From one state to another? I just moved from CA to OH and attempted to get my OH driver license and registration transferred, but I got turned away because I have to get the title transferred first before I can transfer my registration, and I was at the wrong location to get my driver license anyway.
Can I transfer my insurance before I get my new license, or does the insurance agency need to cover me as an OH licensed driver? Can I be an OH licensed and insured driver driving a CA registered vehicle?
I need to get all this done but I don’t want to get turned away again! (and let me tell you, the way the title transfer was described to me by the rude guy on the “help” line, I practically need to hire a lawyer.)
Is there a correct order to getting all of this done?
Yeah, when I moved to OH, I had the same issue… Actually, I just stood in the wrong line for an hour, and then told to go to the next window over and wait in line again… it sucked.
It doesn’t matter whether you get driver’s license or plates first.
The driver’s license you can transfer anytime (just make sure your name and ssn or d/l# are not similar to someone’s in Wisconsin that has a suspended license or else you will have to leave, write a letter to the Wisconsin DMV requesting they confirm in writing that you are in fact someone else, then wait a month for that to come in the mail, then go back to the Ohio office, then get your license). Just check the website and bring all the documentation they request (you might be required to bring a utility bill or lease with your new address on it…can’t remember).
As for the vehicle, like they said, transfer the title, then get the plate. It’s really just a matter bringing the proper docs and standing in line. If I remember correctly they transferred the title, then I moved to the next window, waited in line again, and got my plates. Although they didn’t hand me the title right then (I had to wait for it in the mail), but they went ahead and did the plates.
The only thing that really sucks is that OH requires you to ug-up your car with a front license plate in addition to the rear plate.
I can’t remember about the insurance, sorry, I think you do that after the plates. Call some local insurance co’s and ask.
Good luck! Don’t you love the DMV… or in OH the BMV.
CA also requires two plates, so no problem for the OP.
Just curious - how many states are “one-plate” states? Of all the states I’ve lived in, NC is the only one that only issues one plate.
As for the OP’s situation, it sounds like Ohio could go great lengths to make the process more user-tolerable. In CA, you’re greeted by a gatekeeper minion who will assess what you’re there for and they’ll tell you what forms you forgot to fill out, then give you a number for your place in line.
Then, as you’re nodding off to the hypnotic female robot voice intoning “Now serving B-35 at window 4. Now serving F-85 at window 28…” you get to the window and the clerk snatches the paper from your hand, scans it, then says “Registrations for blue cars need to be on the CA-102-REG-B form. NEXT!”
Ha. I was just thinking that I’ve never lived in a state other than OH that required two!! Oh, heres why. I have lived in a lot of states KY, PA, CA, TN, OH, FL, GA, and SC (all one plate states) (except CA, but I was only 7-10yrs old, so didn’t remember),
I don’t know about CA, but I’m pretty sure that in Massachusetts it does indeed have to be done in a certain order.
Do you already have car insurance? If not, call some local insurance agents where you’re moving. At least here in MA, I believe for a small fee they’ll go to the DMV (well, we just call it The Registry around here) and handle the paperwork for you. They should know in what order things need to be done.
The guy on the “Help Line” told me I have to write a letter to the bank that holds the title and include in it some specific language asking whether it will be in a copy form and if it is in a copy form then have them send it to some main BMV office in OH then call the office when they have it and have them send it to the bureau where I will be getting the OH registration and if they will not release a copy then I have to have the BMV write a letter to the bank on my behalf and ON and ON and ON and ON. I mean, HOW can this ever actually happen, the way this guy described it??? It sounded like a giant clusterf*ck of bureaucracy that would never actually get me to a logical endpoint. So I am procrastinating like a mofo on this registration thing.
Yeah, that pretty much sucks…part of the problem is that the bank is holding the title. In some states when you have a loan, you can hold the title, and there is just a lien on it that has to be cleared before you sell it… That would make it a little easier to transfer. Or if you owned the car outright. Sorry about it, I really didn’t like dealing with those OH BMV f*ckers either, so at least take some comfort that you’re not alone.
You also have to notify California when you register your car in another state or California will continue billing you for the registration. :smack:
You’d think this would be handled automatically or that California would just assume you moved to another state when you don’t renew you’re registration.
