News in 2010

Florida’s new temporary metal plate transfer system adds some new features that will benefit dealers, including the ability to void a transfer and restore a previous registration, under certain circumstances.

When determining if a temporary metal plate transfer is necessary, the first thing to consider is the number of days left on the registration. If the registration being temporarily transferred has 30 or more days remaining , dealers can process a temporary transfer of a metal plate. If the registration being temporarily transferred has less than 30 days remaining , a temporary tag must be issued.

If the sale of a vehicle falls through on the same day as the temporary metal plate transfer, the transaction can be voided. This feature is only available on the same day the transfer is performed, and will restore the previous registration and cancel the fees for the temporary transfer transaction.

If the sale of a vehicle falls through after the date of the temporary metal plate transfer, a dealer can remove the transfer and restore the previous registration. In this case, the state transfer fee cannot be refunded because the transfer has been processed, but there is no cost to restore the previous registration.

Temporary Metal Plate Transfer Q & A

As with any new requirement, there are bound to be questions. The following Q & A should help answers some common questions about the new system.

Q: Will the registration expiration date change?

A: The existing registration expiration date will be retained under the new temporary metal plate transfer rules.

Q: Can a metal plate transfer be temporarily transferred to more than one registered owner?

A: During the temporary transfer of metal plates, only one of the existing owners on the registration will remain on the record during the time that the registration is “temporary.”

Q: What if the temporary metal plate transfer expires, and the permanent transfer has not occurred?

A: If the registration for a Temporary Metal Plate Transfer expires before the title and the permanent transfer occur, then the dealer must perform a RESTORE and then process an ETR temporary plate transaction.

Q: What if there is a system outage?

A: When the system is down (either the vendor’s system or DHSMV) a Temporary Metal Plate Transfer cannot be performed and a pre-printed paper temporary plate may be issued. All rules for Off-line Temporary Plate processing will apply.

If a pre-printed paper temporary plate expires before the permanent Registration Transfer has been completed, the dealer may perform a Temporary Metal Plate Transfer transaction.

Q: How will this affect insurance requirements?

A: Dealers are not required to submit insurance information during Temporary Metal Plate Transfer transaction.

Dealers are still required to collect and submit insurance information with the title and registration work submitted to a Tax Collector or License Plate agency.

Q: How does this affect the new title and registration?

A: If the vehicle receiving the temporarily transferred registration was previously titled and/ or registered in Florida , the title will be marked as sold and the old registration detached when the new registration is transferred to the vehicle.

For more information about the new temporary transfer requirement, contact your temporary tag vendor or visit Auto Data Direct’s website at www.add123.com.