1.7 Assembly Bill 516 – Online ROS

Assembly Bill 516, which took effect on January 1, 2019, fundamentally changed how dealers file their Reports of Sale with DMV. Before AB 516, dealers could submit paper Reports of Sale. After AB 516, electronic filing is required. The Report of Sale — the REG 51 — must be filed electronically through the DMV’s system.

Here’s why this matters and how it integrates with your daily operations. When you sell a vehicle, you’re required to file the Report of Sale within a specific timeframe. The electronic system ties directly into the Temporary License Plate issuance system. In other words, when you file your electronic ROS, the system generates the TLP. These two functions are linked — you generally cannot issue a TLP without filing the ROS, and you need the TLP before the buyer can drive the vehicle off your lot.

This integration was intentional. Before AB 516, there was a significant problem with “paper plate” fraud. People were driving around with fake temporary permits, and law enforcement had no way to verify whether a paper permit was legitimate without calling DMV. The electronic system creates a database that law enforcement can query in real time. When an officer runs a TLP number, the system shows whether it’s valid, who issued it, and what vehicle it’s associated with.

From your perspective as a dealer, you need to make sure several things are in place. You need reliable internet at your dealership — because if you can’t connect to the DMV system, you can’t file electronically, and you can’t issue TLPs. You need to be trained on the electronic filing system and keep your access credentials current. And you need to understand the information the system requires, because incomplete submissions will be rejected.

The electronic ROS requires the same information as the old paper form — vehicle identification number, selling price, buyer information, dealer information, smog certification details — but the electronic format reduces errors because the system validates entries before accepting the submission. If you enter a VIN incorrectly, for example, the system will flag it. This is actually an advantage over the paper process, where a transposed digit might not be caught until weeks later when DMV processed the paperwork.