California DMV

**daveb** · 07-07-2011, 10:10 AM

I just found out that the DMV will not be sending out registrations fee's to vehicle owners. Of course they will give you 30 days grace, but the problem is you won't get the late notice until after 30 days and it WILL include the penalty

I'm not sure if it's a temporary situation or permanent.

I understand that the DMV has always claimed it's the vehicle owner who is responsible to update their registration but this is plain BS.

This state's governmental agencies are the worst in the nation and is a prime example of how not to run the United States of America. The DMV should be turned over to private agencies. If you had insurance company that was ran like the Ca DMV you'd fire them and find another company to deal with. This is just another way to squeeze money out of honest tax payers.

I have to go check the status of my SS Impala...of corse I don't remember receiving a notice.

If I were a company like AAA, I'd ask for a option to send a letter to their members stating your registration is due and if it needs to be smogged. I'd pay an extra 5 or 10 bucks a year for that. If I miss a bill for my van it would hurt at the prices I pay the DMV.

Don,t let the DMV rip you off. Check your registration

Sorry for the rant.

**daveb** · 07-07-2011, 10:55 AM

Update on my rant.
According to AAA this is a temporary problem and the DMV will honor the 30 day notice. DMV claims this is due to the changes in fees required as they were supposed to lower after July. Time will tell. I now know of 2 people who did not get their notice until after the penality was sent and DMV forced them to pay the penality. It's possible the mail service failed to send the letter.

At least I made my payment in time and was happy to find that AAA can tell you if your vehicle needs to be smogged. I made it by about a week.

If you vehicle has a registration between June and August, it's best to check your status.

sdwindansea · 07-07-2011, 11:08 AM

Thanks for the heads up and the information. Sounds like a major PITA for many people. I will consider myself fortunate to know that our vehicles are not due until October.

SheepShagger · 07-07-2011, 11:19 AM

Sounds fishy, can you send them an IOU like the state issued tax refunds

But, I don't understand the late fee. Can't you just state you didn't drive the vehicle? Here in TX I never keep all my stuff up to date, 12 or so vehicles. When I renew at the DMV the stuff that's out of date I just say I didn't drive it during that X period, and the tags are renewed from the current day for 1 year. Pee's me off that I can only renew 1 year at a time though, figured they would like the money upfront.

SteveInLA · 07-07-2011, 01:03 PM

The first link on the California DMV website is in regards to this issue:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/newsrel/news ... newals.htm

I take it that this means that if your registration is due in July or later, you will be receiving a statement in the mail. I especially liked this line. I may print the page and keep it in the glove box just in case:

Quote:

Law enforcement is aware and will not cite vehicles until the first day of the second month after the vehicle registration expires. For example: A vehicle with a registration expiration date of July 10th would not be cited for delinquent registration prior to September 1, 2011.

Steve in L.A.

TomH · 07-07-2011, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveb

.... the problem is you won't get the late notice until after 30 days and it WILL include the penalty

I understand that the DMV has always claimed it's the vehicle owner who is responsible to update their registration but this is plain BS.

This state's governmental agencies are the worst in the nation and is a prime example of how not to run the United States of America. The DMV should be turned over to private agencies. If you had insurance company that was ran like the Ca DMV you'd fire them and find another company to deal with. This is just another way to squeeze money out of honest tax payers.

Sorry for the rant.

I feel your pain man. About a year ago I got a late notice (with penalty) in the mail. I have awful U.S. Mail delivery here and am always getting many different neighbors' mail, don't get much of my own mail; heck one neighbor walked over one day with four boxes of my new checks that got put in their box. So anyway, I went down to the DMV, waited the obligatory 2.5 hours, got my number called, and politely began to explain how I have this bad mail service, didn't receive my notice, had always paid my registration on time. The young woman went postal, yelling and lecturing me about how I am supposed to know my registration due date as well as I know my birthday, and no the late fee could not be waived. I swear, the look on her face was like pure hate, as though I were a husband just caught cheating or something. She was outright psycho. I kept my cool and very politely asked if I could see a supervisor. She went over and whispered something to another woman who shook her head "no" but handed a clipboard to the younger woman. The younger woman informed me that the supervisor refused to see me, but that I could make a written request. I wrote a very polite request for the penalty to be waived and cited the reasons. The supervisor actually approved it, but the younger woman then made me write a statement that I now knew the rules and that my "once in a lifetime" waiver had been used.

The thing is, I am a public servant too. I teach school. I know the public's perception of schools is not much better than that of the DMV, but it just isn't that way where I work. My school is in a neighborhood that qualifies as Title I, yet we get no funds because other district schools have even greater poverty. Still, our school consistently meets all of its NCLB API and AYP growth goals in all categories. Every teacher at my school works really hard. My own students' test scores are very high. I can tell you this, however, if I were to speak to a parent the way that DMV woman spoke to me, I would not be teaching any more. Any time a parent has a complaint, no matter how absurd it may be, we are expected to just listen patiently until they have said everything they have to say.

Anyway, I hear you re. the DMV. It not only makes me mad that I am treated that way; it also ticks me off that people like her add to the public's perception that everybody who works for the government is that way, which is not true.

**daveb** · 07-07-2011, 02:26 PM

Tom, if our schools were in the same category as the DMV, it would take kids 30 years to make it to the 12th grade. With the DMV it's the system that's messed up. Sure, I'm positive you have some bad teachers, some bad students, and some bad management in the school system but overall the school system has a level or percentage of working ability that is acceptable to continue on throughout the US. I know some DMV's in the other states are just as bad as Ca's but there are several that aren't. That's the problem. I also work for a government utility...our management also has its problems and we too are plagued with a few sub-standard workers but overall we offer a much better rate and service than companies like PG&E. And that's not to put down out PG&E brothers, they're doing the best their company allows them to do.

Viejo · 07-09-2011, 07:41 PM

I just looked at the Cal DMV web site for their side of the story and it contains other info that is almost as bad as this 'failure to notify' situation. The flat tax rate for registration went up 35% while the tax on book value of the vehicle went down 45%.

What this means is that the poor slob driving a $2,000 junker to his part-time minimum-wage job is paying $2 more a year in tax while the guy with a $70,000 SMB toy is paying $338 a year LESS.

One more of the many ways that the rich in this country and the politicians they own, screw over the poor.