Can I Go To Another State For An Easy Title?

Vehicle Titling Out of State
One of the most common questions that comes up is a person wanting to know can you register or title your vehicle out of state. You live in a certain state and you want to title it somewhere else. Well, the first question to ask is why would you want to do that, because depending upon the reason could be whether you can or can’t. Now in most states they don’t give out titles or registrations to out-of-state residents. The federal guidelines for DMV say that in order to get a title in your state, you’re supposed to be a resident of that state. If you’re not a resident of the state, they’re going to ask you, “Well, why do you want to title it here?” Registrations and titles are for use in that state.

Proving Residency
Maybe you have a piece of land there, maybe you have a business there, maybe you vacation there, maybe you’re a snowbird and you come from New York down to Florida. There are certain exemptions; however, you have to prove what’s called a domicile or a nexus to that state, and if you don’t have a legitimate connection to the state, you’re probably not going to have your application approved.

State Titling Complexity
The reason you want to go to a different state is because it’s easier to get a title there. Well, there are two problems with that argument. First of all, there are no easy states. Everybody thinks their state is hard because that’s the only state they have experience with. Every state is going to be hard to get a title unless you have all the right paperwork, unless you have the actual title certificate from the last owner properly signed over to you. It’s going to be hard to get a title because that’s what you’re supposed to have, and if you don’t have it, technically you’re not supposed to get a title at all.

Titling Processes
But there are some processes you can use in order to get a title. Sometimes those are, but most times you have to jump through a bunch of hoops. For example, in New Jersey, they have the process where it’s a defective title document process. It’s 15 steps. It may take you months. In some states, you can do a bonded title, but it’s not going to be easy because getting a title is considered to be like getting money out of the bank—you have to have the right credentials.

Avoiding State Requirements
Why would you want to go to another state? Well, if you think it’s going to be easier, that means you’re trying to avoid something difficult in your state. That’s the key word—avoid or evade. If you’re trying to evade something in your state, like an inspection or taxes or paperwork, trying to go out of state is going to get you into trouble because when you get that title from out of state, you have to do one of two things. Either you have to transfer it to your state, or you have to drive around with an out-of-state plate in your local state.

Driving with Out-of-State Plates
If you drive around with an out-of-state license plate, the problem is you’re going to get pulled over. Because when you are seen driving a vehicle with an out-of-state plate on a regular basis, at some point you’re going to get pulled over. They’re going to start asking you questions: “Why didn’t you register in your state?” Most states have a law that says you have to title or register your car in that state within a certain period of time—not from when you bought the vehicle, but a certain period of time from when you moved to the state. So if you already lived in the state for 30 days, the clock is over.

Schemes and Insurance Issues
There are a lot of schemes that people use, like forming a corporation in another state, putting it in that corporation’s name, and then driving it around. The problem is you have to figure out where you’re going to get insurance. Your insurance policy is going to ask you for what’s called a garaging address. A garaging address doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have a garage; it just means where your car is parked on a regular basis.

Garaging Address and Insurance Complications
If, let’s say, you get a corporation in Oklahoma and title it in Oklahoma, your insurance company’s going to say, “Well, where do you keep the car?” If you say Oklahoma, okay, that matches your registration. But what happens if you live in Georgia and every day you park your car in your driveway in Georgia? If something happens to that car and you have an insurance claim in Georgia, they’re going to ask you, “What the heck were you doing in Georgia?” If they find out that you improperly gave a wrong garaging address, they’re going to decline your claim and you’re not going to get paid.

Catch-22 and Legitimate Reasons
On the other hand, if you try to put Georgia as your garaging address, they’re going to ask you, “Well, then why are you titling it in Oklahoma? What’s the reason for that?” It’s a catch-22. So, the short answer is, unless you have a very, very good legitimate reason to title out in another state, like you have a second property there, you have land there, trying to jump around different states in the long run is going to get you into trouble.

Task Forces and Penalties
There are a lot of interstate task forces—agencies that are collaborations between different states’ departments of motor vehicles, state police, tax authorities—that are looking for people trying to use loopholes to get their titles in other states. In most cases, using the loophole ends up costing more money and more hassle, and it’s not even as good as just biting the bullet and doing it in your own state.

Schemes and Criminal Offenses
But a lot of people feel like they want to get away with something, so they’ll use these loopholes. But many of them are now getting prosecuted. We’ve posted news stories before where some of these schemes of forming LLCs in other states, putting titles in those names to avoid taxes or avoid inspections, have resulted in people getting jammed up. It’s just a matter of time before, when they go back and audit your ownership, they could go back four or five years and find out that you avoided taxes. They’ll charge you penalties and interest, and in some states, it’s actually a criminal offense because you avoided taxes.

Legal Advice and Forums
Another thing you might want to consider is anytime you’re looking to do something with out-of-state documents and legal stuff, you might want to get advice from an attorney. Sometimes you can get something from an attorney where you may not be able to find the right answer online. Some of these online forums or websites or chat boards will tell you, “Yeah, just go and do this loophole,” but they may not know what they’re talking about. A lot of people are getting into trouble because they didn’t know what they were doing was improper—they just saw something on a website.

Legitimate Cases
Food for thought: out-of-state may seem like it’s a good thing, but just make sure that it’s for a legitimate reason. Look, if you’re truly a snowbird and you live in Illinois and you go down to Palm Beach every year for the winter, and you have a car down there, that’s fine. That’s probably legitimate. But if you’re in New Jersey and you have a car you can’t get a title for, and it’s a salvage, and you think maybe you can get an easier inspection in North Carolina, it’s not going to work.

Consequences of Schemes
Even if it seems like it’s going to work, it’ll cost you more money and then get you into trouble. Just food for thought, because we see this happening a lot. It doesn’t really affect us either way, just make sure that you know what you’re getting into if you’re trying to jump around states. Most states have a law on the books that makes it a crime—a misdemeanor—to evade responsibility or requirements for titling a vehicle by going to another state.

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