Establishing domicile and mail forwarding in Florida

[Skycrath]

I wasn’t exactly sure which topic to post this under, so I apologize if it’s in the wrong place and please feel free to move it. I am totally new to this community and RV living, so thanks in advance for your patience. 

I’m leaving apartment life and heading off in an RV full-time. My apartment lease expires at the end of April, so it’s getting down to the wire. A lot of last minute things have come up and I’ve only got a month to resolve them. I could find somewhere to stay temporarily for a month is necessary, but I really don’t’ want to do that. Believe it or not I’ve been preparing for move for the last 6 months, but I guess I didn’t get into as much detail on some things as I should have, hindsight is always 20-20. I totally thought I had my domicile choice in the bag, but last minute conflicting information has made me question things. I need to get this sorted out as quickly as possible so I would appreciate any advice. I would really love to hear from people who have recently used Escapees or St. Brendan’s Isle to establish Florida domicile and mail forwarding.  

So, here’s some background on my situation that will hopefully help you to help me:
?solo female travelers in her 40s
?totally new to RV life – but I have done solo business and personal travel for many years, so am completely comfortable with that aspect
?very excited for RV life – tired of apartment living and have never found a place I liked enough to buy a home, love travelling and meeting new people
?current FL resident (for the past five years) with FL DL and car registration – although I will be getting rid of my FL car once I get the RV, it’s on it’s last legs and would not even be reliable as a TOAD
?need mail forwarding service and to establish domicile for full-time RVing – want a professional service, do not want to use family or friends for my address
?new 2019 Class C RV 24-26ft (NOT PURCHASED YET) – I’ve decided on a small Class C and won’t be towing anything (no TOAD, at least not for the first year), I have NOT purchased the RV yet since I thought it might best to establish my domicile before buying and registering the vehicle (let me know if you feel differently and why)
?I have qualified for a loan but signed anything yet – I’m getting the loan on my own (and not through RV the dealership), but again I wasn’t sure if I should officially establish the loan at my current apartment address or the new address that I will be using for my RV domicile (or if that even matters), I’ll probably have to re-apply anyway since it’s been over a month, I may get a slightly different rate but at least I already know I qualify for the general loan amount I need

After speaking at length today to representatives at both Escapees and St. Brendan’s Isle and extensively searching the FL DMV website, I’ve gotten some conflicting information with regards to my DL and RV registration in Florida. I thought being a current FL resident would makes things a little easier but I’m not sure that’s the case anymore (and now that I’m rethinking things South Dakota would actually be cheaper, the RV insurance would be about half the price and sales tax on an RV purchase is 2.5% less than in Florida). 

But let’s focus on my Florida questions, because that still might be easier in the short term since I’m already a resident. Both Escapees and St. Brendan’s Isle has the same basic mail forwarding services, so are comparable in that regard. The big negative I saw with Escapees is that I’m going to wind up with two address – which I didn’t realize until I read the fine print. My physical address for FL, registration and insurance will be in FL, but I will have a mailing address in Texas for everything else (credit cards, banks statements, friends, family, magazines). The issue with Escapees would be the same if I decided to domicile in SD. Of all the times I’ve looked at the Escapees website in the past 6 months, I didn’t know about the two different addresses until today. This seems like it could wind up being a lot of of trouble, so anyone who has experience with this please let me know. Did having two address lead to any confusion with your credit card or bank accounts? I’m also now sure which I address I should use for my lienholder, rates may be different in FL vs Texas, although they might require my domicile state which would be Florida. And it also seems like it would lead to some double-forwarding fees, the mail that goes to FL address will automatically be forwarded to the Texas address as part of the Escapees contract, which will then have to be forwarded to me where ever I might be at the time. I’m not sure why Escapees does things this way, it seems to make things more complicated. But maybe that’s just because I have no experience with this so it seems overwhelming. 

The issue that came up with St. Brendan’s Isle is one I’m really confused about, so I hope I can explain it in a way that makes sense. I would have just one physical address for both my domicile and mail forwarding, which seems like it would be easier than Escapees in that regard. But they said there would be this weird thing with my driver’s license (which I think would be the case whether you are a current or new FL resident). They said my registration would have their physical address and my specific box number, but that my drivers license would have my RV registration number instead of my specific box number. Basically that you are required to inform the FL DMV you are a full-time RVer and they will make this specific change the address field on your DL. So my RV registration address would say “411 Walnut Street, Box 5678” but my DL would say “411 Walnut Street, RV #ABCD”. Does anyone know if this is true? Escapees didn’t saw anything about this, they said both DL and registration would have use the physical FL address they assigned to me. I couldn’t find anything about this on the FL DMV website either. Could this be because Escapees uses the address of an RV resort park and St. Brendan’s Isle uses a commercial address? Can anyone who uses St. Brendan’s Isle please let me know how the address info appears on your DL vs registration? 

Also, if you know of a different domicile/mail forwarding  service for Florida that uses only one address, please let me know. And thank you so much for reading this long post and for any help you can offer!

[HappyKayakers]

The previous comments on the DL address for fulltimers is correct although not all DL offices are knowledgeable on this. I went to one county and they quoted that procedure. Before I could get that done, I got an annual lease at a mobile home park so I used that address. When I hit the road again, I stopped in a different county on the way out of the state to update my DL. Even after I explained it to them, they refused to use my RV on the DL and used my SBI address.

As far as voting, they just updated that to provide a physical address for voter registration. That is the only place you'll use that address. SBI has been very good at making sure their clients don't get disenfranchised due to a lifestyle choice.

[ependydad]

**removed, duplicate**

[ependydad]

Now, to answer another question - if you can buy your RV using your current apartment address, do that! Once you go fulltime, there are very few banks who will make RV loans to fulltimers. Just having the mail service be your address will flag the banks that it's not a normal situation. We were declined for a few banks even though we tried to hide that we were fulltiming.

[ependydad]

We have used St. Brendan's Isle for the past 3 years. It's our only address as we sold our home back in 2017.

Yes, our driver's license shows our RV tag number on it for the address line. You'll get weird raised eyebrows when you have to hand it over for various things (doctors/hospital/etc). We explain to them we're RVers and then give them the 411 Walnut St. #12345 address and there's never been a problem.

Yes, our registration has a different address than our driver's license. It has the 411 address. When we bought a truck in Pennsylvania this past year, their finance people sort of melted down when trying to figure out how to input it into the license/tag system. He just kept muttering, "they always tell me that the registration and license have to match". He did ultimately put both in a weird combination. We got our tags with no issue and later I updated it with the state on my own.

There's one more wrinkle to all of this and it's voting rights. If you're a voter, there's something you have to do different. I'm not sure of the details, but do ask about that.

When we did our licenses and vehicle registration, we just went into the Green Cove Springs Tax Collector's office to handle it all in person. The woman we dealt with was very nice, made jokes thru the process, and made it easy on us. If you have the flexibility to stop up there, I highly recommend it.

[Skycrath]

Thanks so much to everyone who replied!

[monkey44]

We've been using SBI for almost ten years. Altho we own a home in Florida, we RV quite a bit, and SBI has always been extremely professional in every aspect.

As most other RV'ers, fulltimer or not, much of today is Electronic and what little is not, all our mail goes to SBI and they ship it to us whenever we ask. Can't answer your question about registration, but if you ask Scott at SBI, he should be able to answer any questions about how that works. But as far as mail service, excellent.

We lived very close to SBI at one point, not so now, but have been in that office many times. Great bunch of folks there.

[wanderingaimles]

Just as you have looked outside the Escapees group in Fl, you may want to do so in SD. There are some other services there as well.
If you will be travelling extensively and may not be returning to Fl frequently, consider that SD requires no vehicle inspections, emmissions or otherwise.
SD for us appears to be cheaper for insurance as well.
For folks under 65, Fl, I have heard has better health insurance options, I use my VA system so not something I have to deal with.
Good luck in your searches.

[accsys]

We have been using SBI for the last 13 years and have been very happy with their service. They are very professional and know what they are doing and have thousands of happy clients who agree. The way they are handling the DL address may be because of the real ID act and the way Florida is implementing it. We are still using our S&B address in NE FL for our DL since we are only half time. They have led many, many, many RVers through the process.

[Ivylog]

Green Cove Springs is a favorite for boaters and RVers. Since you are already a FL resident it makes sense to continue. If you decide to go the SD route do not change your mind and decide to change to FL in less tha 6 months of owning the RV...FL will get you for sales tax again. After 6 months of ownership it will not be a problem. Sorry I cannot help with much else. Good Luck