Paper tags in place of a traditional metal license plate will soon no longer be such a common site in our Oklahoma communities thanks to a recent law. Paper tags will no longer be permitted on vehicles for two months.
Governor Kevin Stitt signed SB 2035, also known as the Mason Treat Act, into law in late April. The bill is named after Senate leader Greg Treat’s son Mason who was severely injured while pulled over for not having a license plate on a vehicle he had recently purchased privately. One of the biggest changes within the law is that paper tags are now only effective for ten days rather than two months. Also, the timeline to get either a temporary or permanent plate after the purchase of a vehicle is lessened from 15 days to five days (but the driver must keep a signed copy of the Bill of Sale in the vehicle during this time).
Oklahoma tag agents believe this will help reduce fraud cases in our state. The plate change isn’t the only provision to help reduce motor vehicle fraud however, as the law also increases accessibility to electronic records for car dealers and for private transactions to be better documented and temporary paper tags to be printed at home.
Oklahoma car dealerships will now have access to electronically enter the necessary buyer information for each individual vehicle sale to Service Oklahoma every 24 hours. Additionally, both car dealers and car buyers are now required to complete the pre-registration of the vehicle by providing the necessary documentation to Service Oklahoma or a licensed operator identifying the vehicle within two days of the sale.
For private sales, anyone buying a motor vehicle in Oklahoma privately will now be able to print a temporary tag to place on their vehicle after the above documentation has been submitted if the seller is keeping a custom tag that was previously on the vehicle.
Overall, this bill shortens timeframes for Oklahoma drivers to go without a tag and limits the timeframe in which a driver may utilize temporary paper tags. It also makes it easier for drivers to obtain the necessary documentation to avoid unnecessary encounters with police on the side of busy roads. Doing this limits risk to drivers while also limiting fraud as expired or fake paper tags have been a source of fines and penalties in the past.
If you are buying or selling vehicles in Oklahoma and need legal counsel to better understand and comply with SB 2035 and other relevant statutes, contact HB Law Partners to conduct motor vehicle business with confidence. Don’t let yourself be the victim of fraud or accidentally become the target of a fraud investigation due to noncompliance.
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