Driver's License Dillema

[DeathValleyDon]

Surely someone else has come across this problem:

I have been a full time RV'r for just over a year. A few years back, I sold everything and now travel and have no physical address. I travel the country and have my mail (junk mail) forwarded once a month to where ever I happen to be. I own no property (home) nor do I normally stay in established campgrounds very long.

Problem: My New Mexico driver's license has just come up for renewal and they do not recognize a PO Box as an address. Plus you have to show 2 forms of proof that you actually reside at a physical address. A supervisor at the NM DMV had no answer to this problem. As far as they're concerned, I'm up a creek without a paddle. What to do?

Don in Death Valley

[lbrjet]

Depends on how many months a year they spend in AZ to determine if any rules are being broken. Thousands of people have homes in AZ and are not residents. As for storing the MH in Utah, they can store the MH in whatever state they want and not break any rules, as long as the insurance company is OK with it.

[BarbaraOK]

2gypsies wrote:
Don & Eileen, You've bought a townhome in Arizona three years ago and still are not a Arizona resident? Also, you're storing your motorhome in Utah with South Dakota registration? I'd highly recommend registering everything in Arizona. You're not abiding by Arizona rules and that could be costly.

You can own property in any state you like, doesn't make you a resident of the state.

[2gypsies1]

Don & Eileen, You've bought a townhome in Arizona three years ago and still are not a Arizona resident? Also, you're storing your motorhome in Utah with South Dakota registration? I'd highly recommend registering everything in Arizona. You're not abiding by Arizona rules and that could be costly.

[doxiemom11]

Agree - if you become an AZ resident, you then need to register your vehicles in AZ, purchase AZ insurance.

[dvv711]

Hi Don & Eileen, wanted to throw our 2 cents into this. After a great deal of research, we found that it is perfectly legal to keep your rv/motorhome registered in SD. See the link: http://dor.sd.gov/Motor_Vehicles/Non_Resident_Information/PDFs/Memo%20to%20CT%20on%20non_residence.pdf
However, if your rv spends more than 6 months in my home state of NY, the NYDMV requires that it be registered in NY. It would seem that your motorhome won't be spending that long in Utah or anywhere else, so you'd be fine.

[2gypsies1]

Don and Eileen wrote:
We own a townhouse in AZ now, but my question rests on whether or not we can keep our motorhome registered in SD after establishing residency in AZ.

As soon as you become an Arizona resident you need to register your vehicles in Arizona.

https://azdot.gov/mvd/VehicleServices/Title/overview

[BarbaraOK]

Don and Eileen wrote:
We own a townhouse in AZ now, but my question rests on whether or not we can keep our motorhome registered in SD after establishing residency in AZ.

Have you established residency in AZ for 12 months of the year. Or do you just spend the winter in AZ and go elsewhere for the summer. AZ allows 7 months before you need to declare residency, so if you are here for 6 months or less, keep your SD residency. You can own property anywhere without establishing residency

[Don_and_Eileen]

We own a townhouse in AZ now, but my question rests on whether or not we can keep our motorhome registered in SD after establishing residency in AZ.

[Aridon]

If you have property (home) that you aren't renting you are creating potential issues for yourself.

If you live there a decent amount of time, you might/probably fall under the state's definition of resident regardless if you have your license there or not. Will you have tax collectors beating down your door tomorrow? Probably not but you might be setting yourself up for an issue down the road. Your call, just don't cry if you get nailed with x years of penalties if they do go after you. That can be a dangerous game should you choose to play it.

If you don't live there and don't rent it you have a vacant property and many insurance polices limit the days a home can be vacant. If they find out about it after a loss it can be a problem.

If you rent it, then good for you on having an extra income source and enjoy it. Make sure your policy is a Dwelling Fire form for tenant occupancy, pay your taxes, if any, and enjoy.

[Don_and_Eileen]

Piggybacking on this post. We've been doing some research here, but need some more direction as to where to head. We were full timing with our primary residence through a SD mail service. Three years ago, we bought a townhouse in AZ, but have not changed our residency. We're beginning to think that we might be treading on legal issues, so are considering taking the plunge to residency in AZ. However, we'd like to keep our motorhome registered in SD. When we're not traveling, it is stored at our son's house in Utah. Advice? Thoughts? How can we maintain this registration if we change our residency?

[dvv711]

What a wealth of info here! This is our first rv - our first rv experience, so we're quite inexperienced. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

[doxiemom11]

Full-timers answer that "yes" they intend to return to SD. Why not. You are entitled to change your mind or move to a different location. Just the same as if you moved to MI and then decided 6 mo later you want to move to FL, or you are a working individual, move to SD and then get a good job offer in another state and move again. We have no other home, so SD is as good as any to say we are returning to. We have no idea where we might want to end up. Incidentally, SD is not the only state that uses this type of form for full-timers.

[CA_Traveler]

dvv711 wrote:
All good ideas. The rig is on its way to NY as we speak, so delivering it to SD isn't an option. The rv came from a dealer in OK. Probably the title has been made out to us with the NY address...so it may be too late.
Getting legal advice is good advice. Besides, reading the Residency Affidavit, it asks, " Is South Dakota your state of residence? _____Yes _____No
2. Is South Dakota the state you intend to return to after being absent? _____ Yes _____No" We won't be living in SD, so how can we say YES? And it won't be the state we 'intend to return to.' So, how does one honestly answer these?

Fantastic what you are doing - keep it simple, clean and honest.

[dvv711]

All good ideas. The rig is on its way to NY as we speak, so delivering it to SD isn't an option. The rv came from a dealer in OK. Probably the title has been made out to us with the NY address...so it may be too late.
Getting legal advice is good advice. Besides, reading the Residency Affidavit, it asks, " Is South Dakota your state of residence? _____Yes _____No
2. Is South Dakota the state you intend to return to after being absent? _____ Yes _____No" We won't be living in SD, so how can we say YES? And it won't be the state we 'intend to return to.' So, how does one honestly answer these?

[CA_Traveler]

Sorry but I don't know NY law. But keep in mind that delivery usually means there is a legal transfer and you are in NY. It may not matter that you have a 30 day grace period to register and left the state with the rig. What if you get to SD and NY will not allow the rig title to be transferred?

Since you indicated that significant money was involved consider getting legal advice. You don't want to later find that you owe the money anyway and also fines.

How about having the rig driven to SD and take delivery there? I did that once. ie The deal was "completed" with the dealer, I paid for the transport and we had the delivery notarized in the new state. Different states for me than you are asking about.