BajaNomad

South Dakota Registration problem

maspacifico - 6-24-2008 at 11:03 AM

Hola all, I'm writing as maspacifico now, used to be aliibike, but ran into some problems getting back on Nomads. Finally gave up and changed my name. Anyway, I live full time in Baja and have three cars down here, two go back to California occasionally and I can keep them legal by having a recognized insurance carrier in the US. The third car will never see a paved road again, let alone California. I got tired of paying US insurance on it so I registered it in South Dakota. California still sends me renewal notices, with penalties added. I'm not sure if I want to tell Cal that I have registered the car in another state without affecting what happens with the other two cars. And, I don't want the penalties added onto the other cars. Has anyone here gone through this part yet?

postholedigger - 6-24-2008 at 11:12 AM

You should be able to send in the release of liability portion of your title to the California DMV. You can also go to the CA DMV website to do this as well. As far as they're concerned, you don't own the car anymore. Someone in South Dakota does. If that doesn't work, you can probably go down to the DMV next time you're up and tell them that you moved that car to South Dakota and had it retitled there (and just don't mention the other 2 cars). I'm sure there has to be provisions for people who have 2 residences and own separate cars in both locations.

wilderone - 6-24-2008 at 01:49 PM

You can go to the DMV and discuss anything with them and see what the consequences are. You don't have to pay anything; you're not forced to do anything; nobody will make you sign anything or submit any forms. You can walk away after receiving all the information that you want. The DMV records are all based on signed forms and tangible data - not a conversation with a desk clerk. You can decide what must be done after you know what the consequences are and what options you have. But I think, as to the one car which will never be driven in California, you can fill out a form that says that it's stored off California streets and will not be driven on California streets and registration is exempt. I think you can put your Baja CA address on the form, and not even mention that's it's registered in So. Dakota which doesn't concern the CA DMV. As to the other 2 cars, that is not the subject of any inquiry, so why would the DMV "investigate" or assume or waste any time try to figure out what's what without a problem presenting itself first.

CaboRon - 6-24-2008 at 02:47 PM

This seems like a mix up .... when I registered my vehicle in South Dakota they reissued title to that state ... I am sure they must have notified CA that the title was being transferred.

Just renewed my Souh Dakota registration by mail and my new tags just arrived yesterday at my US address.

Now I have just got to get them to Todos Santos.

CaboRon

maspacifico - 6-24-2008 at 03:25 PM

It turned out not to be a problem. I had a friend in California call DMV and they said all I needed was a "Statement of Fact" form and write in that the car was now registered in South Dakota and send along a copy of the new registration. Evidently South Dakota didn't send anything to California though!

postholedigger - 6-24-2008 at 03:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by maspacifico
It turned out not to be a problem. I had a friend in California call DMV and they said all I needed was a "Statement of Fact" form and write in that the car was now registered in South Dakota and send along a copy of the new registration. Evidently South Dakota didn't send anything to California though!


Correct. The DMVs don't communicate much with each other. In California, license plates will remain valid until you de-register them. That has to be done by the titled owner. Usually you fill out the tear away strip attached above a California title. Filling this form and sending it in to a California DMV would effectively end the license plate's life. Until you do that, you may be contacted by the DMV and your insurance to pay fees for a car that is either not yours anymore or not in their jurisdiction. I've even seen in some cases where someone failed to cancel their plates upon sale of the vehicle and a year down the line they got a bill for all sorts of tickets stacked up since the date of sale.

Al G - 6-24-2008 at 09:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by CaboRon
This seems like a mix up .... when I registered my vehicle in South Dakota they reissued title to that state ... I am sure they must have notified CA that the title was being transferred.

Just renewed my Souh Dakota registration by mail and my new tags just arrived yesterday at my US address.

Now I have just got to get them to Todos Santos.

CaboRon

Ron ...will be returning after surgery on the 16th of July.. 25th-30th in TS. If not too late you can mail to me.

CaboRon - 6-25-2008 at 07:12 AM

Thank's Al,
I appreciate the offer and will U2U you.
CaboRon