In article >,
Highway Star > wrote:

> Stephen wrote:
> >
> > I've got a LandCruiser FJ-40 that I purchased in 2000 that I never
> > registered in CA. There is a TON of fees due in it as a result and my
> > license too has been revoked. My goal is to get my license back
> > without having to pay excessive fees due on the Cruiser.
>
> Hmm. I was unware that they could revoke a license for car registration
> issues. I mean, it's not a moving violation after all. Apparently they
> can though...

They won't revoke it for unpaid fees, but they WILL refuse to renew it
when the time comes for that, which is just as good as a revocation.

> > Can anyone
> > tell me the best solution to my problem; I've considered the
> > following: Donating the Cruiser to a charity (who would then be
> > responsible for the late fees?) Registering the Cruiser as an
> > "off-highway vehicle. Transferring title to my wife. If there are
> > any other solutions that would work, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know.
>
> Hint: there are 49 other states in this great land of ours. I also live
> in CA and have a CA driver's license, but my vehicle is registered in
> Nevada, allowing me to enjoy much lower registration and insurance fees,
> and not to worry too much about the occasional parking ticket here in
> Cal. It's legal

Correction: It *WAS* legal... Read on...

>if you simply set up a Nevada corporation, then register
> the vehicle with the corporation (which technically "owns" the auto).
> This can be done through an advertised agent for a few hundred bucks.
> It's worth it for other reasons too, such as if you have suits against
> you and don't want the car seized. You can create a separate corporation
> for each vehicle you "own," if you want to get really baroque about it.

Get pulled over in one of those vehicles while carrying a license
showing a California residence, and face a nifty new $1000 "payable
*RIGHT NOW*, no negotiation, no court appearance, no appeal, just shut
up and cough up the cash, or kiss your license and car goodbye" fine.

It's a nice, shiney new law (less than 6 months old now, I think - I
want to say it went into effect in January, but it may have been shortly
before that) that very few know about yet. It went through pretty much
"under the radar", probably due to our new Governator taking office and
taking attention off the lawmakers. It's aimed SPECIFICALLY at exactly
what you're talking about doing as a way of "retrieving" the fees that
have been lost to such (already illegal, but until recently, the law has
been toothless as a 90 year old chihuahua) circumvention of the
registration process. Several local folks have been nailed by it
recently here in Butte County, and although the outcry has been loud and
long, they're finding out the hard way that it's quite literally "You
can pay right here, right now, or we can revoke your license and impound
your car on the spot. Make your choice."

Rumour has it that Nevada is not only cooperating with this one, but
actively pointing out "This car, with this Nevada plate, is registered
to someone who used a California license in the registration process".
At this point, I'm not sure if that's fact or "just rumour", and haven't
got a clue how I'd go about finding out one way or the other, so you get
to decide for yourself how much reality is involved.

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