Mail Forwarding Service

[dkgood]

We are in the process of changing our residency to South Dakota. We have selected a mail service and won't be able to travel there until our campground contract has ended in mid October. We are planning to go to SD but not very far in to obtain our drivers license. On the other matter which I would request some of your expert advice is getting the vehicle license. We are licensed in Texas and the lien holders have our vehicle titles. Has anyone ever obtained their vehicle license without actually going to SD. The mail service offers a service to get the license but we have to furnish them with a Power of Attorney and I have reservations about that. Anny experiences or suggestions. Thanks

[Kirk W]

You may want to consider using the Escapee's mail service and their SD address service since that way you will still have a TX address for the lien holders. Before you change your registration to SD, I strongly suggest that you talk to the lien holder just to make sure that they do not have a prohibition of moving it in the fine print of your loan contract. It sometimes can cause the lender to "call" the loan.

[Ranger Smith]

Usually the lien holder will release the title to you like they did with us and mark it "for registration purposes only" then you can get it re-registered.I had no issue with the power of attorney as it was to register the vehicle only. We use a company called My Dakota Address. They are very good.

[sandsys]

It's a very limited power of attorney; you need not be afraid of that.

 

Linda Sand

[nana25k]

When we first registered our vehicles in SD thru MyDakota Address in 2007 we had a VA plate on our truck. We had an issue getting Chrysler faxing the right paper work to get the title. Terri was super helpful and knows how to get it done. She handled every detail when we bought our MH and car 2 years ago. The power of attorney is limited for these purposes. Trust her she's got this stuff done to a fine tuned science

[bigmike]

X 2 on My Dakota Address. Terri always took care of all those issues for us.

[TXiceman]

Question...Why leave Texas?

 

Ken

[sushidog]

I don't know why the OP chose SD over TX, but financially, registrations and vehicle insurance are cheaper in SD (even with the recent rate increases). Also there is no commercial DL requirement for RVs and no vehicle inspections.

 

There are disadvantages too (like the new wheel tax mandated in every county, and you must now spend a night in SD to renew DL, as they now require a current CG receipt with mail-in renewals too.) I'm just saying there are pros and cons.

 

Chip

[Ranger Smith]

There are no inspections in SD either. When I was in Texas it was I think every year.

[Dave O]

There are no inspections in SD either. When I was in Texas it was I think every year.

There are NO inspections required unless you are physically in Texas.

 

Been there and done this while in Indiana and received my Texas registration with NO problems.

 

Dave O

[accumack]

TX escapees is the best mail service. We've been on the road since 2012 no problems. We get mail twice a month.

[LindaH]

Also there is no commercial DL requirement for RVs

 

There is no commercial driver's license (CDL) requirement in Texas (unless your RV is being used for commercial purposes)! Depending on the weight of your rig or combination, you may need an upgraded, non-CDL, driver's license. It requires a written test and a driving test, both of which are easy to do. IMO, it certainly is not a reason to eliminate Texas from consideration as a domicile state.

[Ranger Smith]

There are NO inspections required unless you are physically in Texas.

 

Been there and done this while in Indiana and received my Texas registration with NO problems.

 

Dave O

Isn't there a sticker on the windshield for the inspection?? It's been a while since I had anything registered there. No extra test needed in SD to drive a MH like in Texas

[sushidog]

Isn't there a sticker on the windshield for the inspection?? It's been a while since I had anything registered there. No extra test needed in SD to drive a MH like in Texas

That's exactly what I meant. A special DL is needed in TX, which is not needed in SD. Regardless how easy the tests are, it's one extra hoop one must leap through if the GVWR of your RV is over 26001 lbs. (or towing a trailer with a GCWR over 10001 lbs. which is pretty easy to exceed for many one ton trucks and up, or even a 3/4 ton with just about any fiver or large TT.)

 

No, one thing by itself is not sufficient reason for excluding any state from consideration. The overall package needs to be evaluated on an individual basis. Also even though you don't need to have your vehicle inspected until you enter Texas, if you plan on being there each year, at least passing through, you will need to get the inspection. Again this is a small thing, just like the SD wheel tax, just part of the overall picture one needs to consider. Small fees or inconveniences add up over time. I think higher vehicle insurance rates and registration fees in TX also make up part of the picture too, as does being forced to physically return to SD for DL renewals. On the plus side for TX, if you plan on wintering over there as I will often do, resident fishing licenses are cheaper than non-resident, saving a few bucks each year, if you're an angler. The difficulty of securing health insurance for FT RVers in SD is a big negative if you are under 65 too. There's much to consider with good and bad in both states, which is why so many choose one or the other. I don't think either is a bad choice, just what works best for your unique circumstance.

 

Chip

[bobsallyh]

There is no separate inspection sticker anymore, just the registration sticker. They combined the two stickers with this new program. We renewed our registration in April as it runs out in June. Self certified that truck is out of state and there were zero problems.

[Kirk W]

Bouncer,

I have no idea why this thread has degraded to a series of anti Texas comments and attacks on Escapee mail services, especially when the posters choose to do so on a forum provided by the Escapees and your question was about registering in SD... Since you own vehicles that are already registered here in TX I rather doubt that the debate even has any value to you, but please do not be turned away or turned off by the discord. Were I in your position, I would at least look into the use of the Escapees SD domicile, but since I've not used it or any other SD address I'll not go beyond that suggestion. Since you have already experienced services of the Escapees organization, my first thought would be to stay with the known, unless there is some reason to go elsewhere.

[sushidog]

Gee Kirk, I thought it was a balanced discussion of pros and cons of different states. I'm certainly not Anti-TX by any means. Texas has a lot going for it for full-timers, but so does SD and FL.

 

As to your second point, is the Escapees SD mailing service up and running? The last I heard it was not ready yet.

 

Chip

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

When we started on the road, we transferred our truck registration and initiated our new trailer registration in South Dakota using Mt Home Address a month before we entered South Dakota to get our drivers license transferred.

 

6 Months latter we bought a Grand Cherokee in Florida and had MHA register the vehicle. The two replacements for te Grand Cherokee where both handled by MHA, one from Texas and one from Kansas.

 

Life is easy when you have a very personal service like My Home Address.

 

Texas isn't for everyone nor is Escapees mail service.

[LFDR3116]

We are currently titling and registering our vehicles in SD. The power of attorney form you sign states it is only for titling and licensing purposes and cannot be used to do anything else. We have our mailing service, residence address and now vehicles licensed. We will be going to SD next month to do drivers licenses. I did find out you can be a resident of SD without have a SD drivers license. Of course, you would not be a registered voter either. You are able to purchase SD insurance without a SD drivers license. They simply have you sign an affadavit stating it is your intention to return to SD when you are done traveling. It can all be done with the help of a good mail service. They also know how to deal with titles that are held by a lienholder.

[rynosback]

X 2 on My Dakota Address. Terri always took care of all those issues for us.

X 3, Terri is GREAT and really knows her stuff. She registered my truck, car and 5ver. We flew out and got our DL. We were in and out of there mva in less then 30 minutes. Plus I drove to meet her as she is so kind.

[Dave O]

Isn't there a sticker on the windshield for the inspection?? It's been a while since I had anything registered there. No extra test needed in SD to drive a MH like in Texas

Yes there is a sticker. Mine sez 2012 because I am too lazy to take it off.

 

As for the Class B non-cdl requirement only for those rigs over 26,000 LBS, if driving your rig like you already do and getting 14 out of 20 questions correct about general driving bothers you than maybe you probably SHOULD NOT use Texas.

 

Dave O

[Ranger Smith]

Where did I say it bothers me. Oh and by the way I have the endorsement. Needed it when I was a firefighter and former fire Chief in Texas. It was a requirement to drive a fire truck.

[nana25k]

Let's stop and take a breath and chill. I always wonder how many newcomers see these types of posts disintergrate into nonsense arguments and chose to never join our organization. The OP has made his choice already and asked a question pertaining to that choice.

[Dave O]

Let's stop and take a breath and chill. I always wonder how many newcomers see these types of posts disintergrate into nonsense arguments and chose to never join our organization. The OP has made his choice already and asked a question pertaining to that choice.

I agree. I missed that the decision had been made. My bad and I am sorry.

 

Dave O

[LindaH]

We are in the process of changing our residency to South Dakota. We have selected a mail service and won't be able to travel there until our campground contract has ended in mid October. We are planning to go to SD but not very far in to obtain our drivers license. On the other matter which I would request some of your expert advice is getting the vehicle license. We are licensed in Texas and the lien holders have our vehicle titles. Has anyone ever obtained their vehicle license without actually going to SD. The mail service offers a service to get the license but we have to furnish them with a Power of Attorney and I have reservations about that. Anny experiences or suggestions. Thanks

 

When we were fulltime RVers, we were domiciled in South Dakota. We never made the trip to the state to get our vehicles registered, although we did have to go to get our driver's licenses. We always had our mail service handle getting the initial registration...we'd complete the necessary forms and mail them to the mail service along with whatever other information was necessary.

 

As someone else stated, the Power of Attorney you sign in order for your mail service to handle the vehicle registration is ONLY for that purpose...it can't be used for anything else. We never had a problem or worry about giving our service the Power of Attorney for this purpose.