So about two months ago, I received a letter in the mail from the MVA stating that we were being fined for having two cars that were registered in the state but not insured. At the time, the fine was about $800 ($150 for the first 30 days, then $7.50/day thereafter). Umm, last time I checked we registered our cars and switched our insurance to CA coverage as soon as we got here. So I call them and evidently they wanted us to send back the MD plates. Well, the DMV here took our plates so that was impossible. They then informed us that we needed to fax them proof of registration and insurance coverage. No problem, I faxed both of those to them.
A few weeks go by and I receive another letter stating that they didn't get the Proof of Coverage forms. That's funny, they came in the same fax as the registration I thought. No matter, it is possible that I only sent the registrations. So I sent them again. 4 weeks go by now and I get a bill from the State of Maryland Collections division to the tune of $1400 now (because more time had gone by). Guess what? They never got the Proof of Coverage forms that I sent (and got confirmation that they received it). Beautiful. So I sent them once again yesterday. I wrote on the cover sheet that I wanted to be notified via fax or by phone that they received it. Nothing yet. I called the automated line to check on it. The robot informed me that my case was "in compliance". Knowing that I am not dealing with intelligent life, I wanted to confirm with a human that they received it but the system just hangs up after informing me that they are very busy.
So I warn you, especially graduating students, speak with the MVA before you move so that you can know how to avoid this mess before you leave. Has this happened to anybody else when they moved? I did a quick Google search to find a legal advice website where the lawyer laments that a week does not pass where he doesn't get a question about these bogus money grabs from the state of Maryland.
11 comments:
Thats terrible. I swear the MVA and all of the hoops they make you jump through is rediculous. Apparently both of our cars have to go for emissions checks now even though I could swear we did it last year. Lame. Thanks for the heads up.
that comment was from Lori
You need a maryland lawyer? - this is from Joe
Thanks for the heads up! Oh MVA...I'd do just about anything short of paying 1400 to avoid any contact with them...
This is Nathan,
Dude, this brings back some serious memories!
The MVA stole my Utah Title and told me 'we will send you the new one' but they sent it to our old address.
6 months and about 80 hours of annoying phone conversations later I am pulled over with a cop explaining why I don't have any title for the car. Grrrrr!!!
Each state has different laws about their vehicle title. Moving to MD from CA, I saw a huge difference. MD tags belong to a person, not a vehicle...and while we're at it, they belong to the MVA and are loaned to you- for a fee. When you sell a car, you hold on to your plates and put them on your new car and register them with the new VIN number; or you turn them in the the MVA if you didn't buy a new car.
We have a vehicle that doesn't run. In CA you must keep the tags and register it as a "non-op". In MD- they want those tags back, and it sits on your property with no tags. (I'm sure there is more to it than that- but the person at MVA I spoke with was only interested in getting "their" tags back if the vehicle would not be on the road)
So for those of you leaving MD when you graduate (or for whatever reason), you need to turn your plates back in to the MVA before you go. Yes this makes it a MUST to get your car registered in the new state right away because there are no tags on them, but that's the easiest way to avoid ever having to deal with this situation.
If you are driving to a new state, mail your tags back to MVA or to a true friend who is willing to drive down there for you. (do such people exist?)
Frederick MVA is pretty layed back and less busy than others around.
Hope you get your mess cleared up soon!!
UPDATE: The case is now closed and it has been removed from collections. Thank goodness!
Wow. Glad to hear you finally got it cleared up. We'll definitely keep it in mind when we move.
That sounds like a major pain!! Glad it is taken care of and thanks for the heads up.
Glad to see it all worked out. A similar story happened when we moved from California to Colorado. It wasn't as bad as your story but we did get threatening letters and it was a big hassel. What is with these DMV's??
Gotta love Maryland!!
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