Common Texas Deal Questions

This article covers two automatic rules that change or block a deal's finance terms: the OCCC maximum-rate cap on Texas deals, which lowers an entered APR to the maximum allowed for the vehicle's age and term, and the Rule of 78 restriction that blocks finalize on a Term over 61 months.

Scope: this article is only about the APR cap and the Rule of 78 term limit. It is not about payment amounts, taxes, or fees recalculating for other reasons, and it is not about the other validation errors that block finalize (missing buyer fields, vehicle status, trade-in conflicts) — those are in Troubleshooting 'Unable to Finalize Deal' Errors.

Questions this answers

• "On a Texas deal I entered the APR the customer agreed to and after saving, the APR shown is lower — is the OCCC cap doing that?"
• "My deal uses Rule of 78 financing on a 66 month term and Finalize Sale is blocked. What do I change?"
• "The APR keeps resetting to the max allowed rate every time the deal recalculates. Can I type the higher rate back in?"
• "Which vehicle model years use which OCCC rate table — why did the cap change when I fixed the year?"

State APR caps: why an entered rate can be automatically reduced

On deals in states with a legal maximum interest rate for used-vehicle financing (Texas is currently the state DeskManager Online enforces this for), the system checks the rate you enter against the state's allowed maximum for that vehicle's age and loan term. If your entered rate is over the limit, DeskManager Online automatically reduces it to the maximum allowed rate and shows the message:

"The APR entered is greater than the rate allowed by the OCCC. The APR has been adjusted to the max allowed rate based on the vehicle's age, the term of the contract, and the sale date."

This is not a glitch — the system is applying the vehicle's rate class:

• Vehicles that are 2 model years old or newer (relative to the contract date) are capped at a flat rate.
• Vehicles 3–4 years old use one rate table by term.
• Vehicles 5+ years old use a different rate table by term.

Once the cap has been applied once on a deal, DeskManager Online re-checks and re-applies it on every later recalculation — so you can't manually type the higher rate back in. If you need a different rate, the only way to change the result is to change the term or confirm the vehicle's model year is correct.

Because this is a compliance-driven limit, verify the vehicle's model year and the contract term are accurate before assuming the capped rate is wrong — a data-entry error in either field can trigger the cap unexpectedly.

Finance-method and term restrictions (Rule of 78)

If a deal is financed using the Rule of 78 method with a term over 61 months, DeskManager Online blocks finalize outright — Rule of 78 amortization is not applied to the deal at all until the term is corrected. You'll see:

"Rule of 78s financing is not permitted for this deal. Federal law prohibits the use of the Rule of 78s method for precomputed consumer credit transactions with terms exceeding 61 months. Please adjust the term to 61 months or fewer, or select the actuarial method to proceed."

To resolve it, either:

1. Reduce the deal's Term to 61 months or fewer, or
2. Change the Finance Method to a Simple Interest / actuarial method instead of Rule of 78.

This cap reflects a federal restriction on Rule of 78 use for longer-term consumer credit contracts; confirm with your compliance officer that the actuarial method is appropriate for the deal before switching.

What to do if that doesn't fix it

• If the rate keeps coming back capped after you've confirmed the vehicle's model year and the contract term are both correct, the deal is in a state where DeskManager Online believes the cap legitimately applies — changing the rate field again won't override it.
• If you need Rule of 78 on a term over 61 months for a reason you believe is compliant, that combination isn't something DeskManager Online will finalize; the deal needs to be restructured with a shorter term or a different finance method instead.
• If the deal is also blocked by other validation errors (missing buyer fields, vehicle status, a trade-in conflict), those are separate checks — see Troubleshooting 'Unable to Finalize Deal' Errors for the full list.

When to contact support

Contact AutoManager support if:

• The APR cap is being applied and you believe the vehicle's model year or the contract's sale date is being read incorrectly.
• Rule of 78 is blocked on a term you believe should be allowed.

When you do, have ready: the deal number, the vehicle's model year and stock number, the state the deal is in, the term and finance method, and the exact message shown.