Upon request, the Director shall prepare and issue to any person special use identification tags and special use certificates to accompany such tags for use on a vehicle in connection with the acceptance of delivery of the vehicle, for official inspection of the vehicle, and for other purposes set forth in this section.
Special use tags may be issued under circumstances in which it would be unreasonable or impractical to obtain a registration for a motor vehicle. The Director has authority to establish the specific purposes for which special use tags may be issued under this section.
Special use tags shall be limited to the following purposes:
Special use tags shall not constitute registration of a motor vehicle as required by § 2(a), Title IV, of the Act of August 17, 1937, as amended, and are not transferable.
Special use tags shall be issued for a period not to exceed forty-five (45) days. The Director may, in his discretion for good cause shown, upon payment of the proper fee, issue special use tags for an additional forty-five (45) day period or periods.
Special use identification tags shall be displayed in the same manner required for the display of motor vehicle identification tags in § 422 of this chapter.
Special use certificates shall be carried in the vehicle bearing the special use tags for which the special use certificate was issued whenever the vehicle is being operated on the highways.
Upon removal of special use tags from a vehicle, they shall be destroyed immediately by the person to whom issued or by his agent.
The form, content, size, and type of special use tags shall be determined by the Director, except as specifically prescribed in this section.
All entries on special use tags except the expiration date shall be legibly printed on each tag issued with a waterproof crayon or waterproof ink marking device.
Special use certificates and special use identification tags shall contain the following:
The date of expiration shall be imprinted legibly on such special use identification tags in black ink with a rubber stamp in letters and numerals not less than three quarters of an inch (3/4 in.) in height, and not less than one-eighth of an inch (1/8 in.) in width.
Special use identification tags shall only be issued to persons submitting, in addition to any other items required by the Director, the following:
Any dealer or financing company may fax a copy of a vehicle's title or dealer's proof of ownership, front and back, to the Department to establish proof of ownership as required by § 426.13(b); except that the Department reserves the right to require the submission of the original documents.
The Director shall not issue special use identification tags to residents of Maryland or Virginia, except as provided in § 426.16.
Any dealer registered in the District of Columbia or their agent may obtain a special use identification tag by appearing at the Department on behalf of a customer from any jurisdiction; provided, that the customer authorizes the dealer to act as their agent by signing the form provided to the dealer by the Department.
If a vehicle displaying a valid special use identification tag fails motor vehicle safety or emissions inspection, the initial special use identification tag may be removed by the DMV inspection station staff and a replacement special use identification tag may be issued.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 18, r. 18-426