Out of state license and storage.

[Xfire301]

I live in SoCal and am considering purchasing a class B in Montana and licensing, insuring, using and storing at my cousin’s farm in Montana.

Is this legal?

I’ve seen lots of material about LLCs but none mention storing in Montana.

What if I co-owned with my Montana resident cousin?

Thanks

[Allworth]

If the insurance company buys it, start worrying about something else.

[Xfire301]

My post wasn’t trolling. I appreciate the responses.

Anyone care to remark about shared ownership wit my Montana resident cousin. Does that change anything?

And I wouldn’t bring the RV to California.

[mowermech]

It is perfectly legal to own a vehicle in Montana and register it in Montana, IF you have a Montana address. In fact, the address can be a PMB at the UPS store!
I know a young gentleman who purchased a Class C in Montana, registered it using a Montana address, and left it here for over a year. It never left the state. Then he took it to CA, proved to the DMV that he had owned it for a year and it had never been in CA, and transferred the title and registration to Ca, paying no CA sales tax on the vehicle. Had he wanted to, he could have left the coach in MT for the rest of his life with no problems, BUT he could never, EVER take it to CA unless he immediately registered it there or moved out of state
So, yes, it has been done and can be done without jumping through the LLC hoops.
But, keep in mind, you probably can NEVER take it "home", regardless if "home" is in CA or any other state.

[phillyg]

spoon059 wrote:

DownTheAvenue wrote:

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.

Correct. The registration address must correspond with the address of the primary registered owner. Otherwise everyone would title their vehicles in the cheapest state, regardless of where they live.

As an attorney I am surprised you didn't use the weasel word "generally" as I did. The OP indicated he was keeping the RV in MT, in other words, he was not looking to get one over on CA using, for example, a MT LLC. I know you know a person can own properties in multiple states, and live at those properties for various periods of time during the year, but remains a legal resident in only one state, in this case, CA. I'm presuming the OP is there most of the year unless he's travelling, receives his mail, pays taxes, is licensed to drive, has bank accounts, doctors, etc.
Now, that's not to say he should be cavalier and ignore states' laws. If he were to bring that RV into CA, and garage it there for more than X days, or camp in it in CA for more than X days, he may well have CA come after him.

WRT insurance, the OP should be upfront with his insurance company because they set their rates based on where the vehicle is titled and registered.

WRT the "two out of three" rule, my recollection is that may have been correct years ago. I'd like to hear from just one person who's ever been arrested or charged because they're licensed in one state, stopped in another state, driving a vehicle registered in a third state.

[way2roll]

bucky wrote:
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.

I think there are some disgruntled former members who have been kicked off, sign up with bogus info and post whacky threads to see if people spin their wheels in answering.

I could be wrong of course.

Not a betting man, but I'll wager OP doesn't come back.

[ferndaleflyer]

I have always maintained my primary residence at the home I own in MD even as I lived and worked all over the country and the world. Never had a problem with insurance claim, twice, BUT----I pay my taxes there, vote there, bank there, no matter where I am. Nice that there is no personal property tax every year, no vehicle inspection, no emissions on diesels. Nice!

[Seattle_Steve]

spoon059 wrote:

DownTheAvenue wrote:

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.

Correct. The registration address must correspond with the address of the primary registered owner. Otherwise everyone would title their vehicles in the cheapest state, regardless of where they live.

My wife, who was a licensed insurance broker her whole working career, also says you will stand a good chance of having any insurance claim denied. There is fine print in almost all insurance binders that states the vehicle must be registered in the state of residence. Claim can (and most likely will be) denied based on fraudulent information on the insurance application.

[Grit_dog]

DTA is correct, the rest is conjecture....except, rules vary by state. Period.
And having moved around alot, the rules also often don't fit all scenarios.
Example AK, never did get a drivers license, but a copy of my lease got vehicle titles and tags no problem.
WI was a "requirement" to have in state DL to reg your vehicles, but since not having a WI DL anymore, I've titled and registered vehicles there to our property address there.

Bottom line, it doesn't matter and unless you're doing something wrong, the odds of getting hasseled about your tags is somewhere between slim and none, so find something else to pine over. If the state gives you tags, you're good!

Was thinking this morning as I was driving in the carpool lane, by myself, what cops around here even care about the small stuff when the wackos are burning the city and want LEOs disbanded across the country.....

[ppine]

No its not legal, but that does not stop people.

[spoon059]

DownTheAvenue wrote:

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.

Correct. The registration address must correspond with the address of the primary registered owner. Otherwise everyone would title their vehicles in the cheapest state, regardless of where they live.

[DownTheAvenue]

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.

[bucky]

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.

[way2roll]

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

[valhalla360]

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.