Registration and Insurance info - Montana Owners Club

Baird · 03-10-2006, 07:57 AM

We are going full timing next year and want info on registration, taxes and mail forwarding. We have just joined Escapees.Any personal help will be appreciated.

Montana Sky · 03-10-2006, 11:05 AM

Many folks use Alternative Resources out of South Dakota for their registration and mail service. I know they have an office in Rapid City, So. Dakota. I am sure one of many full timers will be along shortly to tell you what they use.

patodonn · 03-10-2006, 02:53 PM

We use Alt Resources from Sioux City. Fine service. Very helpful, and we havn'e missed a mailing in 3 years. SD is now our legal residence..for all the standard reasons. TV and Monty registered there, driver's license from there, registered to vote, we have a "local" bank, etc...all of that to ensure that we are completely divest ourselves of California residency. You have to have a State of Residence, but it sure dosn't have to be California once you become full timers!

Texas, often through Escapee's, has some similar serevices. Look up the pros and cons re Texas vs SD. That was the basis of our decision. SD has no vehicle inspections, so we didn't have to go there for ANYTHING except the original driver's license and a renewal coming up in 2008. All registrations can be done by mail.

Insurance rates are VERY low. No State Income tax. There is a Sales tax, and you will pay some of that when you register your vehicles, first time only. Around 3K to register the Monty, new. If you paid sales tax somewhere else, they honor that amount in their computations. $215 total for TV and Monty registration last year, as I recall.

Some folks use Florida as their legal residence. Others use Montana, mainly big MH drivers due to the incorporation rules which gets them off the hook for home state sales tax on the mega K rigs.

I'm sure more folks will join in shortly.

ols1932 · 03-10-2006, 06:56 PM

We use Escapees Mail Service. Your vehicles must be insured in the state in which they are registered. For example, if you register in SDak, then they have to be insured using a SDak address; if insured in Texas, then they are insured at a Texas address. You can't live in Iowa and get Iowa rates on your vehicles if registered in another state.

Been there, done that. I've researched this thoroughly. Every insurance agent I've talked to has given me the same above information. You may talk to some people who have their vehicles insured in states other than the one they are registered in, but this is illegal. When you fill out an insurance application, you certify where the vehicle is licensed and registered. Don't take any chances. Three different State Farm agents have told me that if you illegally obtain insurance, the insurance comopany does not have to pay if you have an accident.

That was enough warning for me. Yet I have friends who live in Iowa and have their vehicles registered in SDak and Texas and Florida.

Orv

Orv

adelmoll · 03-11-2006, 04:59 AM

It was just about a year ago when we went through this exact process. We were visiting in Texas the first week of March and stayed at the Escapees Headquarters in Livingston for about one week. We had narrowed our options down to Texas or South Dakota. The Escapees have a great service going for their mail forwarding and is a wonderful place but we chose Alternative Resources in Sioux Falls, SD for for the following reasons.

1: We were living in Minnesota and Sioux Falls was only a few hours away. We know we will be going back that way at least yearly because of family.

2: We had just ordered our new Monty and planned on getting a new truck also . The sales tax was 3% in South Dakota. Texas and Minnesota were a lot higher.

3: There is no income tax in either South DAkota or Texas.

Now, this is how we did it.....

February... we ordered our Monty

March...We put our house on the market

April 1.....We called Alternative Resources and got our new address and set up our mail forwarding service.

April 15.... The Monty arrived and we gave our dealer our new address and told them we would license it ourselves. We had a three week window to do that. We waited as long as possible because we didn't want to run into snow. While we were waiting, we started putting thru address changes and setting up everything for internet banking. We did not change banks because we already had one that is in South Dakota and most of the United States but we did change our address with the bank and ordered new checks. Soon our mail was going to South Dakota and we had them forward it weekly. We also canceled all of our credit cards except for one each and asked to be taken off their mailing list. We stressed NO JUNK MAIL.

May....We made an appointment with Tammy at AR and took the Monty to Sioux Falls. We stayed at the campground they recommended the first night because it was in Minnehaha County. In order to register to vote, you must stay in that county. Tammy had sent us paper work to fill out and then she filled in the rest, figured the tax and proceeded to get our license plates for both the Montana and our Truck. While she did that, we went down about three doors and got our South Dakota Drivers License. They give you your license right on the spot after you take the eye exam. This is good for five years but we will have to return at that time to take the eye exam again. Everything else can be done by mail (renewals etc). Next we went next door to the Doyle Insurance. These people know all about fulltiming and will give you plenty of options while making sure you have everything that is necessary. Our truck insurance was exactly 1/2 of what we were paying in Minnesota but our Montana insurance was more because it is like a home owners policy now. We also had to change our Medicare supplement insurance as the one we had was for Minnesota only. Our new one is Mutual of Omaha and covers us where ever we travel as does our Medicare. The supplement was quite a bit less than we had been paying in Minnesota.

By the time we finished all that, Tammy had our new plates and we went back to the campground we were staying at and packed up. We did not like that one so we moved up the road to a nicer one and stayed two more days to explore our new home. It is a great City. The Falls Park is wonderful. The food was great and the people couldn't have been nicer. We went back to Minnesota now calling ourselves Sodaks and finished getting rid of everything in our stick house including the house itself. Everything has worked out beautifully for us. We just let AR know, either by phone or internet , where to send our mail and a couple of days later, we have it. I just finished doing our taxes for last year and had to pay Minnesota tax on all income through April because we didn't get our drivers license until May.

This is probably more then you want to know but I wish someone would have done this for us.

Helen

patodonn · 03-11-2006, 05:56 AM

Helen: GREAT description! Our experience was very similar, except we ran into a time crunch on licensing and registration...had to get that done in Calif...poor planning on our part. "Ate" the CA sales tax on the Monty (5% difference). SD didn't charge us any, since we had previously paid in Calif. Would have saved a couple of thousand had we done it the way you did!

As you stated, you really have to be very careful with your "residency" situation. You can't opt for SD or Texas residency if you aren't able to give up your "residency" in your present State. That means, if you work and live in Iowa, you can't become a SD "resident" just because you want to do so. Driver's licenses, auto and RV Registrations must be from the same State, and it must be your State of Residence. You CAN maintain a home in a State that isn't your legal residence, but it is tricky. Has to be a "secondary residence". Get legal advise before you even try. In general, you CAN'T earn your $$ in one State and be a resident of another State! (Unless you are Active Duty military). You might get away with it for a year or so, but they WILL catch up with you, and it won't be pretty!

Save your description for other folks coming into the FT part of the Forum...it is a great "how to".

Rex & Mary · 03-11-2006, 10:12 AM

In our situation we are full-timers and use AR and work as Blackjack dealers in Nevada, winters in Laughlin, and summers at Lake Tahoe. We work about 40 weeks of the year and travel the other 12 weeks. Nevada doesn't have any state income tax either so we haven't had any residency problems. One other thing I'd like to point out is that you can renew your South Dakota driver's lic. up to six months before your birthday, eliminating the need to return to South Dakota in the winter months. We can't believe it's been 5 years already and will be traveling thru Sioux Falls next fall after spending a month at home in Wisconsin to renew our driver's lic.

Montana Sky · 03-11-2006, 09:12 PM

Helen,
Thanks for the great information. Not that I am will be full timing anytime soon, I still printed out your details. One never knows when they will come in handy. Just think by the time I retire and hit the road full time in 29 years, look at how much information I will have already gained. =)

Longwell · 03-13-2006, 02:01 PM

Wonderful description! I have read many articles or parts of books about residency, but your post tells it best (like it is!)
That is a perfect example of the power of this forum.

Thanks so much.
Larry

dsprik · 03-13-2006, 06:09 PM

Helen, that's exactly what I needed. Thanks!

Imp · 03-14-2006, 04:28 PM

Anyone using AR through So Dakota and on Medicare? If so what are the prices etc? Also any problems getting your medigap and Medicare D?
Myrna

sreigle · 03-26-2006, 09:05 AM

Patodonn, there is no sales tax on vehicles in South Dakota. There is a 3% excise tax on the trade difference, which amounts to a 3% sales tax.

Registering our vehicles in South Dakota was around $200 for the TV and the Montana, total. Did you really mean yours cost three thousand?

We also are very pleased with Alternative Resources for our mail.

When we traded trucks in Kansas we handled the registration with South Dakota by internet. They did call me by phone because I screwed up on the for and we worked it all out over the phone. I was very impressed with the folks at the courthouse in Sioux Falls. They handle many fulltime rv'ers and welcome them. That makes it much easier.

We still bank in Topeka, KS, not is South Dakota. You do not have to bank where you hold residency. We bank by internet and by phone. Our bank has a telephone automated bill payment service we've used for twenty years or more.

Like Helen and Bill, we used Dougherty Insurance to get our insurance. They are an independent agency and searched for the best deals for us. We are very satisfied with the insurance we got and the price we paid.

South Dakota is issuing new vehicle tags this year. They will not mail those to a personal mailbox. We will get our new vehicle tags at renewal in August. When the time comes, we will let Tammy know and she will pick up the new plates and mail them to us, no additional charge. I know John Bozarth already had that done.

Helen, that was an excellent writeup.

I'm sure FL and TX and others are also excellent choices. You have to decide which best fits your own needs, including going to get the intitial setup. For us, South Dakota was and is an excellent choice. Be prepared, however, to answer those folks who come up to you and say 'where do you live in South Dakota' or "where in SD are you from?" It seems to happen frequently. South Dakotans seem to be a very friendly lot who like to run across fellow SD'ers.

patodonn · 03-26-2006, 08:03 PM

Steve: The SD Registration was not expensive,...it was the CA Registration I had to do at the beginning, when I took the Monty from the dealer's. My fault, I had it all figured out, but got into a time crunch with the unexpected early sale of the house and the need to "get 'er done" CA Sales Tax of 8% on the Monty was a chunk...

Best

adelmoll · 03-27-2006, 03:06 AM

Quote:

quote:Anyone using AR through So Dakota and on Medicare? If so what are the prices etc? Also any problems getting your medigap and Medicare D?
Myrna

Myrna, both Bill and I are on Medicare. We went with Mutual of Omaha for our supplement. Female $88.00 month and Male $101.00. We also got this thru Dougherty INs. and the premium is deducted monthly from our checking account. Haven't done the Medicare D yet but will be working on it in April as June is the deadline before penalty. Hope this helps.
Helen

Parrothead · 03-27-2006, 04:14 AM

PJ
When you file your Calif state income tax you should get some of that sales tax back if you itemize. We bought Monty in 04 and Brutus in 05 and have received nice refunds both years.
Happy trails.....................

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