Parents Behind on Child Support Will Have Problems Renewing Vehicle Registration

Beginning next month, a new law will keep parents who are behind on child support payments by 6 months or more in Texas from renewing their motor vehicle registration.

The Texas Attorney General's Office said the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles can send a denial of motor vehicle registration to parents who have gone at least six months without making child support payments.  

The law states parents will be notified 90 days before their registrations are set to expire. This will apply to all vehicles owned by these parents.

According to the Denial of Motor Vehicle Registration Renewals document, The OAG's Child Support Division will electronically match a file of parents who have not made a child support payment in at least 180 days with the Texas Department of Insurance database to obtain the delinquent parents' vehicle identification numbers (VINs).

Once it does so, the OAG verifies a parent's delinquency and forwards the information to the TxDMV to deny the parent's MVR renewal.

Parents will receive renewal notices three months prior to the expiration date from the TxDMV, and a letter from the OAG's Child Support Division 90 days prior to the expiration of their vehicle registration. The letter will contain information regarding the steps parents can take to have the hold released. For more details on how the denial will work, click here.

The OAG has also dedicated a phone line for all denial of motor vehicle registration renewal issues. Parents can call (866) 646-5611 to make payment arrangements.