Out of state license and storage.

phillyg wrote:
Vehicles are generally titled and registered in the state where they're garaged.

As an attorney, I can tell you this is an incorrect statement. Vehicles are titled where the owner maintains a legal residence.

To the OP: state laws differ, but generally you are required to register your vehicle in your state of legal residence. Some states are very aggressive about their residents avoiding taxes by registering vehicles in another state. Even those sham LLC Montana companies that some people use to register vehicles have failed other states "smell test." I think Montana is very loose about vehicle registrations, hence those LLC's. Since the RV will never be in California, and if you use a Montana address to associate that vehicle to without a mention of California, you will be fine. The chance of California discoverng you own that vehicle is virtually none. Of course if they do, as Ricky told Lucy, you got some splaining to do.

It would be the dumbest troll post ever if it was. I think it's just one of the many new RVers out there looking for information.
It looks like he has been reading up before joining like we all did.

Why does this feel like a troll post? New member, no name, first post, Montana LLC....

It's legal but if Calicrazy finds out, you can expect a tax bill and similar to the IRS, you are guilty until proven innocent.

it may depend on state of residence and compliance with MT. requirements.

When our daughter was in college in MT, we lived in Oregon and (1) not being a MT permanent resident (nor eligible to become one since she was a student) she couldn't register her car in MT nor get a MT drivers license. and (2) Since she was an oregon resident she was required to renew plates in oregon even though the vehicle was located in montana for 4 years and insurance showed it in MT.To avoid bringing the car back every year, (stayed with my folks in MT in the summer) We filled out DEQ exemption forms every registration to show it's primary use and location was out of state and the state of use didn't require DEQ testing.

two out of three must match; proof of state of residence utility bill etc, Lic plate state, DL state.

The short answer is if you are a Cali resident and are registering in Montana to avoid Cali taxes it is not legal. Especially if you use RV in Cali.
However if you register in Montana and stay away from Cali I think you are technically OK.

Consult with the Montana DMV? A Montana Attorney? LLCs are expensive as are corporations. Why not just register in California? Emission testing? Co-own with another adult not my spouse? No way.

Vehicles are generally titled and registered in the state where they're garaged. If you do as you say, there is nothing wrong with titling and registering in MT. And, I don't see any need for you to co-own it with another person. If CA ever came after you for tax evasion, proof that the RV has never been in CA, has only been fueled and used in any state other than CA, inspected in MT and in compliance with all MT requirements, should be more than enough to stop CA from taking further action.