I kept my last car for 9 years, and when I bought my current car, I noticed an immediate and MASSIVE uptick in postal spam. Not just vehicle-related either -- I have a feeling that "registering a new car" feeds heavily into all sorts of "target this person" algorithms.
First: you can register _two_ addresses with the DMV. One is your "mailing address" and is what is shown on your ID and gets sold with dumps like this, the other is your "residence address" and is a little bit more protected. If someone tries to run your plate number through any civilian system, they're only going to get your "mailing address" and NEVER your "residence address."
Second: you can get a "Private Mailbox" service. PMBs are really useful in their own right, but with USPS rules you CANNOT send unsolicited or bulk mail to these addresses. The USPS keeps a database and is very good about filtering these off.
So: Get a PMB and use it as your "mailing address." This will keep the marketers one step away from your real information and will prevent large amounts of spam from reaching you. Most PMBs have a "forward when full" or "forward on schedule" service, where they'll empty your box for you and then forward all of that to whatever address you provide them.
I've been doing this for 10 years now and it's been fantastic.
> Second: you can get a "Private Mailbox" service. PMBs are really useful in their own right, but with USPS rules you CANNOT send unsolicited or bulk mail to these addresses. The USPS keeps a database and is very good about filtering these off.
I've been using PMBs for 15+ years. I still get bulk junk mail.
I could have been more clear.. you can still get "junk mail" but you shouldn't be getting "pre-sorted bulk mail." The latter typically comes addressed to "RESIDENT or CURRENT OWNER" or something similar, which is a fair amount of standard junk, but also catalogs, coupon books, weekly shopping flyers and phone books.
Those items are typically mailed using the pre-sorted bulk rate, which is not available for PMBs and a few other types of addresses.
Anyone can just send regular rate mail to a PMB and that can obviously be "junk" or "unsolicited commercial" mail, so there are no special restrictions in that sense, but compared to my prior residential mail volume my PMB only receives about 10% the amount of "junk" that I used to endure.
Private companies offer PMBs. You have to fill out a form to allow them to handle the mail and get it notarized which is part of the USPS regulations.
Some states even allow a PMB to be used for both mailing and residence address for driver licenses and registration, such as South Dakota. You need proof you spent a night at a campground or hotel, along with a receipt for your PMB.
So if you sell your house to hit the road full time, your former state might be picky about address so people use a relative address or just change their domicile to a friendly state who recognizes full time RVing.
Also kinda interesting South Dakota made it illegal for red light cameras to access the DMV database, and they even revoked access to a city in Iowa on the border. So police officers must phone in all driver license and registration checks instead of being able to use the computer. So no longer automated, but cops will still manually review the footage and write a ticket as a work around. So basically no difference they witnessed it in person or sitting at a computer watching remotely. Just no longer automated process, wouldn't surprise me if for all other states still automatic but it has like a inbox for SD plates to manually review.
I guess cities all away across the country are in violation of South Dakota law possibly, but I guess at most they can do is just deny you access to their computers. and if you ended up getting a ticket it's probably still valid no matter what SD law says. I know in Ohio there's been a battle between the state and cities. Dayton for example has illegally kept the cameras on, now the state says they can but all money collected will be subtracted from any money the city gets from the state. Be interesting if Dayton ever captured any South Dakota plates, but not sure if it'd be going too far if a sheriff in a small county decided to expedite the mayor of Dayton, Ohio to stand trial for violating South Dakota data access laws.
> just change their domicile to a friendly state who recognizes full time RVing
That's like a ship's flag of convenience... Do any states actively encourage RVers to change domicile? Presumably they could get tax returns from it? I'm guessing RVers are a mixture of high and low income earners.
Not too sure, people say FL, TX, and SD are the popular ones. FL seems to be by county though, as each county tax office handles this stuff, instead of a statewide DMV. Oregon has a "continuous traveler" status, but apparently, you must already be an Oregon resident.
SD I guess is making millions from people who barely use the roads. Some say it's to inflate population for census numbers, so more seats in congress, electoral college votes and federal funding... But not sure how RVers are counted... Not sure if they send census forms to PMBs.
Also was reading census workers will go to hotels and campgrounds, but that sounded odd to me since aren't a lot of those people are on vacation? Some say it's supposed to be a snapshot of April first. So I guess if a New York resident is spending the winter in FL, then FL would get credit for them? It seems like some different interpretations.
Then your former state might be strict about addresses, unless you use a relative or homeless shelter address... but if you are RVing by choice, don't really think a homeless shelter would be appropriate and if you are across the country I feel like they'd expect you to come to pick up your mail instead of forwarding it or scanning it. I know I heard a story someone in Michigan rented a mailbox because they didn't want to go worried about another domicile yet, changed it online and they accepted it. Then later got a letter with a short amount of time to get a residential address or be suspended. So they had to either use a family or friend's address or rush to another state. So a lifelong resident was kicked out of their home state because they wanted to live an alternative lifestyle.
So if your state doesn't recognize full time RVing, you are stuck getting established in a new state. Full time RVers with money sometimes struggle with this, getting all the documents together. One couple went to SD but his wife had to get a new copy of her marriage license. Also, some states won't accept some birth certificates anymore due to Real ID, meaning you need to get a new one. I guess the rules changed about 20 years ago. I feel sorry for people who are truly homeless, and then you need one document to get another document, proofs of address, affidavits, and everything. It feels like a real way to suppress people sadly.
At least with SD and FL, you don't have to physically bring your car though... So you could fly if forced to change on short notice, get a new license and register your cars. FL will let you register without bringing it too, however, you need a VIN inspection affidavit but even out of state police officers are allowed to sign it. Some RV blogs talk about that. SD has no vin inspections, and there was a group of fraudsters changing vin numbers slightly to register stolen cars in SD because of how lax they are. November 2018 it looks is when the theft ring got caught.
Also, SD doesn't require an in state address for registrations, only licenses. There was a report that Nebraska residents registered in South Dakota because it's cheaper, however, if you live in Nebraska with a Nebraska driver license, you are breaking the law in Nebraska. Maine is supposed to be lax too with trailers and motorcycles if I recall. Some trucking companies also pick lax states.
Some estimate there are a million RVers, I kinda wish the feds would step in and offer a program maybe. If you worked remotely traveling full time or retired in an RV, I think it's stupid you have to still be tied to a state somehow. Right now only US government owned vehicles have federal license plates. But I guess no one really considered this was a possibility maybe? One county in SD has more RVers than people with actual houses and apartments. Apparently, you can vote for state and fed elections with your PMB, but local issues they won't let you anymore I've heard from someone in a FB group... Not sure how true that is or even if that's legal since that's the address on your license and even a homeless person using a park bench could vote. Clay County in FL has also been challenging voting rights for RVers. There was a lawsuit in Texas over RVers using an address in Livingston, TX but Texas recognized their voting rights in the end.
Some people RV by choice traveling the country, while out in cities where housing is so high people buy a RV that barely runs to live in them on the side of the street, some even dumping sewage since can't afford a dump station. So I think some RV people are homeless, but the ones doing it by choice I wouldn't consider them homeless even though some might view them as homeless. Some RVs can get expensive, there are million dollar ones with granite countertops, but then they probably weight more so more fuel. I think personally I'd aim around 35 feet, as probably could fit more places compared to a 40 footer.
I follow some vloggers, but I think it's a neat lifestyle to dream of, plus tech keeps getting better and better. Some day might even have decent satellite internet. Some people even have full time RV families too, doing homeschooling aka roadschooling. One guy owns a marketing company, so he can pretty much manage things from an RV or on a cruise ship. So be nice to follow the weather, sightsee and explore. But it's not an all vacation, got to balance work and play, still got to clean, go grocery shopping, etc. Similar to living in a house but it has wheels. But the whole country can be your backyard.
>Some estimate there are a million RVers, I kinda wish the feds would step in and offer a program maybe. If you worked remotely traveling full time or retired in an RV, I think it's stupid you have to still be tied to a state somehow. Right now only US government owned vehicles have federal license plates. But I guess no one really considered this was a possibility maybe? One county in SD has more RVers than people with actual houses and apartments. Apparently, you can vote for state and fed elections with your PMB, but local issues they won't let you anymore I've heard from someone in a FB group... Not sure how true that is or even if that's legal since that's the address on your license and even a homeless person using a park bench could vote. Clay County in FL has also been challenging voting rights for RVers. There was a lawsuit in Texas over RVers using an address in Livingston, TX but Texas recognized their voting rights in the end.
This is basically what already SD does and they do so easily so there's little demand for a federal service.
SD's policy is basically that no matter what it is as long as you can provide some sort of proof of ownership you can tag it. To someone who lives out of an RV and has no good way of proving an address or a myriad of other situations can often be out of luck (or in for a heck of a battle with the bureaucracy) in other states. SD makes a buck off that inefficiency.
IMO if the other states don't want to lose out on the tax money then they should make their processes not suck. Except for people from a few states with sky high cost of registration we're talking like a double digit number of dollars per year. With a difference that small most people with a residence will just register in that state for peace of mind.
Yeah I'm not sure why some states are so strict. I wonder if it because some states offer more social programs? Like some states expanded who could qualify for healthcare? Like the 3 RV states people recommend don't have expanded medicaid. It's like states are saying no thanks to free money... Get registration fees, can then tax their income, etc.
But I guess that's their loss and SD has carved out a niche for themselves.
Then also was doing research randomly about colleges, you could be a resident for taxes but not for in-state tuition. Then if you lived in California but your parents decided to retire to Florida... but if you wanted to stay in California for school, since tuition goes by your parents domicile while still a dependent. There could be a period of time you won't be eligible for instate tuition in California anymore, but not yet in Florida yet either as some states it can be 12 months or more to qualify. Sometimes it's a full calendar year, not staying for six months. Then also it seems schools like info on parents even if you aren't a dependant anymore, was reading someone in his 30s was going back for his masters and the admissions person was giving him a hard time for leaving his parents info blank. I wonder if maybe they wanted it to help track him down for any future unpaid debts maybe, seemed really odd to me but maybe it's common.
I got accepted in a school in Florida but never went as my family didn't want me taking out a lot of loans. It was a private school, so tuition being in state or not didn't matter. But they asked for contact info for my step dads work, wanted another family members info like say a uncle, friends contacts, etc. Was doing it all over online over the phone and e-signing stuff. 60,805 total for four years, but that didn't include housing and they were a bit pushy. The rep even asked if you want to be like your parents and stuff to try and pressure you.
Yeah there’s some articles on it, been a little while since looking at it. I’m guessing the system couldn’t tell the difference between cameras or cruisers computers. So if a city is found doing so, they can cut access but officers still can call someone to access the information over the phone. Slows things down though.
so I guess it's illegal to collect people's info for civil red light or speed cameras... However I don't know if that's a good enough excuse to dismiss the ticket. I feel like they'd issue them regardless of what SD says, but then they risk losing computer access.
Some cities in Iowa said they'd respect South Dakota's law while other cities said they wouldn't .Sounds like Sioux City, IA was the main city they got in a battle with.
People still getting tickets though, but kinda interesting SD made it harder.
Edit: I found the article! "Daugaard’s office sent Sioux City a letter on Tuesday evening saying Sioux City officers will only receive a registered owner’s name when making an electronic request for information. Officers will be able to call South Dakota dispatchers to gain address information for any criminal enforcement purpose."
But it also kinda makes me wonder how well states even log access. For example a state trooper pulled over a miami police officer at gun for speeding and leading her on a chase. So then the two departments had bad blood with each other, and even that trooper got harassing phone calls, threats, prank calls even pizzas ordered to her house. It's alleged that officers from 25 juridictions all across the state illegally accessed her info to retaliate. Wouldn't surprise me if Facebook or Google has stricter policies on viewing personal information than the states do. I heard snooping through users data at a lot of tech companies is a fireable offence. It seems like being a police officer is like joining some sort of cult if this is how they retaliate agaisnt a fellow officer for following the law.
When I bought a home, I got a wave of homeowner spam mail with "postage-paid" envelopes. I started mailing them their own mail back, torn to shreds, in their prepaid envelope, and eventually it stopped.
I'm not 100% sure but I think the answer is no. You can however purchase a car via a trust if you want to obfuscate ownership. You can also have a law firm purchase it for you. Of course both of those things cost money and only really rich people do it.
Interesting about trusts, I've seen articles talking about that, wealthy people do that to protect their assets. I know celebrities create trusts to try to hide where they live for privacy since they don't want to be stalked in their own home by fans. But some states apparently consider large Diesel Vehicle automatically commercial if registered to a trust, instead of a living person. So fuel tax permits, log book, etc.
Many states exempt RVs from those rules, and it goes by your state of domicile. So legal in FL, your also legal in TX or IL... So to drive a 38 foot RV, towing a Jeep weighting over 26,000 pounds is just needing a large checkbook, no real experience in about half the US. I know NY and TX are a bit stricter, but FL, SD, TN, OH it's just having the money, thanks to the RV lobby wanting to make it easier for retired couples. Kinda interesting If you lived in NY, sold the house, then rented a mailbox and spend a night in South Dakota, then spend a half hour at the very empty small town DMV. Now you have a more powerful driver license by default than New York State issues.
School buses are considered commercial vehicles, but rip out the seats, put a bed, fridge, stove, bathroom and retitle it as a RV, then no longer need a CDL to drive the same bus too, but some states make it easier than others to do a conversion. Some states it's just filing out a form, while others are more picky wanting to inspect it.
I wish there was some way to opt out of this.