New Washington State license plate law

[xirdneh]

well, we voted out the license plate change that took place every 7 years
just found out what replaced it
went down to change the title on a car i picked up for 500.00 and had to also buy a new set of plates.
they told me every time a title is changed you will have to get new plates
even if i buy the car in january, fix it up and sell it in march, new plates will have to be purchased again by the new owner
seems ridiculous
i'm pissed because i lose around a 100 dollars on a car that i may have avoided when the seven year rule was in effect

[Gottolovem]

What a PIA! You can't title the car into your name without a plate?

Here in Nevada they do require new plates for each new owner,however they allow you to just re title the car into your name without a plate.

[xirdneh]

my impression was, no

[irowiki]

So you can't buy a title without plates there? In NM, you can register the car, get the title, and not get a plate, and then go back in whenever to get your plate.

[xirdneh]

that was the impression i got
will have to look into it a bit closer

[Petros]

what you have to do is not transfer the title until you sell it to the final owner. Which means you can not drive it around. In our state, and in many, if you register and resell more than a certain number of cars each year they will also require you to get a dealer's license, I think it is seven cars, but I have not verified that for our state. Not transferring the title prevents you from having to get new title and plates each time to turn it around. It works best if you are turning it around quickly, though I have bought project cars that had not been registered in years, and the person I bought it from was not the last registered owner.

[xirdneh]

B
Is Mr. Walker correctly interpreting what he encountered? Is it new, and does it have anything to do with replacing the 7-year replacement cycle?
Hi T.
B asked me to respond to your question.
Is Mr. Walker correctly interpreting what he encountered?
Yes and no. The elimination of the mandatory, seven-year plate replacement was a legislative action from 2014 SB 5785, not a citizens’ initiative.
The law allows a vehicle owner to keep their license plates for as long as they own the car. Replacing plates is only required if they are lost, defaced, illegible or when the vehicle changes ownership. This aspect of Mr. Walker’s interpretation is correct. But there are also exceptions. SB 5785 does not apply to vehicle transactions that add or remove a lien holder, transfer ownership to a spouse, or are solely a name change, among other things. The full list of exemptions is available underRCW 46.16A.020 and RCW 46.16A.200.
If you have additional questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.
D

Department of Licensing
360.902.3776
Thank you, D
Just to be sure I understand, to me the lead of this story is those who keep a car for more than seven years no longer will have to pay to replace their license plates if they're in good condition, but those who get a new car will. Is that correct? Did the bill have a monetary impact analysis as to whether this will mean more or less revenue for the state?
I didn't hear a whisper of this during last year's legislative session. Was I just not paying attention or was it not widely publicized?
T

No matter how long a person keeps their auto---be it for 6 months or 20 years---a person can keep their license plates as long as they’re in good condition. A new owner of a used auto can apply to keep the old plates on the vehicle as long as they are in good condition. If the application is approved, it would save the new owner the cost of new plates, but all other taxes and fees would remain.

People must also continue to renew their vehicle registration and pay any taxes and fees that are due every 12 months.
I’ve included the presser as an attachment.
The seller of a vehicle can also choose to remove the plates and put them on a replacement vehicle “of the same use.” This means that passenger car plates can only be used on passenger cars and commercial use plates can only be used on commercial vehicles. Or, the seller can simply remove the plates altogether and recycle them. This would force the buyer to purchase new plates, and might bring peace of mind to people who are concerned about being wrongly charged tolling fees and traffic camera citations due to not submitting a vehicle sellers report, which has been an issue. We encourage the seller to submit a sellers report as soon as they sign the title over.

The new owner is required to transfer ownership within 15 calendar days from the date of purchase or face financial penalties.

There is a financial impact-the fiscal note is attached. Because people living in Washington tend to replace their vehicles in fewer than 7 years, there is a projected revenue gain.

As far as the legislative side of this goes, the bill was dropped in 2013 and passed last year…here is essentially what happened:

SB 5785 was passed unanimously in the senate before being amended and approved by the house by a large margin. The senate then concurred with the House’s amendment(s).
• Prime Sponsors include: Senators Ericksen, Rolfes, King, Ranker, Eide
• Senate 47-0
• House 95-3
• Senate 45-1 (amended bill
• Legislation signed by Governor Inslee on March 27, 2014
Legislation went into effect January 1, 2015
The full bill summary is here: http://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary. ... &year=2013
That’s a lot of info.

[emmahumpfritter]

what you have to do is not transfer the title until you sell it to the final owner. Which means you can not drive it around. In our state, and in many, if you register and resell more than a certain number of cars each year they will also require you to get a dealer's license, I think it is seven cars, but I have not verified that for our state. Not transferring the title prevents you from having to get new title and plates each time to turn it around. It works best if you are turning it around quickly, though I have bought project cars that had not been registered in years, and the person I bought it from was not the last registered owner.

This is spot on. I never register a car to myself that I just buy to clean up/fix and flip. All it does it give the state more money.

[xirdneh]

so if you do not change the title how do you get around the penalty for not changing it within so many days(seems like its 15)?
let new owner pay the penalty?
buy car and ask seller not to date it?
change the date?
no matter which one you do you cannot test drive the car on public road before selling it (legally that is)

[emmahumpfritter]

Ask the seller not to date it.

The risk of test driving is low. You wouldn't believe what I've gotten away with out there, just keep it inside the lines.

[The Professor]

so if you do not change the title how do you get around the penalty for not changing it within so many days(seems like its 15)?

buy car and ask seller not to date it?

This. The late registration penalties are capped at $150 in WA.

[xirdneh]

Driving the car on a public road without insurance is a financial risk i would not take.

[emmahumpfritter]

If you follow all the rules and laws bestowed upon you from on high, then you will go broke paying the tolls on the road to life.

[Petros]

not dating it is the easiest method, some sellers are uncomfortable doing this. I ask but if they do not want to than I say put on a date. I have all of my cars insured though one carrier (State Farm, best coverage in the country), they cover me for any car I drive, no matter who it is registered with, and they give me two weeks of "free coverage" for any car I purchase from the date I put it into my name (if I intend to keep it longer than 2 weeks). This covers any transport time, I usually can not get it into my name until I return to my home state anyway.

Once it is on my property I only test drive it on our private roads (we have over 3 miles of them), and either I date it when I sell it, or if it has been dated I have made a bill of sale to the buyer with the current date. So they will have a bill of sale from the previous owner to me, and a bill of sale from me to the new buyer. With these the buyer avoids the penalty, since they have a document that shows when they just bought it. Theoretically the state could fine me for not registering it, but it never happens. I never have any detailed identifying information on it, just my name (usually in the form of a signature and a date), and this has never been an issue.

This avoids the state collecting fees they did not earn, and do not deserve (and will probably waste anyway), and avoid the final buyer from having to pay a penalty.