Non resident vehicle registrations

[bobio]

I registered a motorcycle on Friday and I was told that new rules regarding non residents and vehicle registrations will come into effect at the end of June. The current rule forbids you from taking any vehicle that you register in NH out of state for more than 15 days per year. I was told that the new rule doesn't allow you to take that vehicle out of the state at all. This sounds ridiculous! Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[jrc]

Sorry I mis-read bobio's post.



Guess I have to find a new job, my car travels out of state every weekday.

Somebody is misreading something. Who told you this?

[TiltonBB]

There is no restriction on residents. The rule is in place because most states require that you register your vehicle at the primary residence or principal place of garaging. Many people from other states who have vacation homes in NH register their vehicles here to save on sales tax and obtain insurance at a lower cost.

NH is set up with the best interest of the full time residents in mind, not vacationers or seasonal residents. When property owners from other states who spend less than 50% of their time in NH register their vehicles here it drives up the insurance cost to the full time residents. The law is to prevent this from happening.

There is no such use restriction on people that have NH as a principal or primary residence.

[AC2717]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

There is no restriction on residents. The rule is in place because most states require that you register your vehicle at the primary residence or principal place of garaging. Many people from other states who have vacation homes in NH register their vehicles here to save on sales tax and obtain insurance at a lower cost.

NH is set up with the best interest of the full time residents in mind, not vacationers or seasonal residents. When property owners from other states who spend less than 50% of their time in NH register their vehicles here it drives up the insurance cost to the full time residents. The law is to prevent this from happening.

There is no such use restriction on people that have NH as a principal or primary residence.

If they spend their time out of state with the vehicle how does it drive insurance rates up? as most accidents they might be in would occur out of the state?

Accidents/thefts/damage are taken into account when configuring insurance rates based on where they occur/happen
Not to say yes where the person has the car registered might be effected but on a very slim to none basis and would probably be included in a regional across the board rate hike. Where as NH would be lumped into the Northeast Region and a company wanted to raise rates across the region because they are getting hammer

example: You are garaged and registered in a part of Boston called West Roxbury (not roxbury by any means) You are a stones through from down town Dorchester, South Boston, and Roxbury, but your rates are a little bit less than those areas. But you are working in those areas everyday

[fatnoah]

The result was that NH insurance rates skyrocketed as everyone living in NH was paying for out of state accidents and thefts of those who tried to cheat the system

I went to college in Worcester, MA. My auto insurance went down about 3% when I changed the "garage" location from Laconia to Worcester, even though Worcester is much higher on the risk scale. Out of curiosity, I asked the insurance agent (not that I was complaining, mind you) why it wasn't higher in Worcester. His answer was that MA requires all drivers to have insurance, whereas NH does not, so there's a greater risk your own insurance would have to cover damages and liability for accidents where you are not even at fault.

[LIforrelaxin]

It not that NH necessarily want to enforce this new rule....However they are protecting themselves from neighboring states. I have registered my boat trailers in NH for many years. The first year I did it, as a non-resident I had to sign a waiver indicating that I would not take the trailer out of state. As I talked to the town clerk where I did this. It became very clear, that the issue was if I pulled the trailer into the state where I resided, and was pulled over, that quite often the state investigates why I have my trailer registered in NH and not that state. As part of the investigation the clerk told me, that they are often called by neighboring states, and question as to why they allowed this to happen. And then when the resident state decided to press some charges over taxes not payed on the trailer, then guess what the town clerk in NH is called again.... NH non sales / use tax situation for season home owners, has caused itself some grief... they are trying to put laws in place so that when people get in trouble in their home states, they can't get pulled into the mess.

If NH had a sales tax similar in rate to its neighboring states, this wouldn't even be an issue.... now please note that I am advocating NH start a new tax, just stating the reality of the situation.....

[diz]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

It not that NH necessarily want to enforce this new rule....However they are protecting themselves from neighboring states. I have registered my boat trailers in NH for many years. The first year I did it, as a non-resident I had to sign a waiver indicating that I would not take the trailer out of state. As I talked to the town clerk where I did this. It became very clear, that the issue was if I pulled the trailer into the state where I resided, and was pulled over, that quite often the state investigates why I have my trailer registered in NH and not that state. As part of the investigation the clerk told me, that they are often called by neighboring states, and question as to why they allowed this to happen. And then when the resident state decided to press some charges over taxes not payed on the trailer, then guess what the town clerk in NH is called again.... NH non sales / use tax situation for season home owners, has caused itself some grief... they are trying to put laws in place so that when people get in trouble in their home states, they can't get pulled into the mess.

If NH had a sales tax similar in rate to its neighboring states, this wouldn't even be an issue.... now please note that I am advocating NH start a new tax, just stating the reality of the situation.....

As a non-resident with a car that spends most, though not 350 days, a year in NH I'm not sure how NH is protecting itself. It's on roads plowed and maintained by NH but all of the registration, excise tax, insurance costs, etc. go to Massachusetts. It seems to me that the car should be registered where it spends the most time, not where its owner spends the most time. In my case anyway, I think NH deserves the money I spend keeping that car on the road.

[crowsnest]

If you have your boat in NH waters over a certain amount of time you need to reg the boat in NH.

so why cant you do the same with an auto.

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by diz

It's on roads plowed and maintained by NH but all of the registration, excise tax, insurance costs, etc. go to Massachusetts. It seems to me that the car should be registered where it spends the most time, not where its owner spends the most time. In my case anyway, I think NH deserves the money I spend keeping that car on the road.

I can't say that I disagree with you... However where NH was getting caught in the middle, of legal issues, is that most states dictate that if you have a vehicle in the state for more then 30 consecutive days and have declared a residence in the state, that you must register the vehicle in that state. For Ma. a state with 6% sales tax, and towns that generate money from Excise tax, that generates a great deal of revenue. Now if a neighboring state such as NH allows Ma. residents to register a car to there vacation home, and drive it back into Ma., thus robbing the state of Ma. of Revenue. The state of Mass. not only goes after the person, but also goes after the state and town that allowed the issue to happen. The problem is not the vehicles that come go to another state for a few days, but rather the ones that come into the state for months at a time.

Bottom line is people abused a system, now the system (state of NH), is having to punish not only the people, that used the system as intended. People who register cars, and other vehicles in the state that are intended to be used in the state 80-90% of the time. But more importantly give them selves a defense, when the idiots who have vehicles registered in NH that spend 80-90 % of the time in other states, get in trouble.

[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by jrc

Guess I have to find a new job, my car travels out of state every weekday.

Somebody is misreading something. Who told you this?

You might be the somebody that is misreading something. You may have missed the title that refers to "non-resident registrations" This does not apply to NH residents.

[wifi]

Years ago, this wasn't the case, if you owned property in NH you could register your car/truck here and have permanent residence in another state. Then what happened was, it became popular for people trying to avoid high insurance rates in neighboring states. The result was that NH insurance rates skyrocketed as everyone living in NH was paying for out of state accidents and thefts of those who tried to cheat the system.

So, NH passed the 15 day rule to bring insurance rates back into line with what they should be, and the other states, who were losing registration revenue started looking for NH registered vehicles parked at homes of local residents.

If the law is tightening up again, I'll guess there is a resurgence of cheating the rules.

For example:
http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1...e-plates/print

[Slickcraft]

This has to do only with non-residents of NH who are allowed to registrar a motor vehicle in NH based on the claim that the vehicle is used almost exclusively in NH. (actually I am surprised that this is allowed at all). The current law, copied below, required that the vehicle be garaged here 350 days per year.
I assume that the non-resident always has the option or registering the vehicle in their home state.

261:46 Nonresident Registration. – Notwithstanding RSA 261:45, a nonresident who garages a vehicle primarily in this state may register such vehicle in this state as a nonresident. A vehicle is garaged primarily in this state if it is garaged in this state for at least 350 days of the registration year. No exemption from the payment of a permit fee shall be granted by reason of nonresidence except by the director, who shall in all cases require proof satisfactory to him or her of residence elsewhere, and of the liability of a nonresident owner, otherwise entitled to such exemption, to pay a property tax on the vehicle for the current year in the state of his or her residence.

[MAXUM]

Originally Posted by bobio

I registered a motorcycle on Friday and I was told that new rules regarding non residents and vehicle registrations will come into effect at the end of June. The current rule forbids you from taking any vehicle that you register in NH out of state for more than 15 days per year. I was told that the new rule doesn't allow you to take that vehicle out of the state at all. This sounds ridiculous! Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Here is a link to the law as it currently stands:

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/...261/261-46.htm

Now what I read in that is not so much that you can't take it out of state, but that it must be "garaged" in NH at least 350 days out of the year. Seems to be pretty unenforceable to me.

[bobio]

I was looking for information on this NEW rule. I was told by the City Clerks office that it won't allow me to leave the state and garage it elsewhere for any amount of time. So I have a motorcycle that I primarily use in NH. With this new rule I cannot take it home with me if I wanted to take it to my primary home in Ma for a week during the summer. I would risk having my vehicle impounded if it was proved that it was out of the state for any period of time. This is ridiculous! Does the NH RMV actually have the resources to enforce this stupid rule? Too much government and too many rules. Remember the anthem "Live free or die"?

[ITD]

I wouldn't worry about it. Just don't get your neighbors mad at you.

[songkrai]

Originally Posted by bobio

I was looking for information on this NEW rule. I was told by the City Clerks office that it won't allow me to leave the state and garage it elsewhere for any amount of time. So I have a motorcycle that I primarily use in NH. With this new rule I cannot take it home with me if I wanted to take it to my primary home in Ma for a week during the summer. I would risk having my vehicle impounded if it was proved that it was out of the state for any period of time. This is ridiculous! Does the NH RMV actually have the resources to enforce this stupid rule? Too much government and too many rules. Remember the anthem "Live free or die"?

It is Massachusetts that will give you an issue if vehicle is parked in Massachusetts and you have NH registration.

All who do this are skating on thin ice. If you notice now on new cars/truck where the VIN is located there is a bar code. The authorities can just scan that barcode and know everything about you.

The next generation of car/truck computer known as ODBIII will allow the authorities to just drive by your vehicle with a handheld scanner and "beam" all information about the vehicle and it's owner and registration, insurance, etc. without even getting out of car. Not here yet but very soon. The days of skirting the issue are about to end.

Just think about it. Your local Barny Fife on the night shift with nothing to do will just drive around your town and "beam" vehicle information about you and your car/truck/motorcycle. Even if in a garage. Your only solution is a lead lined garage. And all scanned data will be saved. So you guys and gals with secret amorous escapades - this data will be available to those who seek it.

[diz]

Originally Posted by songkrai

It is Massachusetts that will give you an issue if vehicle is parked in Massachusetts and you have NH registration.

All who do this are skating on thin ice. If you notice now on new cars/truck where the VIN is located there is a bar code. The authorities can just scan that barcode and know everything about you.

The next generation of car/truck computer known as ODBIII will allow the authorities to just drive by your vehicle with a handheld scanner and "beam" all information about the vehicle and it's owner and registration, insurance, etc. without even getting out of car. Not here yet but very soon. The days of skirting the issue are about to end.

Just think about it. Your local Barny Fife on the night shift with nothing to do will just drive around your town and "beam" vehicle information about you and your car/truck/motorcycle. Even if in a garage. Your only solution is a lead lined garage. And all scanned data will be saved. So you guys and gals with secret amorous escapades - this data will be available to those who seek it.

Where are you finding this information about ODBIII? I haven't heard of such a standard. I've put an ODBII Bluetooth adapter in both my boat and car and there's no way to read anything but engine information. And there's no way to input personal details. You can reset engine fault codes but that's it.

Also, what do you mean when you say Mass. will give you an issue if you park a car with NH plates? You can park a car in Mass. with NH plates as long as it's not "principally garaged" in Mass.

[songkrai]

OK.
I exagerated a tad. The OBD3 is still in development stages and testing stages. Supposedly only to check on emissions. But some of the prototypes do transmit wirelessly.

The ones on cars today are somewhat like the "black box" on airplanes but obviously on a smaller scale. It does record speed, braking time, etc. when an accident occurs. That technology is present in some fashion on all new cars today.

Some privacy groups are vigorously opposing any government use other then emissions.

[diz]

Originally Posted by songkrai

OK.
I exagerated a tad. The OBD3 is still in development stages and testing stages. Supposedly only to check on emissions. But some of the prototypes do transmit wirelessly.

The ones on cars today are somewhat like the "black box" on airplanes but obviously on a smaller scale. It does record speed, braking time, etc. when an accident occurs. That technology is present in some fashion on all new cars today.

Some privacy groups are vigorously opposing any government use other then emissions.

Exaggerated? I'd say fabricated. This thread is about non-residents registering their cars in NH. I'm honestly curious to know what a false and inflammatory statement about police stealing your personal information has do to with the thread's topic. I like this forum. It's got a lot of valuable information but when I check a thread about a topic that's really relevant to me and find this kind of stuff it makes me scratch my head.

[songkrai]

Originally Posted by diz

Exaggerated? I'd say fabricated. This thread is about non-residents registering their cars in NH. I'm honestly curious to know what a false and inflammatory statement about police stealing your personal information has do to with the thread's topic. I like this forum. It's got a lot of valuable information but when I check a thread about a topic that's really relevant to me and find this kind of stuff it makes me scratch my head.

Read the above responses. Some find this interesting. Is this about motorcycle registration. No it is not. Sometimes a posting gets a tad distracted. Sometimes this is exactly why forums are found to be an interesting read.

[MAXUM]

Originally Posted by songkrai

OK.
I exagerated a tad. The OBD3 is still in development stages and testing stages. Supposedly only to check on emissions. But some of the prototypes do transmit wirelessly.

The ones on cars today are somewhat like the "black box" on airplanes but obviously on a smaller scale. It does record speed, braking time, etc. when an accident occurs. That technology is present in some fashion on all new cars today.

Some privacy groups are vigorously opposing any government use other then emissions.

The huge sticking point on the ODBIII standard is that it will allow LE to come after those that are driving around in vehicles where the MIL/CEL (check engine idiot light) is on. As you may or may not know in NH if that bugger is on you automatically fail your inspection, other states want to monitor and actively ticket people for it, I hear that California is one. The reasoning behind that is generally if the MIL/CEL idiot light comes on, the problem is 9 times out of 10 going to be in the emissions control system.

The other piece of it is the fact it will have an on board data recorder similar to that of an aircraft so that should an accident occur information can be derived from the computer to give investigators detailed information on all the on board systems and other items such as speed and direction of travel. Finally that system will no doubt be tagged with a GPS as the ground work is being laid for a federal tax on mileage being driven which is supposed to replace the federal gas tax due to slumping revenues caused by more fuel efficient cars being produced. Granted, don't take this all as gospel, just stuff I've read about, how much of it is reality or fiction remains to be seen, but it all seems quite plausible.

So much for it's original intent which was to bring all the on board diagnostics into a single standard for all manufacturers.

[ITD]

They probably won't need this OBD3 as police cars are starting to be equipped with infra red cameras that can scan license plates on the fly. No inspection sticker... Busted. No insurance (here in Mass. anyway)... .Busted.

[Rattlesnake Guy]

When you park your car at Logan central parking, the exact location of your car is printed on your parking receipt. Indicating that they scan your plate when you come in and then drive around scanning all the parked car license plates into their data base.

If you use your vehicle "mostly" in New Hampshire, we appreciate you registering the vehicle here to help pay for the cost of the roads and services.
Thank you.

[John A. Birdsall]

When I was a sailor in the USN, I got transferred from San Diego to New London. My home of record was Reading Mass. My car was registered in Calif. my license was from Massachusetts. Because I was in the Active Duty Military my license was good and recognized as long as I had a green ID Card.

I got stopped in Reading because I had calif. plates. The officer unaware of the law arrested me for driving without a license in an out of state vechicle.

I had two things going for me, My dad lived in town and we both knew the chief of police. One call home, and he to the chief and everybody was at the police station. The law also said I had 30 days to reg. the car in Mass or remove it from the state.

I also learned that it was possible to have your car inspected in Mass, and have a calif. plate, but not a drivers licensed.

[Merrymeeting]

Demonstrating how weird and complex this can all become, I'll relate personal experience.

My mother is a resident of NH who, like many snowbirds, goes to FL for the winter. She used to drive back and forth, but because of some medical issues last year, she is no longer driving. The NH registered vehicle ended up in Florida where it will be staying for a bit longer. She has someone who drives her to her appointments and errands so the car remains legally NH registered even though it has not been in the state for over a year.

I recently bought a new truck. We are building a house in NH and plan to be residents within a year. Because the truck will be left at the NH location the majority of the time, and will be primarily used for things related to the building, I registered it in NH. I did have to sign the form stating that it will remain in NH for 350+ days, which it will.

I intend to use it to move a lot of our possessions from our non-NH house to the NH house over the next many months.

So if this new law takes effect, I could be penalized for going to the current home to pick up things and bring them back to NH?

My mothers car can remain out of state legally for more than a year. But if I drive out for 1 day, it may be illegal. Seems kinda crazy...

[AC2717]

Originally Posted by Merrymeeting

Demonstrating how weird and complex this can all become, I'll relate personal experience.

My mother is a resident of NH who, like many snowbirds, goes to FL for the winter. She used to drive back and forth, but because of some medical issues last year, she is no longer driving. The NH registered vehicle ended up in Florida where it will be staying for a bit longer. She has someone who drives her to her appointments and errands so the car remains legally NH registered even though it has not been in the state for over a year.

I recently bought a new truck. We are building a house in NH and plan to be residents within a year. Because the truck will be left at the NH location the majority of the time, and will be primarily used for things related to the building, I registered it in NH. I did have to sign the form stating that it will remain in NH for 350+ days, which it will.

I intend to use it to move a lot of our possessions from our non-NH house to the NH house over the next many months.

So if this new law takes effect, I could be penalized for going to the current home to pick up things and bring them back to NH?

My mothers car can remain out of state legally for more than a year. But if I drive out for 1 day, it may be illegal. Seems kinda crazy...

You would not be becuase it goes off of where the car will be garaged, you are free to travel anywhere, and what the laws is tring to say is that you are free to travel anywhere but it must sleep at the NH residence 350+ days

Your mother, and good for her if it is cheaper, the state of FL just has not caught up with her and probably will not because of the amount of snow birds

[RailroadJoe]

I guess you can't go to the Cape for a two week vacation without breaking the law. Crazy huh.

[jmen24]

Originally Posted by Merrymeeting

Demonstrating how weird and complex this can all become, I'll relate personal experience.

My mother is a resident of NH who, like many snowbirds, goes to FL for the winter. She used to drive back and forth, but because of some medical issues last year, she is no longer driving. The NH registered vehicle ended up in Florida where it will be staying for a bit longer. She has someone who drives her to her appointments and errands so the car remains legally NH registered even though it has not been in the state for over a year.

I recently bought a new truck. We are building a house in NH and plan to be residents within a year. Because the truck will be left at the NH location the majority of the time, and will be primarily used for things related to the building, I registered it in NH. I did have to sign the form stating that it will remain in NH for 350+ days, which it will.

I intend to use it to move a lot of our possessions from our non-NH house to the NH house over the next many months.

So if this new law takes effect, I could be penalized for going to the current home to pick up things and bring them back to NH?

My mothers car can remain out of state legally for more than a year. But if I drive out for 1 day, it may be illegal. Seems kinda crazy...

The wife's grandparents recently sold their home in Maine to live full time in Florida. They have had a home down there for over 15 years, but once the need for only one home came to light it was a no brainer. It costs them less than $60 to register a 4 year old full sized Buick Sedan in Florida.

I know you said she cannot drive anymore (sorry to hear that), but it would be considerably cheaper to reg in FL over NH.

[Merrymeeting]

Originally Posted by bobio

The current rule forbids you from taking any vehicle that you register in NH out of state for more than 15 days per year. I was told that the new rule doesn't allow you to take that vehicle out of the state at all.

I was responding to the original post in this thread that states there may be a new rule that the vehicle cannot leave NH. If so, I'd be in violation by going out of state to get my belongings to bring them back to NH.

I know you said she cannot drive anymore (sorry to hear that), but it would be considerably cheaper to reg in FL over NH.

Understood, and thanks. But she is a NH resident, and we plan to bring the vehicle back at some point.

Besides, assuming the same laws, if she registers in FL, as a non-resident, she may then have a car that is in the state illegally!

[tis]

I see what the state is trying to avoid, but all this just shows us how laws don't help. What a mess it all is!

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Many Lakes Region residents keep cars year round in FL and simply get an annual NH registration and take it to FL to put on the NH plates. This seems to work out fine as long as the old inspection sticker is removed and the FL police don't realize that NH requires a yearly inspection sticker.

[songkrai]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

Many Lakes Region residents keep cars year round in FL and simply get an annual NH registration and take it to FL to put on the NH plates. This seems to work out fine as long as the old inspection sticker is removed and the FL police don't realize that NH requires a yearly inspection sticker.

Yes, it is a good idea to remove the outdated sticker. But I don't think that Florida or any other state can enforce a NH law.

[Merrymeeting]

This seems like the best thread to post this question as it relates to NH auto registration and out of state ones.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, we'll be moving to NH permanently within the next few months. I will be declaring NH residency next month, while my wife and son remain in MA until school is done. My truck is registered in NH so it is all set. But we also have a car, titled and registered to me in MA that my son uses to commute to school. It will remain in MA until May.

Does anyone know of any issues I will have if I just leave the car registered and in use in MA as a NH resident? Is there a time period I have to make the change?

I've searched quite a bit on the net but haven't found anything covering this scenario.

Thanks

[songkrai]

Originally Posted by MAXUM

The huge sticking point on the ODBIII standard is that it will allow LE to come after those that are driving around in vehicles where the MIL/CEL (check engine idiot light) is on. As you may or may not know in NH if that bugger is on you automatically fail your inspection, other states want to monitor and actively ticket people for it, I hear that California is one. The reasoning behind that is generally if the MIL/CEL idiot light comes on, the problem is 9 times out of 10 going to be in the emissions control system.

The other piece of it is the fact it will have an on board data recorder similar to that of an aircraft so that should an accident occur information can be derived from the computer to give investigators detailed information on all the on board systems and other items such as speed and direction of travel. Finally that system will no doubt be tagged with a GPS as the ground work is being laid for a federal tax on mileage being driven which is supposed to replace the federal gas tax due to slumping revenues caused by more fuel efficient cars being produced. Granted, don't take this all as gospel, just stuff I've read about, how much of it is reality or fiction remains to be seen, but it all seems quite plausible.

So much for it's original intent which was to bring all the on board diagnostics into a single standard for all manufacturers.

Thank you for stating this. This concept is in the works and not fabricated. It is amazing how naive some are. Most don't even know that their car/truck/SUV has OBDII.