Florida Registration: Out of State Title in 3rd Party's Name

[Zaba]

Most of the time, they just ask how long you've been here and people are dumb enough to tell them, not realizing that they are fishing for an illegal out-of-state tag ticket.

If you get pulled over, the answer is "I'm here visiting my cousin. Been here for a few days now."

As others noted, once in a blue moon you might encounter a cop who 'fishes' for out of state tags in the same location but for the most part, its more likely a routine traffic stop because you rolled a stop sign, the cop asks how long you've been in Florida, you say "Eh, well, 7 months now, I go to college down there at the local school" and he writes a tag ticket since you incriminated yourself.

All the other details as far as ownership, etc are up to the judge.

[shahaly]

Thanks guys for all the responses. I'll be living in Florida for the foreseeable future. Based on the recommendations, I put in a call to Honda Financial. They can do what's called an "equity transfer." Essentially, they can transfer the car to my name after running my credit and making sure my parents agree to transfer the vehicle into my name.

In the interim, I have also gotten a limited power of attorney from my parents, stating that I am authorized to drive, register and insure the vehicle. Not sure if Florida will accept this, but I will update once I find out.

Even if the equity transfer happens, I am curious as to how this works - so when I go to the DMV to get my FL drivers license, I will ask how this scenario is handled, and will update right after.

Thanks again!

[mawipafl]

Originally Posted by shahaly

Thanks guys for all the responses. I'll be living in Florida for the foreseeable future. Based on the recommendations, I put in a call to Honda Financial. They can do what's called an "equity transfer." Essentially, they can transfer the car to my name after running my credit and making sure my parents agree to transfer the vehicle into my name.

In the interim, I have also gotten a limited power of attorney from my parents, stating that I am authorized to drive, register and insure the vehicle. Not sure if Florida will accept this, but I will update once I find out.

Even if the equity transfer happens, I am curious as to how this works - so when I go to the DMV to get my FL drivers license, I will ask how this scenario is handled, and will update right after.

Thanks again!

When we moved to FL we had a good experience with the woman in the DMV office. One we owned, one had a loan, and one was a lease, and she helped us sort through the paperwork, even suggesting to retitle two of them to put my name first since my birthday (day for re-registering) was the farthest away.

Sounds like you're taking the correct road - surely it seems logical that FL will accept the power of attorney ... will be curious to hear how it goes.

Sending an early Welcome to Florida to you!

[mawipafl]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

How in the world would a police officer know if or when someone called Florida home permanently by looking at a license plate? You have, I believe, 30 or 60 days to register the vehicle in FL once you move here. Unless you're pulled over I don't think a cop could write you a ticket for that not knowing if you are still within the 30/60 day window by looking at your license plate.

It's 10 days. Certainly a small window and many (most? all?) do not comply within that timeframe given that moving anywhere requires a lot more than 10 days to settle in, during which getting a car registered isn't on the radar.

[Florida2014]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

It's 10 days. Certainly a small window and many (most? all?) do not comply within that timeframe given that moving anywhere requires a lot more than 10 days to settle in, during which getting a car registered isn't on the radar.

Yes, I do remember the window being ridiculously short. The problem with that is the crazy high fees to register your vehicle here. Between two vehicles we put nearly $900 into two new FL registrations and two new FL driver's licenses. This is on top of all of the expenses to move....if I had to do it over again I'd have waited and not worried about that dumb law.

I think the chance of a cop driving through a parking lot and seeing the same license plate and actually going through the effort of writing a ticket would be akin to being struck by lightning. As Zaba said, if you're pulled over you just moved here "this week." But it sounds like OP has figured it out.

[jwolfer]

You are supposed to get Florida DL and register car within 10 days of relocation to Florida. If you are a FT student from out of state you do not need to nor if you are active duty military, you maintain residence in your home state.
Once you start working in Florida, register kids for school or apply for homestead exemption you need FL licence etc.
When I worked for a call center in an office park years ago an officer would go around on the first of the month and issue tickets for expired tags and out of staters who did not register cars. ( Of course Georgia was an exception. there are people who commute to Jax from places like Kingsland. I have a friend who lives in Dothan AL his wife commutes 25 miles every day to a job in Florida. And I would imagine if you are here for a temporary assignment staying in a corporate apartment or extended stay hotel that would be taken into consideration) An easy way to get quota for tickets

[Vinny536]

on paper you are borrowing your parents car. It's in their name, meaning they own it. It's registered to them, insured by them and paid for by them? Then you get a Florida drivers license and enjoy your borrowed car.

Think of it this way. If you went to Hertz and rented a car for a year, would you need to register it? Nope.

Now if you take ownership on paper, not just possession of the car, you'll want to get it registered.


When I moved to Arizona I ended up needing a car 3 weeks before the trip. My parents scrambled to find, buy and register a car for me. The car was in their name, insured by them, registered in Pa to them, so i used it as a car I borrowed with their PA registration. When i was involved in an accident with that car the officer simply said "who owns this car" I explained it was my fathers car and he was letting me use it. The officer probably ran the VIN number to be sure it wasn't reported stolen, checked the insurance and had no further comments.

[ShakenStirred]

Originally Posted by shahaly

Hi y'all,

I am hoping you can help me -- and if I figure it out myself, I promise to post an update for others who may be in the same situation.

I am moving to Jacksonville for work and grad-school. My mom and dad bought me a car upon graduation. The car is in their name and titled in Texas (where they reside). The car is financed, and thus, the title is technically still with the lien-holder bank. Since I am moving to Jacksonville, I will need Florida plates. The problem is that all the forms indicate the owner/co-owners must have a Florida license.

I called the DMV and explained the situation this afternoon. I told the nice lady that the forms online indicate that the owners/co-owners of the vehicle must have a Florida drivers' licenses, which my parents do not have and have no intention of getting (since they likely will never leave Texas). The lady told me at this point that since my parents own the car, and they aren't Florida residents, no registration is required in Florida. While I'd like to believe her, I don't think this is right -- the car will be driven on Florida roads and it just seems odd that Florida would say "sure, you don't have to register it since the owners live out of state and don't have a Florida license!"

I currently live in California -- and in California, the process was pretty straight forward. California allows for cars to be registered in CA even though they are titled somewhere else. So my parents just had to fill out the registration form and provide their Texas address, and easy enough - the license plates were mailed. There is no requirement for a CA license. The same doesn't seem to be the case for Florida.

In any event, I ran several dozen Google searches, and I see only one person recommend that you have the parents sign a power of attorney to register the vehicle on their behalf. Is this accurate?

I guess it's a pretty common scenario, isn't it? Like you go to school with your parent's car and they live out of state? How does Florida let these students register their parent's car so that it may be driven on Florida roads?

Worst case scenario, I pay off my parent's loan, get the title transferred in my name and then do this whole process. But hopefully there is an easier way out there.

Thanks for all your help. And I will absolutely update what I find out if I can figure this out myself.

It's really quite simple....the car is in your parents name, and therefore not your car. You are borrowing it. There is no time limitation on how long you are allowed to borrow your parents car while you attend school or work at a job. Get your Florida driver license, and don't worry about the car registration, until if and when you actually own it and it's in your name. As far as anyone knows, your parents just dropped it off for you to borrow it yesterday. Unless you get pulled over on a regular basis, the chances of anything being called into question are exactly 0.000312%.

SS

[judeK]

at 9:31 A.M.

Originally Posted by Vinny536

on paper you are borrowing your parents car. It's in their name, meaning they own it. It's registered to them, insured by them and paid for by them? Then you get a Florida drivers license and enjoy your borrowed car.

Think of it this way. If you went to Hertz and rented a car for a year, would you need to register it? Nope.

Now if you take ownership on paper, not just possession of the car, you'll want to get it registered.


When I moved to Arizona I ended up needing a car 3 weeks before the trip. My parents scrambled to find, buy and register a car for me. The car was in their name, insured by them, registered in Pa to them, so i used it as a car I borrowed with their PA registration. When i was involved in an accident with that car the officer simply said "who owns this car" I explained it was my fathers car and he was letting me use it. The officer probably ran the VIN number to be sure it wasn't reported stolen, checked the insurance and had no further comments.

and then at 5:31 P.M.

Originally Posted by ShakenStirred

It's really quite simple....the car is in your parents name, and therefore not your car. You are borrowing it. There is no time limitation on how long you are allowed to borrow your parents car while you attend school or work at a job. Get your Florida driver license, and don't worry about the car registration, until if and when you actually own it and it's in your name. As far as anyone knows, your parents just dropped it off for you to borrow it yesterday. Unless you get pulled over on a regular basis, the chances of anything being called into question are exactly 0.000312%.

SS

SS that's almost exactly what the poster directly above you (Vinny536) said 8 hours ago, please try to keep up.

[Ruger20]

I believe the odds are actually 0.0003125%