Senate Bill 604 in the 86th Legislature added a pre-licensing training requirement for certain independent motor vehicle dealers. This new requirement in Texas Transportation Code § 503.0296 affects:
- All new license applicants
- Renewal applicants licensed less than 10 years as of September 1, 2019.
Additionally, the law requires:
- The training to be offered online to applicants.
- Training must include information on laws, Board rules, and consequences of violations.
- The training must be developed or approved by TxDMV.
- The training requirement is one time only; after completing training, applicants are not required to retake the training for subsequent license renewals.
To implement the new training requirement, the Board has approved a new rule, TEXAS ADMIN. CODE § 215.161, effective March 1, 2020, that requires:
- Course providers must be either a Texas institution of higher education, as defined by Education Code, §61.003, or a motor vehicle trade association domiciled in Texas.
- The licensing education course must consist of at least 6 hours of online instruction for new applicants and 3 hours of online instruction for renewal applicants.
- The cost for the licensing education course must not exceed $150 per person. A trade association course provider may not charge a different rate to a nonmember.
- The course provider must issue a certificate of completion to each person who successfully completes the licensing education course.
The new requirement is effective June 20, 2020, and courses for renewal applicants and new applicants have been approved by TxDMV. You may access approved courses at either TexasDealerEducation.com or texasdealers.com.
As course providers are approved by TxDMV, the department will send out a GovDelivery notice to announce the availability of new provider's courses, and this information will also be available on the TxDMV.gov website.
Independent motor vehicle GDN holders and applicants will upload their certificate of course completion into eLICENSING as part of the regular application process.
TxDMV Dealer Education FAQ
The pre-licensing training requirement applies only to dealers with an independent motor vehicle GDN. These dealers are licensed to buy, sell, or exchange used cars, trucks, motor homes, neighborhood vehicles, recreational off-road vehicles (ROV), all-terrain vehicles (ATV), and utility vehicles (UTV).
All applicants for new licenses and renewal applicants licensed less than 10 years on September 1, 2019 will be required to complete the one-time training.
The licensing training requirement does not apply to independent motorcycle dealers, independent travel trailer dealers, independent mobility motor vehicle dealers, utility trailer/semi-trailer dealers, wholesale dealers, wholesale auction dealers, salvage dealers, or franchised license dealers.
The new requirement will be effective June 20, 2020.
Currently, one course for renewal applicants and one course for new applicants has been approved by TxDMV. You may access these courses at TexasDealerEducation.com.
After the training requirement goes into effect, the eLICENSING system will prompt affected applicants to upload their certificate of course completion as part of the regular application process.
No, only one owner and/or operating manager for the business is required to take the course. The individual who completes the course must be one of the owners or managers for the business listed on the application.
A new owner and/or operating manager for the business must complete the course prior to the next license renewal.
No, you will not need to take the course. When eLICENSING prompts you to upload a certificate of course completion, you should upload a statement listing the dates, license holder names, and license numbers you have been associated with over the years. Once your license specialist verifies you were licensed for more than 10 years on September 1, 2019, you will not be required to take the course.
No, you will not need to take the course. When eLICENSING prompts you to upload a certificate of course completion, you should upload a statement listing the dates, license holder names, and license numbers you have been associated with over the years. Once your license specialist verifies you were licensed for more than 10 years on September 1, 2019, you will not be required to take the course.
If you, as an owner and/or operating manager for the business, have already completed the course, you do not need to take it again. You may upload the same course completion certificate for each renewal application.
Yes, the pre-licensing course is available in Spanish at texasdealereducation.com. To enroll in the course, click on “en Español” in the blue navigation bar near the top of the page.
You may email questions to MVD_Licensing_Inquiries@TxDMV.gov at any time, or call 1 (888) 368-4689 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information.