Yahoo Autos Vermont Closes Loophole Allowing Out-of-State Registrations
For many years, Vermont's distinct green license plate has been a common sight far beyond the borders of the New England state. Not necessarily because hordes of Vermonters are commonly traversing the country, but because the state's DMV allowed anyone in America to register a car there, even if they didn't live in the state. You didn't even need to go to Vermont to make it happen.
Those days are over. As first reported by The Autopian, the Vermont DMV closed this loophole on July 1st. Now if someone out-of-state wants to register a car in Vermont, they'll have to go to a DMV in their state and have an official fill out a form certifying that the state in question doesn't require a car to be registered there. Additionally, the Vermont DMV now says that it "will not process this/these transaction(s) unless or until the owner of the subject vehicle can establish a legitimate connection to the state of Vermont." In short, the fun's over.
Vermont became an appealing place to register a car because it was cheap and easy. If you paid the $76 registration fee and the state's 6-percent sales tax on either the purchase price or NADA trade-in value of your car (whichever was higher, $500 minimum), you were golden.
There were other reasons. For vehicles over 15 years old, Vermont didn't require a title, just a bill-of-sale, making it a good option for road-registering project cars, barn finds, and the like. Vermont has annual safety inspections, and any car registered to the state is required to pass inspection. But if you registered a car and never drove in Vermont, you didn't really need to get an inspection. So if your car wouldn't pass inspection elsewhere for whatever reason, Vermont could be a savior. The state also didn't require proof-of-insurance or a driver's license to register a car either.
For years, there seemed to be some sort of peace between Vermont and those out-of-state car owners who took advantage of its DMV. After all, it must have been a pretty decent revenue source for the state. But recently, more and more people started to take advantage of the Vermont DMV's lax policies for more nefarious purposes. The deputy commissioner for the DMV told The Autopian that a number of people were using Vermont to register stolen cars. Additionally, the state's DMV offices saw an increase of "runners" who would arrive to get paperwork to register multiple cars. These "runners" were often belligerent to staff to the point where the state started stationing police officers at DMV stations. Florida also put out a fraud alert last year, and began requiring those with Vermont registrations to prove residence in that state before obtaining a Florida title. One also imagines uninsured and/or unlicensed drivers taking advantage of Vermont's old policies.
What was once an open secret among car enthusiasts got out, and it created way too many headaches for the state of Vermont. It's understandable why the state wanted this gaping loophole closed. On balance, it's probably a good thing. We don't need more stolen cars and reckless activity on the roads.
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