Q. I recently leased a new ’08 Cadillac CTS from a Massachusetts dealership. I had a trade-in vehicle. Instead of transferring my plate, the dealership got a new registration from RI DMV. The finance manager said that they cannot transfer the plate since it is a lease. Somehow, I do not believe him. What do I need to do to get my original two letter, three digit plates back on the new vehicle? I hate to lose the plate; it’s my wife’s initials which we’ve had for 10 years.

A. The dealer was incorrect. All you would have had to do as the lessee is write a letter stating that you wished to allow the leasing company the use of your current plates on the leased vehicle for the duration of the lease. The DMV would have then canceled the plate out of your name and re-registered it to the leased vehicle.

With a power of attorney form from the leasing company, you can get those plates back on your car, assuming you have the plates in your possession. Visit any branch of the RI DMV with the plates currently assigned to your leased vehicle, the power of attorney form from the leasing company (the dealership will provide you with this document, or you can contact your leasing company directly) and the TR-1 application form from the DMV. This transaction should be a simple plate change, and will cost $21.50.

If you do not have the plates in question, you must order a duplicate set of plates, and then complete the plate change once the plates are made and delivered to the DMV.

Gina Antonucci Zanni, chief of communications for the State Division of Motor Vehicles, has agreed to answer questions of general interest posed by Journal readers about state motor vehicle laws and procedures. To ask a question that would also be of interest to other readers, send a letter to Ask projoCars, Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI, 02902. You can e-mail your question to projocars@projo.com. Please put “Ask projoCars” in the subject field. Questions or complaints of a specific nature should be posed to the DMV directly and will not be answered in this column.