Report expired paper tags

[flechero]

How do they get away with it?

Surprised they do... my wife has been pulled over multiple times within a day or two of her window sticker going out- She had it, but I hadn't put it on yet. You'd think they would be all over [long] expired paper tags.

[03Lightningrocks]

I am pretty sure we all have a window sticker in Texas now. I have seen a few of the paper tags but now that I think of it don't know how long it's been since seeing one. Regardless, I live in an area that has a lot of people and other more important issues for the law to be dealing with. I would feel like a dope calling the police because my neighbor had expired tags. They might even laugh at me on the phone. I would expect them to. I have had expired registration in the past. Many times. I always had insurance though. Usually it was just a matter of forgetting about it. I have only been pulled over once but it was back when we had window stickers for inspection only and it was like two years out. Some folks are just luckier than others. My SIL is an unlucky one. His goes out and two days later he is getting pulled over. me? I can drive around like that for two years and not get caught.

[clarionite]

I am pretty sure we all have a window sticker in Texas now. I have seen a few of the paper tags but now that I think of it don't know how long it's been since seeing one. Regardless, I live in an area that has a lot of people and other more important issues for the law to be dealing with. I would feel like a dope calling the police because my neighbor had expired tags. They might even laugh at me on the phone. I would expect them to. I have had expired registration in the past. Many times. I always had insurance though. Usually it was just a matter of forgetting about it. I have only been pulled over once but it was back when we had window stickers for inspection only and it was like two years out. Some folks are just luckier than others. My SIL is an unlucky one. His goes out and two days later he is getting pulled over. me? I can drive around like that for two years and not get caught.

I bought a new car last year. When the tags came in the mail, I must not have seen the window tag and thrown it away. I realized I didn't have one when it came time to renew my truck's tags, and I went to see when the car was due. I looked it up online and I was two months out for the car, So I renewed it at the same time. Now I have one. I'm surprised I didn't get pulled over in the 10 months I drove without one.

[03Lightningrocks]

I am pretty sure we all have a window sticker in Texas now. I have seen a few of the paper tags but now that I think of it don't know how long it's been since seeing one. Regardless, I live in an area that has a lot of people and other more important issues for the law to be dealing with. I would feel like a dope calling the police because my neighbor had expired tags. They might even laugh at me on the phone. I would expect them to. I have had expired registration in the past. Many times. I always had insurance though. Usually it was just a matter of forgetting about it. I have only been pulled over once but it was back when we had window stickers for inspection only and it was like two years out. Some folks are just luckier than others. My SIL is an unlucky one. His goes out and two days later he is getting pulled over. me? I can drive around like that for two years and not get caught.

I bought a new car last year. When the tags came in the mail, I must not have seen the window tag and thrown it away. I realized I didn't have one when it came time to renew my truck's tags, and I went to see when the car was due. I looked it up online and I was two months out for the car, So I renewed it at the same time. Now I have one. I'm surprised I didn't get pulled over in the 10 months I drove without one.

I got confused by it at first. My truck sticker and tags were out by 2 years. When I went to register they informed me the new law says it has to be inspected first. So I get it inspected and leave. After driving back to the service station to tell them they forgot my sticker, I found out there is no inspection sticker now. It is kind of a pain. My truck had sat in the garage for six months and had a dead battery. I had to drive it for 150 miles with no valid sticker so it could pass inspection and get registered. Kind of a catch 22.

[philip964]

I wouldn’t drive much with paper tags.

Police officer told me they like to stop paper tag cars because they can be faked so easily and conceal stolen cars.

[SQLGeek]

Paper tags are a cottage industry in my neck of the woods. There was an "electronics" shop in the warehouse center where my brother had his studio that issued paper tags to any one who came in. There was always a pile of expired metal plates in front of the place. Paper tags are also used by criminals to prevent identification of a vehicle used in crimes, like jugging. In my ride alongs with PPD paper tags were always checked by the officers. They would check the VIN# s printed on the tags to see if the vehicle matched the description.

There are people selling fake paper tags all over Facebook marketplace. Seems like it's a losing battle.

[J.R.@A&M]

Normal paperwork, and perhaps law enforcement, appears to be running a little slow these days.

My registration sticker expired in the Spring. I got my inspection, but the tax assessor offices in Harris County are not open for business. Over the phone they told me to mail in proof of insurance, inspection, and registration fee. Did that, but haven't heard back for six weeks maybe. Meanwhile, I'm passing lots of local law enforcement that normally would have pulled me over for expired sticker. I'm assuming they're ignoring such things, unless they had another reason to pull me over (which they don't).

[C-dub]

But now for a possible explanation of why you don't see the police do anything. It is not generally illegal to have a car parked on the street with expired or no registration. There are some places with ordinances about using the street for storage, but that is all they can do with a parked car. To do something meaningful, they need to catch the person driving. Then, if it is just a real expired tag, she gets a ticket. You would never see that. If the paper tag is a forgery or someone altered it, then it goes up in level to a higher misdemeanor or even felony, depending on the exact circumstances.

Lewisville is or used to be a little militant about this. They would ticket you for having a vehicle parked on the street with a flat tire. They would also ticket you for an expired registration. My wife's car wasn't running and we had intended to donate it to The Can Academy. We already had another car for her and the non-running car was in our driveway with a cover on it. When the ticket arrived in the mail (from code enforcement BTW) I called to tell them it was not functioning and what we were planning on doing with it. During the conversation I asked how they could tell the registration had expired since it was pointed towards the house in the driveway and had a cover on it. They told me they were walking the neighborhood checking for code violations and lifted the cover to check. I complained and they said they had the right to do that according to the code. I informed them I also had the right to shoot anyone I found doing that because it would look to me like that person would appear to be attempting to steal my vehicle. I never received another code violation as long as we lived in that house. I may not have deserved one either, but I still never got one. They were also crazy about the length of your lawn. I would get notices a week or so after mowing. They claimed it was for a date one or two days before I mowed.

Farmers Branch is even worse. Nearly as bad as an HOA. Maybe worse about some things.

[03Lightningrocks]

But now for a possible explanation of why you don't see the police do anything. It is not generally illegal to have a car parked on the street with expired or no registration. There are some places with ordinances about using the street for storage, but that is all they can do with a parked car. To do something meaningful, they need to catch the person driving. Then, if it is just a real expired tag, she gets a ticket. You would never see that. If the paper tag is a forgery or someone altered it, then it goes up in level to a higher misdemeanor or even felony, depending on the exact circumstances.

Lewisville is or used to be a little militant about this. They would ticket you for having a vehicle parked on the street with a flat tire. They would also ticket you for an expired registration. My wife's car wasn't running and we had intended to donate it to The Can Academy. We already had another car for her and the non-running car was in our driveway with a cover on it. When the ticket arrived in the mail (from code enforcement BTW) I called to tell them it was not functioning and what we were planning on doing with it. During the conversation I asked how they could tell the registration had expired since it was pointed towards the house in the driveway and had a cover on it. They told me they were walking the neighborhood checking for code violations and lifted the cover to check. I complained and they said they had the right to do that according to the code. I informed them I also had the right to shoot anyone I found doing that because it would look to me like that person would appear to be attempting to steal my vehicle. I never received another code violation as long as we lived in that house. I may not have deserved one either, but I still never got one. They were also crazy about the length of your lawn. I would get notices a week or so after mowing. They claimed it was for a date one or two days before I mowed.

Farmers Branch is even worse. Nearly as bad as an HOA. Maybe worse about some things.

Sounds like some of the crap Plano pulls. My SIL drives a company truck home every night. Some "Karen" in his neighborhood complained and he was told by code he could not park a commercial vehicle in front of his house.

[srothstein]

When the ticket arrived in the mail (from code enforcement BTW) I called to tell them it was not functioning and what we were planning on doing with it. During the conversation I asked how they could tell the registration had expired since it was pointed towards the house in the driveway and had a cover on it. They told me they were walking the neighborhood checking for code violations and lifted the cover to check. I complained and they said they had the right to do that according to the code.

There are some legal complications in code enforcement that I do not think are correct. We now have a SCOTUS decision that lifting the cover on a vehicle to chek it without probable cause is a 4th Amendment violation. Police officers lifted the cover on a motorcycle parked next to a house and found the bike was stolen. When they arrested the guy next, he fought the search and won.

The part I disagree with is if the city can pass laws allowing code enforcement to violate the 4th Amendment. SCOTUS has said they are inspections and as such are reasonable and therefore not against the 4th. This covers things like stopping boats to check for safety equipment and code enforcement checking if a building is being built correctly. I disagree but seem to be in the minority on this.

[The Annoyed Man]

Interesting - I generally thought paper tags was a real good reason for the police to pull you over to see if the car was stolen.

Yes and people that drive around with 2 year old paper tags, no registration sticker eventually get pulled over so the cop can find the meth pipe with residue, marijuana 'shake' all over the passenger seats and baggie with 2 crack rocks in them. I saw it all on LivePD until the got canceled.

You forgot the "These aren’t my pants".

[oohrah]

Normal paperwork, and perhaps law enforcement, appears to be running a little slow these days.

My registration sticker expired in the Spring. I got my inspection, but the tax assessor offices in Harris County are not open for business. Over the phone they told me to mail in proof of insurance, inspection, and registration fee. Did that, but haven't heard back for six weeks maybe. Meanwhile, I'm passing lots of local law enforcement that normally would have pulled me over for expired sticker. I'm assuming they're ignoring such things, unless they had another reason to pull me over (which they don't).

I just renewed my truck online at texas.gov - insurance and inspection was verified automatically. Had my new sticker in 10 days. But, also received an email verifying my renewal for law enforcement in case the mail was delayed. All in my pajamas.

[KC5AV]

Are you able to get vehicles inspected? I tried before my tags expired, and was told the place wasn’t doing inspections due to the pandemic. I haven’t found anywhere online saying that inspections have resumed.

[Flightmare]

Are you able to get vehicles inspected? I tried before my tags expired, and was told the place wasn’t doing inspections due to the pandemic. I haven’t found anywhere online saying that inspections have resumed.

I was able to get my vehicle inspected last month. The only delay was that I went during lunch time, and the inspector wasn't due back from lunch for 15 minutes. I waited around and was done in no time at all.

[KC5AV]

Are you able to get vehicles inspected? I tried before my tags expired, and was told the place wasn’t doing inspections due to the pandemic. I haven’t found anywhere online saying that inspections have resumed.

I was able to get my vehicle inspected last month. The only delay was that I went during lunch time, and the inspector wasn't due back from lunch for 15 minutes. I waited around and was done in no time at all.

The last update I see on Texas.gov is dated back in May.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) will reopen some of its regional service centers beginning Tuesday, May 26, 2020, with new office health and safety procedures in place. Customers will be served by appointment only. Click here to set an appointment.

THE TEMPORARY WAIVER OF VEHICLE TITLE AND REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.