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Ghost plate law: Are criminals still on Houston streets?
A year into a Texas law attempting to prevent fake car tags on the streets, law enforcement are watching criminals adjust their tactics to avoid the rule.
HOUSTON, Texas - Eight months after Texas officially pulled the plug on the paper license plate system, law enforcement officials say the transition to metal tags is successfully curbing the "ghost car" phenomenon that has haunted Houston highways for years.
Haunted Houston highways for years
The backstory:
House Bill 718, authored by then-State Rep. Craig Goldman and implemented on July 1, 2025, ended the decades-long practice of allowing auto dealers to print temporary paper tags. Instead, dealers are now required to issue permanent metal plates at the time of purchase.
Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen, whose deputies patrol some of the city's busiest corridors, says the results on the street have been immediate.
"It has really helped having a metal plate that the dealership issues," Rosen said. "We had a lot of problems with these fraudulent plates where you could buy just a piece of paper and they would throw a VIN on it. Metal plates have really helped us a lot."
Texas got rid of paper tags. Now, fraudsters are using fake metal plates
Last year, Texas got rid of paper tags, trying to combat fraud, but now the issue has moved to metal plates. If you're buying a used car online, you should be careful.
"It really is a game changer."
What they're saying:
For years, Houston was considered "ground zero" for fake temporary tags. Criminals used the easily counterfeited paper to create untraceable vehicles, often used in robberies, hit-and-runs, and avoiding tolls. Rosen noted that the physical durability of the new plates has also improved officer efficiency.
"It’s much more difficult to bend a metal plate or have it get wet, and you can’t really read it anymore," Rosen said. "It really is a game changer."
However, the shift hasn't entirely eliminated vehicle registration fraud. Instead, the "ghost car" market appears to be evolving. Rosen noted that his office is seeing an uptick in stolen metal plates being swapped onto different vehicles.
"Criminals will always adjust their behavior," Rosen said. "You're not going to be able to make a metal plate. So you might steal one, but again, we're still able to readily identify even a stolen one."
Modern law enforcement technology, specifically License Plate Readers (LPRs), has become the primary weapon against this new tactic. Because metal plates provide a high-contrast image for cameras, scanners can instantly cross-reference a plate with a vehicle’s description. If a plate registered to a silver sedan appears on a black SUV, the system flags the vehicle immediately.
While the new mandate added an initial inventory burden for auto dealers across the state, Rosen believes the public safety payoff is worth the adjustment.
"From my perspective, it’s been very helpful," Rosen said. "I think it’s a win thus far."
Constable’s advice
What you can do:
For Houstonians, the constable’s advice is simple: if involved in an accident with a suspicious vehicle, snap a photo of the plate. With the new system in place, police say the probability of tracking that vehicle down is now higher than ever before.
The Source: Constable Alan Rosen, House Bill 718, Official TxDMV records