Texas
Texas dealer licensing
The official agencies and forms for used car dealers in Texas, and who regulates lending if you carry your own paper.
DMV / MVD
Open the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles licensing pages
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, Motor Vehicle Division
Dealer license types
Independent (GDN)FranchiseSalvage DealerConverterDistributorIn-TransitLeasingManufacturer
A second license applies
If you finance your own customers
The agency above licenses you to sell cars. You need a separate license to finance your customers, obtained from:
Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner
- What it is called
- Motor Vehicle Sales Finance License
- Who it covers
- Motor vehicle retail sellers who sell vehicles and agree to accept the price over time
- The statute
- Texas Finance Code § 348.501
Other agencies you may deal with
Common state offices for setup, licensing, and operations.
Business setup
- Hiring staffTexas Workforce Commission, Unemployment Tax
- Registering the businessTexas Secretary of State, Business & Public Filings
- Sales taxTexas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Sales Tax Permit
Operating
- Customer complaintsTxDMV Enforcement Division, Complaints
- Temporary tagsTxDMV webDEALER | ePLATE
- Titles & platesTexas Department of Motor Vehicles, Motorists
- Vehicle inspectionTexas Department of Public Safety, Vehicle Inspection
Official Texas forms and pages
Applying
Changing something
Looking something up
Filing online
Another state
Opening a new dealership?
The license is only part of what you need.
Corrections. Agencies move their pages and rename their forms constantly. If a link here is dead or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.