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Old 05-05-2009, 02:50 PM
 
Location: Columbia, California
6,664 posts, read 30,610,392 times
Reputation: 5184

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So you did half the work.
You told the DMV and the cops you lived in CA when you registered the car, but you did not apply for a CA drivers license.
This is one of those cases where you can carry two drivers licenses.

My brother has a valid New York and CA license, both are legal.
An attorney could argue for you that the MO license is valid as you get daily mail there, but your car was CA registered.
The lawyer will cost you more than you could collect. Cheapest thing to do now is apply for a CA license but do not turn over your other license. Tell the truth or tell them it's lost. You are not the first person to live in two homes. I built a beach home for a guy who owns 7 other houses.
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Old 05-05-2009, 03:29 PM
 
1,319 posts, read 4,242,603 times
Reputation: 1152
Quote:
Originally Posted by K-Dawg View Post
silly boy you should've realized it's not okay to drive without a CA license... it's only okay to drive unlicensed if you're an illegal immigrant and as long as you're uninsured too...
They would have their vehicles impounded too.
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Old 05-05-2009, 04:10 PM
 
Location: here
24,873 posts, read 36,164,079 times
Reputation: 32726
If I'm following, it sounds like the car was impounded because it was not registered in CA, not because the driver didn't have a CA license. Those are 2 very different things.
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Old 05-05-2009, 04:18 PM
 
Location: Columbia, California
6,664 posts, read 30,610,392 times
Reputation: 5184
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ktu View Post
Car is registered on my name with California registration, and my wife uses it. Since she lives here. I use it only on weekends when I am here in California.,,,,,.
His name on reg.
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Old 05-05-2009, 05:17 PM
 
Location: SoCal
14,530 posts, read 20,118,288 times
Reputation: 10539
Quote:
Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix View Post
I dont know if this is still the law or not, but when I moved here the law clearly stated that if you move to calif, then the day your car enters the state it needs to be registered in calif. Some states have a grace period of up to 6 mos. Calif has zero grace period.
The real issue is do you really live in California? The OP claims he only visits California, yet his wife lives here and his car is registered in California. (See quote below.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ktu View Post
Car is registered on my name with California registration, and my wife uses it. Since she lives here. I use it only on weekends when I am here in California.

Cops did not stop me for citation, but it was all the vehicle passes that specific road. Basically, they were searching for vehicle driven without licensed or not registered vehicle.

Officer asked me for my license when I reached him. I gave him my MO license then he asked me where do you live. I told him the California address where I was staying then asked me to pull over to the side and send me to another officer. Where I asked him why I was pulled, he said you are driving with other state license, and it is like "driving without license" that was his word. I told him I am a visitor he refused to listen to me further and asked me and my son to get off the car and hit the road.
Okay... First you told the cop you live at the California address. Then you tell the second cop you're only visiting yet your car is registered here in your own name. Having your car registered in this state is a pretty good indication that you live here (although maybe incorrect).

I don't know if you deserve the ticket or not. You claim to live out of state but are you just trying to weasel out of a ticket? Well I'm not the one to decide. You can have your day in court if you like and tell it to the judge. Whatever he decides, that's what it is.

On your court date I suggest that you should bring along some pay check stubs from your MO employer showing that you work there, and bring along a few utility bills and if you rent bring some rent receipts or canceled checks and a copy of your lease. If you own, bring along your most recent property tax bill. You go back to MO every week, right? Just bring that stuff back with you and show it to the judge.

If you can't back up your assertion that you live in MO with documentary evidence then any reasonable person would tend to doubt your story.
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Old 05-05-2009, 05:34 PM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,446,365 times
Reputation: 7586
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovehound View Post
The real issue is do you really live in California? The OP claims he only visits California, yet his wife lives here and his car is registered in California.

Okay... First you told the cop you live at the California address. Then you tell the second cop you're only visiting yet your car is registered here in your own name. Having your car registered in this state is a pretty good indication that you live here (although maybe incorrect)
You can own property in more than one state and register cars in more than one state but you can only register to vote, file a resident tax return, and hold a driver's license in one state at a time. If this person's story is 100% accurate as described, how could a MO resident legally drive in CA at all? It sounds like he'd have been better off keeping the car registered in MO. I love it when the state makes you decide which law to comply with and which to break.
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Old 05-05-2009, 06:28 PM
 
Location: SoCal
14,530 posts, read 20,118,288 times
Reputation: 10539
If he has a residence in MO, an MO drivers license and is registered to vote in MO then he's probably a MO resident. I'm not a lawyer so that determination is best left to a judge.

If you hold a valid drivers license in any state in the US then you can drive in every state. The problem is that you can't have a license in two states at the same time, and if you move to a different state you have some specified amount of time to switch your drivers license.

I don't see the contradiction. If he holds a valid MO drivers license and permanent residence in MO then the officer made a mistake in assuming that "wife lives in CA + car registered in CA = CA resident." On the other hand if he's just ... fabricating ... and really lives in CA then he made a mistake in complaining about it. It's worth noting that Ktu has only 5 posts, which gives the topic a fairly high troll quotient.

But ... it's on the Internet so it must be true!
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Old 05-05-2009, 06:36 PM
 
Location: Columbia, California
6,664 posts, read 30,610,392 times
Reputation: 5184
Some states allow you dual licenses. Legally CA does not, but Montana might allow it.

A friend who stayed with me as he was working here for a few months from Tennesse. Gary had a CA licence with his Tenn adress on it. He did keep his Tenn license but I think he said it was lost. Sometimes a DMV clerk is cool and you can slide it off the counter, smile and say it's lost and get away with it.

When I lived in Yosemite I had a PO box as my address, same as in Carmel where there are no street addresses.

My brother ran into some legal problems last year when he worked for me, his lawyer even told him his NY was still valid - even thou his CA license got revoked.

One valid solution is a state license in one state and a state id in the other. All licenses are valid in other states. This would show a reasonable attempt to follow the law.
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Old 05-05-2009, 06:45 PM
 
Location: SoCal
14,530 posts, read 20,118,288 times
Reputation: 10539
Quote:
Originally Posted by ferretkona View Post
Some states allow you dual licenses. Legally CA does not, but Montana might allow it.
Might allow it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ferretkona View Post
A friend who stayed with me as he was working here for a few months from Tennesse. Gary had a CA licence with his Tenn adress on it. He did keep his Tenn license but I think he said it was lost. Sometimes a DMV clerk is cool and you can slide it off the counter, smile and say it's lost and get away with it.
"He said it was lost" sounds like lying to me. DMV clerks shouldn't be cool. They should follow the law, whatever it is. I'm not at all pleased by people who "get away with it."

Quote:
Originally Posted by ferretkona View Post
When I lived in Yosemite I had a PO box as my address, same as in Carmel where there are no street addresses.
You're not supposed to be able to use a PO box for a CA drivers license, but I know for a fact that one of my close friends did it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ferretkona View Post
My brother ran into some legal problems last year when he worked for me, his lawyer even told him his NY was still valid - even thou his CA license got revoked.
I'm pretty sure that if your license is suspended in CA you can be prosecuted if they catch you driving in CA while it has been suspended, even if you have a valid license in another state. (IANAL) But I agree that he can probably drive out of California on his NY license.

Sometimes what is legal is quite different than what ends up being enforced. In other words, people often get away with doing things they're not supposed to do.
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Old 05-05-2009, 11:17 PM
 
Location: Columbia, California
6,664 posts, read 30,610,392 times
Reputation: 5184
It was fun living in Carmel. Everything is street corners, houses have names instead of addresses. Mail is only delivered to PO boxes.
Very often what is a law in one place is more of a guideline elsewhere.
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