Anyone form TX can help?

[Muad'dib]

Okay, I have a stupid question, involving title transfer of a car in texas. According to the TX DOT site, you when you sell a car you have to file a "Texas Motor Vehicle Transfer Notification" in order to avoid civil liability if the person you sold it to gets in a crash etc.

My question is, when you fill this out, does it also automatically transfer title to the buyer, or do you have to do something extra in order to make sure the car is in the new owner's name?

Seriously, if anyone in TX can help out on this, I would seriously appreciate it.

Best,

D

[Michael]

It's been a while since I did this in Texas, perhaps 10 years, but I can explain it.

When you sell a car in Texas, you sign the title of the car over to the new owner and it's up to the new owner to take that title into the local DMV and register the car, but until he does that, there is no record with the state of who owns the car and would be liable for something. I never had to file a "Texas Motor Vehicle Transfer Notification", so that's new to me not having sold a car in Texas in a loong time, but I think that would be the original owner notifying the state they no longer owned the vehicle in order to create an official paper trail to establish liability.

So, to answer your question, there are three steps:
1) transfer of title between original owner and new owner in the living room
2) original owner *must* file a "Texas Motor Vehicle Transfer Notification"
3) new owner *may* file the title in his name, but I'm not aware of any requirement for when this has to happen, and it might could happen in another state

[Pat]

Zhong, you are in TX? nice!

we need to have a "Who lives in Texas?" thread.

bro, call TXDOT, that is what i would do.

[Muad'dib]

Actually I am in Tokyo. I just need to know about how things go in TX.