Info?? 2 homes - 1 in NC & 1 in TN what state does drivers license be??? (property tax)

[Linda Lambert]

My husband owns a home in North Carolina and I own a home in Tennessee. His drivers license is from the state of NC and mine is from the state of TN.
We pay property tax on both homes. His retirement is from the state of NC and is not taxed. I am on disability and really don't drive much because I am so nervous behind the wheel. We have 2 vehicles registered and insured in each state. We have a Buick Riveria (which we leave at the NC home) and a Toyota Corolla (my husband's work car - he works for himself as a computer repair tech) registered in TN and insured in TN. We have a Toyota 4-Runner and PT Cruiser registered in NC and insured in NC. Neither of these are drove that much.

I called a TN State Trooper about a year ago and inquired about owning 2 homes and if the vehicles had to be registered and insured in one state or the other and also where our driver's license had to be issued from. He said he wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. He said as long as we had a home in each state, he did not think it mattered.

Today my husband was stopped for speeding in Tennessee (which he agrees he was speeding). He was driving the Corolla registered and insured in Tennessee and had his NC drivers license. He was told that he could have been fined almost $200.00 because his drivers license did not match the state where the car was registered and insured. He told him he would be watching for him and that he either needs to change his drivers license to TN or register and insure the car in NC.

I have tried to find information about this online with no luck. Does anyone have information? Thank you

[hiknapster]

Hmmm...

When I lived in Florida, I had a neighbor that was a snowbird. He had driver's licenses for two states. However, I was told by several snowbirds that it is not legal to do this. You can have only one.

Notice that the cop didn't actually cite your husband for having the "wrong" driver's license. I suspect that MAY be because if he had gone into court and explained it to the judge, the judge may have dropped it.

I COULD BE WRONG, though. That's probably why the state trooper that you called didn't know, either.

About four months after we moved here, my husband got stopped by a state trooper. He was on a back road and the trooper couldn't really cite any decent reason for stopping him, other than the fact that he had a Florida tag. When asked, my husband told him we had lived here four months.

Have I mentioned that my husband is very honest?

Anyway, my husband went ahead and registered the van and got his Tennessee driver's license. He went to court, showed the judge his new paperwork, and the judge dropped everything.