DMV Mystery
by Scott Hardie on December 14, 2006
My last car, a 1996 Mercury, was registered in my mother's name, so every year in December (the month of her birthday), the registration sticker would be delivered to her at her house and she'd have to pass it to me to put on the license plate. No big deal.
A few months ago, I bought a 2007 Dodge in my name, though she co-signed the credit application since I had no credit history. The old license plate was transferred to the new car, but I was under the impression that the dealer took care of the paperwork with the Florida DMV.
Here's the mystery. A new registration sticker has arrived in December (her month not mine), for my car's license plate, delivered to her name at my apartment. At first I just assumed that the dealer must have registered the new car in her name by mistake, but then I noticed the fine print: The registration is for a 2005 Lincoln, her car that's in her garage as I type this, that she bought two years ago. The Dodge dealer had no idea what car she drove, so this couldn't have been the dealer's mistake.
What kind of mix-up does it take at a DMV to transfer a 2005 Lincoln's registration to a 2007 Dodge's license plate at an entirely different address without anyone asking? The question that troubles me more is, just how much bureaucratic paperwork is it going to take to solve this before my license plate expires on New Years?
One Reply to DMV Mystery
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Risky Games
Here's plugging two games that I've been enjoying lately: Dice Wars is a good little miniature online game for one person, playable in about 20 minutes and very satisfying for its size. The text below the game explains the rules, but suffice to say, it's basically Risk but built to be played rapidly thanks to some rule simplification and a very swift AI. (Thanks for suggesting it, Joandy!) Go »Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring, Banana Camera Phone
I need to get a camera phone. I keep seeing things that I want to take a picture of, but I don't bring my camera with me, and even if I did, I wouldn't be fast enough with it. Yesterday I pulled up behind a landscaping truck that had one of those "how's my driving?" Go »Operation Git-R-Done
This past weekend, I explored my inner redneck in a NASCAR-centered visit to Charlotte with Steve Dunn and my family. Here are the highlights, good and bad. Thursday: Very little sleep before the trip: The Jeep parked outside my window sounded off its car alarm every five minutes (I timed it) from 10pm to 10am. Go »Moved In
We are moved in and settled, or as settled as we can be with little money and way too much stuff for a two-bedroom apartment. The final move will come in April when we transfer to a house. We have our eye on a house in Ruskin, 30 minutes from here – four bedrooms, two-car garage, cable included, never lived in, all for $50 less a month than I pay now. Go »Give Me a Little Credit Here
Today's junk-mail pitch from Visa: "Most credit card companies know you as a number. Sean, we know you by name." Go »
Scott Hardie | December 23, 2006
Some resolution: Upon comparing, my mom and I realized that our license plates are only one number apart. Her car's December registration was mailed to her at my address, which only means she needs to inform the DMV of an address change. It's weird such an error would occur, but at least it's not the much bigger and baffling error that it seemed to be.