made in. The parties observe that requiring car dealers to present the county vehicle title application form to every buyer on every sale is inefficient and often a waste of the dealer's and buyer's time. The parties note that it would be preferential to instead give buyers the option to notify the dealer of a preferred county for the title application of a vehicle.  H.B. 2947 seeks to reduce unnecessary paperwork and provide for a more efficient car-buying process. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 2947 amends the Transportation Code to authorize the purchaser of a motor vehicle to notify the seller, at the time of purchase, of the purchaser's choice of county, as set out in provisions governing the application for a title, as the recipient of all taxes, fees, and other revenue collected as a result of the transaction, rather than requiring the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to develop a form or electronic process in which the purchaser of a motor vehicle is required to designate such a choice.  The bill removes a provision requiring a seller to make that form or electronic process available to the purchaser of a vehicle at the time of purchase. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2013.