EL PASO, Texas -- Texas Department of Transportation officials said nine out of 10 Texans forget one of the steps to properly protect their title when selling a car.

"We want Texans to be aware of what to do when they are buying and selling a car so that they don't run into problems later on," said Rebecca Davio with TxDOT.

Davio said it is an easy two step process.

"For sellers we want them to keep their license plates and put it on another vehicle they own, and be sure and let TxDOT know that they have sold their vehicle by filing a vehicle transfer notice online," she said.

Davio said for example if you leave the license plates on the car you sell, and then the new owner runs a red light at a red light camera intersection, you would get the ticket, because the license plate remains under your name.

"Anyone buying or selling a vehicle in Texas should make keeping the paperwork straight after the sale a top priority," said Davio.

El Pasoans KFOX spoke to were pretty surprised about what they need to do to keep their title safe.

"In all honesty I didn't know about it. usually when I bought cars in the past, we traded in my old one and I never knew this," said Kathy Ward from West El Paso.

"I had no idea that something as simple as not taking your driver's license plate off after selling a vehicle that you could get in trouble," said Anthony Jaramillo, also from West El Paso.

And they didn't want to be held responsible for someone else's actions.

"It's unfortunate that that stuff happens just by simple mistakes we make as citizens," said Jaramillo.

TxDOT said there is only a 30-day window from the time you sell or trade your car to file the vehicle transfer notification before you will be held responsible for anything the buyer does with your car.