Good afternoon,

On Saturday, May 2, 2020, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) will be implementing changes to address the COVID-19 waiver for delinquent fees.  The duration of the maintenance is scheduled for up to 4 hours beginning at 11:00 PM (5/2/2020) lasting until 3:00 AM.

Systems Impacted: All systems below will be unavailable and unable to access vehicle information during the scheduled time frames:

Saturday, May 2, 2020 from 11:00 PM – Sunday, May 3, 2020 to 3:00 AM.

• RTS
• webDEALER

Thank you,

TxDMV IT
Department of Motor Vehicles

Good afternoon,

On Saturday, May 2, 2020, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) will be implementing changes to address the COVID-19 waiver for delinquent fees.  The duration of the maintenance is scheduled for up to 4 hours beginning at 11:00 PM (5/2/2020) lasting until 3:00 AM.

Systems Impacted: All systems below will be unavailable and unable to access vehicle information during the scheduled time frames:

Saturday, May 2, 2020 from 11:00 PM – Sunday, May 3, 2020 to 3:00 AM.

• RTS
• webDEALER

Thank you,

TxDMV IT
Department of Motor Vehicles

Please review and distribute as appropriate.

Additional Webinars Scheduled for Monday, April 27, 2020, on processing “Out of County” transactions.

Registration and Title System (RTS) Release 9.6.1 made functionality available to facilitate willing counties being able to process title and registration transactions on behalf of closed counties and the statutorily required funds transfer.  RTS Release 9.6.1 release notes provided instructions on selecting the “Out of County” checkbox, and Registration and Title Bulletin #009-20 was distributed, outlining the policy and procedure for processing title transactions when the purchaser’s county of residence is closed.

The department has been made aware that some counties are incorrectly selecting the “Out of County” checkbox causing funds to be allocated incorrectly.  As a result, webinars will be held for county tax assessor-collectors to provide additional guidance on how to properly process transactions in the event of a county closure.  It is imperative that county tax assessor-collectors and their staff understand the proper use of the new functionality to ensure the proper collection and distribution of county funds.  The department is unable to correct transactions improperly processed using the “Out of County” checkbox.  The only remedy in RTS to correct an improperly processed “Out of County” transaction is to void it during the county’s void period.

The webinar schedule is listed below, and space is limited.  Please reserve your virtual “seat” as soon as possible by registering through one of the links.

Webinars

Monday, April 27, 2020, at 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM CST https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4307161286414052108

Monday, April 27, 2020, at 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM CST https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1315224120979773452

Tax assessor-collectors and deputies, continuing education credit may be considered for your participation in certain Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) hosted webinars. To log your participation, please use the Continuing Education Credit Hours tracking tool on the Tax Assessor-Collectors hub by clicking the Continuing Education Credit icon.

Thank you,

Jeremiah Kuntz, Director
Vehicle Titles and Registration Division
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

If you have any questions concerning this communication, please contact your local TxDMV Regional Service Center.

Please review and distribute as appropriate.

Registration and Title System (RTS) Release 9.6.1 made functionality available to facilitate willing counties being able to process title and registration transactions on behalf of closed counties and the statutorily required funds transfer.  RTS Release 9.6.1 release notes provided instructions on selecting the “Out of County” checkbox, and Registration and Title Bulletin #009-20 was distributed, outlining the policy and procedure for processing title transactions when the purchaser’s county of residence is closed.

The department has been made aware that counties are incorrectly selecting the “Out of County” checkbox causing funds to be allocated incorrectly.  As a result, a webinar will be held for county tax assessor-collectors to provide additional guidance on how to properly process transactions in the event of a county closure.  It is imperative that county tax assessor-collectors and their staff understand the proper use of the new functionality to ensure the proper collection and distribution of county funds.  The department is unable to correct transactions improperly processed using the “Out of County” checkbox. 

The webinar schedule is listed below, and space is limited. Please reserve your virtual “seat” as soon as possible by registering through one of the links.

Webinar

Friday, April 24, 2020, at 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM CST https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7543956392803650571

Tax assessor-collectors and deputies, continuing education credit may be considered for your participation in certain Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) hosted webinars. To log your participation, please use the Continuing Education Credit Hours tracking tool on the Tax Assessor-Collectors hub by clicking the Continuing Education Credit icon.

Thank you,

Jeremiah Kuntz, Director
Vehicle Titles and Registration Division
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

If you have any questions concerning this communication, please contact your local TxDMV Regional Service Center.

Please review and distribute as appropriate.

As you are aware, Senate Bill 604, enacted by the 86th Legislature, added Transportation Code, Section 520.023.  The legislation required the department to implement a training program on the department’s automated registration and titling system and identification of fraudulent activity related to vehicle registration and titling.  This program went into effect on December 16, 2019, with the implementation of Registration and Title System (RTS) Release 9.5.

As of April 21, a total of 76,044 modules have been completed in the eLearning Center and reported through RTS to the department; however, there are 112,324 modules which remain to be completed and reported by August 31, 2020.  We are approximately half way through the period allowed for existing users to complete the modules associated with their existing permissions; however, we have only verified approximately 40% of the necessary modules.

The current circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has required ongoing adjustments to the day-to-day operations of many of your offices.  The department is taking advantage of this current situation by having staff complete all required eLearning Center modules.  The department would like to encourage you to take advantage of this time to do the same.  eLearning Center modules can be completed from any computer with an internet connection and do not have to be completed on an RTS workstation.  If you have staff with the ability to work on a computer from home, eLearning Center modules are available to them.  While the modules must be reported through RTS, this can be done by any employee with the “Security” security permission if they have access to an RTS workstation or submitted once they return to your office.

The department encourages you to run the Expiration Report located in the Cognos eLearning Reports folder, as this report will identify specific employees and the specific eLearning modules that have not yet been reported to the department.  For guidance on generating the report, please review the RTS 9.5 Release Notes.

Additionally, the department is receiving a high volume of eLearning Center related questions, and we would like to remind you about the eLearning Center Job Aid.  This job aid contains many of the answers to the questions we are receiving.  All county training program related materials, including the RTS 9.5 Release Notes and eLearning Center Job Aid, are located on the TAC Hub under the “County Training” tab or https://www.txdmv.gov/tax-assessor-collectors?tab=countytraining.

Thank you,

Jeremiah Kuntz, Director
Vehicle Titles and Registration Division
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

If you have any questions concerning this communication, please contact your local TxDMV Regional Service Center.

Please review and distribute as appropriate.

Senate Bill 604, enacted by the 86th Legislature, amended Transportation Code, Section 520.005 by adding Subsection (e). This new subsection requires each county tax assessor-collector to make webDEALER available to any licensed motor vehicle dealers (“dealers”) requesting access effective September 1, 2020.

While granting webDEALER access is required, Subsection (e) does not mandate or impact who counties deputize as dealer deputies nor county established dealer deputy requirements. Deputizing a dealer remains at the sole discretion of the county tax assessor-collector’s office.

In an effort to ensure all county tax assessor-collector offices are ready for this requirement, the department is contacting each county not currently setup with webDEALER access. The department will be verifying who will act as the county webDEALER administrator, ensuring this administrator has completed the applicable eLearning Center courses, and verifying access once the administrator is established.

Additionally, the department has created a project team charged with making programming enhancements to webDEALER. Many of these enhancements will address requests made by county tax assessor-collectors and dealers currently utilizing webDEALER.

The Texas dealer associations are aware of this new requirement and may begin notifying their members. This may result in your offices receiving inquiries related to webDEALER access.

To assist county tax assessor-collectors and dealers with initial webDEALER setup, the department has posted “Getting Started with webDEALER” videos at www.TxDMV.gov.

• The county tax assessor-collector version is available on the TAC Hub under the “Webinars & Presentations” tab or https://www.txdmv.gov/tax-assessor-collectors?tab=webinarspresentations.
• The dealer version is available on the Dealers portal under the “webDEALER” tab or https://www.txdmv.gov/dealers?tab=webdealer.

County tax assessor-collector’s offices receiving inquiries from dealers requesting webDEALER access may utilize the dealer version of “Getting Started with webDEALER” video as a resource.

In the coming weeks, “Using webDEALER” videos will also be made available to county tax assessor-collector offices and dealers at the same locations specified above. The department will notify you once these videos are available and provide additional information at that time.

Beginning in May, the department’s 16 Regional Service Center Managers will reach out to each county tax assessor-collector’s office not currently utilizing webDEALER to schedule time to present “Getting Started with webDEALER” and “Using webDEALER” on a more personalized level.

While the requirement to provide webDEALER access to dealers who make a request is not effective until September 1, 2020, there is no prohibition against granting authorization prior to this date. The department encourages you to begin utilizing webDEALER as soon as you are ready.

If you have any questions, please contact your local Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Regional Service Center.

Thank you,

Jeremiah Kuntz, Director

Vehicle Titles and Registration Division

JK:TT:TH

If you have any questions concerning this communication, please contact your local TxDMV Regional Service Center.

Please review and distribute as appropriate.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has received numerous phone calls from motorists who have received citations from law enforcement for registration violations.  We are sending the attached communication to law enforcement officials in order to provide clarification regarding Governor Abbott’s waivers pertaining to vehicle registration.  We ask that you provide the attached notice to your local law enforcement agencies to assist TxDMV in communicating this important message.

Vehicle owners may contact your office due to receipt of a citation for expired registration or for general questions regarding the registration waivers.  We are providing a copy of Governor Abbott’s press release regarding the waivers (attached) for the use of county tax assessor-collectors and for sharing with motorists who have been cited.

For tax assessor-collectors renewing an expired registration while the temporary waiver is in effect, the “Valid Reason” should be selected on the Registration Additional Info REG039 screen in the Registration and Title System.  Also, do not select “Citation/Charge Penalty” on the REG039 screen if the vehicle owner received a citation dated March 16, 2020, or later for expired registration.

The TxDMV will provide notice when normal services resume, and the temporary waivers will remain in effect until 60 days after the notice is provided.  Updated guidance on processing expired registrations, and the selection of “Valid Reason” and “Citation/Charge Penalty,” will be provided to tax assessor-collectors at that time.

Thank you,

Jeremiah Kuntz, Director
Vehicle Titles and Registration Division
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Attachment

If you have any questions concerning this communication, please contact your local TxDMV Regional Service Center.

Please review and distribute as appropriate.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has received numerous phone calls from motorists who have received citations from law enforcement for registration violations.  We are sending the attached communication to law enforcement officials in order to provide clarification regarding Governor Abbott’s waivers pertaining to vehicle registration.  We ask that you provide the attached notice to your local law enforcement agencies to assist TxDMV in communicating this important message.

Vehicle owners may contact your office due to receipt of a citation for expired registration or for general questions regarding the registration waivers.  We are providing a copy of Governor Abbott’s press release regarding the waivers (attached) for the use of county tax assessor-collectors and for sharing with motorists who have been cited.

For tax assessor-collectors renewing an expired registration while the temporary waiver is in effect, the “Valid Reason” should be selected on the Registration Additional Info REG039 screen in the Registration and Title System.  Also, do not select “Citation/Charge Penalty” on the REG039 screen if the vehicle owner received a citation dated March 16, 2020, or later for expired registration.

The TxDMV will provide notice when normal services resume, and the temporary waivers will remain in effect until 60 days after the notice is provided.  Updated guidance on processing expired registrations, and the selection of “Valid Reason” and “Citation/Charge Penalty,” will be provided to tax assessor-collectors at that time.

Thank you,

Jeremiah Kuntz, Director
Vehicle Titles and Registration Division
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Attachment

If you have any questions concerning this communication, please contact your local TxDMV Regional Service Center.