When you sell a car in Houston, three small things are easy to forget on sale day: your license plates, your registration sticker, and your toll tag. If you sell to a licensed dealer, standard general-issue plates are removed by the dealer, while specialty plates stay with you. In a private sale, you can choose to remove your plates and sticker. Either way, remove the EZ TAG or TxTag sticker, ask HCTRA to deactivate it, and file a Vehicle Transfer Notification so tolls and tickets on the car are no longer tied to you.
Texas changed how dealers handle plates in 2025. TxDMV's House Bill 718 implementation page explains that since July 1, 2025, dealers issue metal plates at the time of sale instead of paper temporary tags. The same page describes a related change under Senate Bill 1902:
Private-party sale: TxDMV's buying-or-selling page says the seller has the option to remove their plates and registration sticker. If you remove them, you can transfer the plates to a vehicle you are buying (same vehicle class), keep them for a future transfer (the registration sticker does not transfer), or, if you do neither, deface the front of the plates with permanent black ink or another method to prevent fraudulent use.
In a private sale where you remove the plates and sticker, TxDMV notes the sticker does not move with plates you keep. If a private sale happens on a weekend and you remove the plates and sticker, TxDMV says the buyer will need a Vehicle Transit Permit to legally drive to the county tax office, or to another place if the office is closed. The permit is valid for five calendar days.
This is the one Houston sellers miss most. A toll sticker stays linked to your account until you do something about it. TxDOT's How tags work page says that when you sell your vehicle you should:
The same page warns that even after a sale, you are liable for toll charges until the title is transferred to the new owner or until you submit a motor vehicle transfer notification. Tags also should not be moved to your next car, because removing a sticker damages its microchip. Add the new vehicle to your account and request a new tag instead.
TxDMV says that when you file a Vehicle Transfer Notification within 30 days of the sale, you cannot be held responsible for parking tickets and toll violations committed by the buyer. That matters most when you sell to a licensed dealer: TxDMV notes a dealer does not have to title the vehicle in the dealership's name, so the car can stay in your name until it is sold to an individual, which may take months. We covered the steps in our earlier post on the Vehicle Transfer Notification.
Takeaway: Getting paid is only part of selling a car in Houston. Handle the plates the right way for your type of sale, pull the toll tag and deactivate it, and file the transfer notification so the next owner's tolls and tickets do not land on you.