Vehicle registration expired, please help

[Loxley]

Hi there escapees. Firstly, thanks in advance for your help with this.

So I have an issue that really needs to be resolved. In 2016, I registered my vehicle in TX -where I'm also domiciled- & drove to the West Coast. I have been moving around the W. Coast ever since. When my vehicle's registration & inspection expired, I stopped driving the vehicle & parked it at my friend's place. It's now 2018 & the vehicle has been parked there & sitting -with expired inspection & registration- for over a year now. In TX, a vehicle must be inspected to be registered to get the combined sticker. As I do intend to move back eventually, just not quite yet, I would like to keep my TX domicile. My vehicle & I are both still on the W. Coast. What is the best way to (re-)register my vehicle now? What are my options, if any?

I am willing to sell the vehicle in it's current state on the W. Coast & get a new vehicle, if necessary. If I do have to sell it in its current state, how would I go about that?

[it can tow some heavy stuff & has low miles, so if you're on the W. Coast & interested in buying it to help me out, please PM me for details]

Thank you again everybody for your help, :-)

[sandsys]

You may need to register it in the state where it has been parked all this time since it has technically been "garaged" there and it would first be used again there. I would not risk driving it without registering it at your friend's address. Did you let the insurance lapse also?

Linda Sand

[Kirk W]

As I read your post, it sounds as though you are now living somewhere other than TX? Do you still have any vehicles that are registered in TX? You may want to call the Livingston office to discuss it with them and get advice. 

Quote

: LESLIE JONES BURKS, TAC

416 N WASHINGTON LIVINGSTON, TX 77351

(936) 327-6801 OFFICE /(936) 327-6885 FAX

HOURS: Monday — Friday — 8:00a.m — 4:30p.m

 

[2gypsies]

It seems you registered it in Texas and drove it to California and left it there.  Inspections aren't necessary for Texas unless you're in Texas.  However, since the registration is expired you need to contact the proper TX office to see what you need to do.

[dartmouth01]

In terms of selling, I assume all u should need is a title.  As for the test drive though, that wouldn't be legal, tho you may find buyers who arent concerned as much.

You could also register in SD if u have the title, they never need to see the vehicle.

[sandsys]

46 minutes ago, dartmouth01 said:

You could also register in SD if u have the title, they never need to see the vehicle.

That's a bit misleading. If she changes her domicile to South Dakota she can register the vehicle there. IF she hasn't become a resident of California as a result of having been there so long. CA does not let go easily and Loxley strikes me as a person not likely to do everything that needs to be done to actually move from California to South Dakota.

Linda

[dartmouth01]

You actually dont need to change domicile, I learned this from the Lake County Treasurer when I needed to renew a vehicle after MyDakotaAddress went under.  They told me they can put any address on it, including from another state.  Now, how that state would handle this if you were ever to get pulled over and they noticed an in-state address is another story, but it would be a valid SD registration.

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, dartmouth01 said:

You actually dont need to change domicile, I learned this from the Lake County Treasurer when I needed to renew a vehicle after MyDakotaAddress went under.  They told me they can put any address on it, including from another state.  Now, how that state would handle this if you were ever to get pulled over and they noticed an in-state address is another story, but it would be a valid SD registration.

OK. That's just weird!

Linda

[Kirk W]

7 hours ago, dartmouth01 said:

You actually dont need to change domicile, I learned this from the Lake County Treasurer when I needed to renew a vehicle after MyDakotaAddress went under.

Vehicle registration is not tied to your domicile. The states have agreed that the proper place for a vehicle to be registered is the state in which the vehicle stays when not in use, and in this case it is clearly CA. It is not uncommon for people to have more than one home and if they have vehicles that stay at each of those homes, each vehicle should be registered and insured in the place where it is "garaged."  The same is true for vehicle insurance.

Quote

Vehicles Principally Garaged definition

Posted Tuesday, June 28, 2011 by Ed Harper

Some cases have articulated this to mean what was the parties intention regarding the actual location of the vehicle in the state. If the insured intends to keep the vehicle in another state during the policy period, and does keep the vehicle in another state, the policy likely should be written for that particular state. The courts have also looked to the primary location for the vehicle, not the the location of the vehicle at the time of the origination of the policy.

3

Your domicile is not tied to one specific action but is a combination of many different activities and is actually a legal term used by courts of law. 

 

Quote

Domicile is a person’s permanent place of dwelling.  It is a legal relationship between a person and a locality.  It may or may not be of same meaning as the term ‘residence’.

The concept of domicile has different meanings in different context.  For purposes of jurisdiction, “domicile” means a legal residence which is the place where a person has fixed dwelling with an intention of making it his/her permanent home.

Domicile is a combination of two factors namely, residence and intent to remain.  As the term domicile includes residence, the scope and significance of the term domicile is larger than the term residence.  An individual may have several residences whereas; s/he will have only one domicile.  Domicile is more used in reference to personal rights, duties and obligations[ii].

 

[Dutch_12078]

6 hours ago, sandsys said:

OK. That's just weird!

Linda

It's not really that weird, Linda. In my working days, I had company cars for years that were owned by a company in MD, leased to my employer in MA, and registered/insured in NY where they were "principally garaged".

[chirakawa]

14 hours ago, Loxley said:

Hi there escapees. Firstly, thanks in advance for your help with this.

So I have an issue that really needs to be resolved. In 2016, I registered my vehicle in TX -where I'm also domiciled- & drove to the West Coast. I have been moving around the W. Coast ever since. When my vehicle's registration & inspection expired, I stopped driving the vehicle & parked it at my friend's place. It's now 2018 & the vehicle has been parked there & sitting -with expired inspection & registration- for over a year now. In TX, a vehicle must be inspected to be registered to get the combined sticker. As I do intend to move back eventually, just not quite yet, I would like to keep my TX domicile. My vehicle & I are both still on the W. Coast. What is the best way to (re-)register my vehicle now? What are my options, if any?

I am willing to sell the vehicle in it's current state on the W. Coast & get a new vehicle, if necessary. If I do have to sell it in its current state, how would I go about that?

[it can tow some heavy stuff & has low miles, so if you're on the W. Coast & interested in buying it to help me out, please PM me for details]

Thank you again everybody for your help, 🙂

Texas does not require that a vehicle be registered continuously.  If the vehicle is not used on the road, it doesn't have to be registered.  If you last registered it in Texas, you just need to contact that same county in Texas to register it again.

In fact, you don't even need to renew the registration for a full year.  You can get a five day registration from them to move the vehicle from one place to another.

Don't make it more complicated than it is.

[Kirk W]

25 minutes ago, chirakawa said:

Texas does not require that a vehicle be registered continuously.  If the vehicle is not used on the road, it doesn't have to be registered.  If you last registered it in Texas, you just need to contact that same county in Texas to register it again.

Unless it has changed recently, they will just have you sign a document that subject vehicle has not been used on the public roads in the time registration was expired. Not sure how that works from out of state, however. 

[chirakawa]

37 minutes ago, Kirk Wood said:

Unless it has changed recently, they will just have you sign a document that subject vehicle has not been used on the public roads in the time registration was expired. Not sure how that works from out of state, however. 

Depends on how helpful the county wants to be.  Documents can be emailed, faxed, etc.

[JimK]

Next time I would recommend you consider South Dakota.  For $20 my mail forwarding service handled the annual renewal and mailed me the stickers.  I also learning that the stickers are of minimal value.  In many parts of the country police cars have automatic scanners that will alert the officer if there is a car reported stolen or with expired plates.  The scanner does not read the sticker but accesses the database so you are Ok if the registration is current even if the sticker is missing.

I would call the DMV in Texas and see if you can work out a solution.  Otherwise you might need to register in California.  That could touch off a powder keg.  California is likely to come after you for income taxes.  The State is very aggressive in that regard.  If it comes to that, you will be on the defensive and your lapse is likely to be costly.

[Loxley]

Thank you to everyone who has posted in this thread. This is all really helpful advice. I'll try out these suggestions & get back to you when I know something new.

Thanks again :-)

[wrenchhead30]

All you have to do is call the tax assessor in the county you reside in and they will send you the paper work you need to register your vehicles/trailers etc. cut them a check and send everything back and they will send you the stickers then if you return back to Texas you have 3 days to have them inspected I do this EVERY SINGLE YEAR because I'm in Wisconsin when my registration comes up! they wont change my registration month so I have to do it this way. you only need an inspection when your in Texas hope this helps

[chirakawa]

5 hours ago, wrenchhead30 said:

 I'm in Wisconsin when my registration comes up! they wont change my registration month

Why won't they change your registration month?  I changed all my vehicles for renewal to come due when I'm in Texas.  Easy peasy.

[wrenchhead30]

i have never got a clear answer on it other than they wont let me pay for an extra 4 months to get me in the time period of when im there. I need to go up to waco to the main office and speak with them

[bigjim]

I tried this once a long time ago to get mine synched up and was told it could not be done. I know over the years several folks have said they got it done without much trouble.  Makes one curious doesn't it?   Of course often it depends who you happen to ask.

[RV_]

Are you using an Escapees address and mail service? If not call them and ask how hard it would be to switch to Polk county TX where they know every legal way to help RVrs with registration issues.  I was Bexar county as I had been on my last year of my career and switched our Ram Diesel 1Ton dually, and our two cars to Polk county when we "moved" there from Lackland AFB, where we took delivery of our first HitchHiker fiver. We were already Texans from being assigned there on return from overseas.

We stayed with Escapees and Polk County for the seven years we full timed, and voted in Polk County. Call them.

[jblo]

wrenchhead30,

If you want to get the TX registration month changed to a month that you will be in the state, just re-register it next time you are in TX. While you can't add 4 months to the year, you should be able to renew 8 months early. That should get it synced with your in-state time.

As mentioned above, you don't have to be in-state to renew, just get online and do it sans the inspection. Then get it inspected when you get back.

Loxley,

If you are doing anything else like selling/trading--no idea where that leads you, but would expect an old registration could be used anytime in a different state...why not just get the new sticker sent to you by online registration?  I just did this in June for an August renewal date--the TX DMV was very helpful over the phone in explaining the process.

Joe