Titling a Bus as Motor Home in Texas

[Phatman]

Originally Posted by mrpincher

Hello. I just finished this process successfully in Potter County TX. Our tax office manager is a real ball buster so if there was any grief to hand out, I would have suffered the full measure.



I handed the tax officer the existing title, the rebuild VTR-61, the VTR-130U, current prof of insurance, bill of sale, drivers license, a half dozen photocopied pictures of the bus interior. I didn't volunteer any extra info on the VTR-61. They nailed me to the wall for not registering my bus for the two years it took me to convert it. He was interested in the odometer reading photo and compared it to the original Bill Of Sale.



All went A-OK, except the hefty fine. Just received the MH title in the mail. Took about two weeks to receive that new title.


Good luck.
Mike

What kind of hefty fine did you receive?

[Fox Slider]

Originally Posted by Phatman

Thought I would jump in this conversation for my 2cents worth. Just got mine insured as a private bus with State Farm for $37.00 a month / full coverage. It is titled as a bus. The DMV gave me some forms to title it as a MH. Seems like a lot of hassle to change it over. I will say though that a couple of years ago the Texas DMV on their own just arbitrarily started revoking titles to our street legal Dune buggies in the state. Wanted all owners to send their titles to the state. Well you can imagine what kind of $hit storm that started. Long story short, it took two years to have a law passed to reinstate our titles to make them street legal again. A real cluster !! Do not be surprised that the state could do the same to our builds. All in the name of safety.

So i can just get title transfered and registered as a bus an just get minimum liability insurance no problem?

[Kentucky Dreaming]

better safe than as sorry as some of the bus builds I see.

[Phatman]

Originally Posted by Fox Slider

So i can just get title transfered and registered as a bus an just get minimum liability insurance no problem?

It seems that every DMV around the country has its on rules & regulations. The States have their laws & guidelines, but whoever you get at said DMV’s, somewhat make up their own. Nothing against the folks working at these places, they’re doing the best they can dealing with the insane Bureaucrats that hand these laws & regs down. I had no problems with my inspection, titling, registration & insurance here in south Texas. In all fairness, my bus was almost complete before I did all those things

[Fox Slider]

The insurance for all state changed here in TX. It changed June 7th with all state and the premiums went up. I think the underwriting company changed or something, before conversion are like 100-200 a month. SMH. lol. Guess ima convert it fast. haha.

But once converted and can show pics, (no RV titling necessary) they just want to see pics it has been converted, the premium goes down 38%.

[Phatman]

Originally Posted by Fox Slider

The insurance for all state changed here in TX. It changed June 7th with all state and the premiums went up. I think the underwriting company changed or something, before conversion are like 100-200 a month. SMH. lol. Guess ima convert it fast. haha.

But once converted and can show pics, (no RV titling necessary) they just want to see pics it has been converted, the premium goes down 38%.

Wow, that still seems way out of whack. I guess it’s to be expected though with inflation rearing it’s ugly head.

[Fox Slider]

Right! Thats crazy imo, to be honest. Posted it in the other thread.. My quote was $197, as is. or $138 per month after conversion. Thats with a near perfect driving record, and slightly bad credit and im 34yo. smh!

[Soaringcook]

Hi, i know this is an old post. But do you have any pics of the inside of your bus. Im in the process of doing something similar.

Thank you in advance, God bless

[Phatman]

Originally Posted by Soaringcook

Hi, i know this is an old post. But do you have any pics of the inside of your bus. Im in the process of doing something similar.

Thank you in advance, God bless

Who are you asking for pics from Soaringcook?

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Phatman

Who are you asking for pics from Soaringcook?

They mean yours, even if they don't know it yet.

[Phatman]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

They mean yours, even if they don't know it yet.

Hahahaha. Damn your up awful early this morning !!!

[texastj]

Originally Posted by mrpincher

Hello. I just finished this process successfully in Potter County TX. Our tax office manager is a real ball buster so if there was any grief to hand out, I would have suffered the full measure.



I handed the tax officer the existing title, the rebuild VTR-61, the VTR-130U, current prof of insurance, bill of sale, drivers license, a half dozen photocopied pictures of the bus interior. I didn't volunteer any extra info on the VTR-61. They nailed me to the wall for not registering my bus for the two years it took me to convert it. He was interested in the odometer reading photo and compared it to the original Bill Of Sale.



All went A-OK, except the hefty fine. Just received the MH title in the mail. Took about two weeks to receive that new title.


Good luck.
Mike

What exactly did you write on the VTR-61? (Rebuilt vehicle statement)

[mrpincher]

Originally Posted by texastj

What exactly did you write on the VTR-61? (Rebuilt vehicle statement)

Mt first reply was devoured by whatever evil prankster lurks in this site.



hello texastj



Thought I had copies of my VTR but nothing. So, from recollection, I know that I offered no more info than I had to. I declared my self as the builder and my statement was along the lines of... "I performed all work necessary to convert my schoolbus into an RV - see attached pictures"


My pictures included all 6 items on the list of components of an RV. You only need 4 but I had all 6 so I handed them a photo of each. I also included a picture of the Odometer.



The tax assessor read my statement and asked no questions about it.


If there's anything else I can help with - let me know.


Mike

[mrpincher]

Originally Posted by Phatman

What kind of hefty fine did you receive?

Sorry man I didn't see your message earlier. Just for the delinquent fine - it was $250.00 additional dollars. It cost me $676.00 to settle up with the tax man. The dude grinned as he announced the shafting I was about to receive and then said that he was cutting me a break. I said thank you sir.


I had so much anxiety built up over this registration that I would have paid a bigger fine to get the hall out of there.



In reality it was not traumatic - it was just a lesson in preparing your paperwork and being patient while they reviewed it. The guy was very thorough and professional. I really don't have a reason to bitch - other than I can.


Cheers Mike

[Sander]

Today, I found that the Title that I'm waiting for will say "Reconstructed". So I freaked out, and went to the local Tax office where they couldn't answer my questions.
"Reconstructed" is used as a "Rebuilt" for other types of vehicles. Not Buses.

The nice and knowledgeable lady (Hello, Ms. Cynthia!)from the regional TxDMV explained to me that Reconstructed Buses are different from other vehicles.

The nice lady sent me this:

https://content.govdelivery.com/atta...e%20Manual.pdf

I should have my new Title in about 2 to 3 weeks. I'll keep all this info to show to the Buyer, as I'm selling the Bus as soon as I get the Title.

[HamSkoolie]

Originally Posted by Sander

Today, I found that the Title that I'm waiting for will say "Reconstructed". So I freaked out, and went to the local Tax office where they couldn't answer my questions.
"Reconstructed" is used as a "Rebuilt" for other types of vehicles. Not Buses.

The nice and knowledgeable lady (Hello, Ms. Cynthia!)from the regional TxDMV explained to me that Reconstructed Buses are different from other vehicles.

The nice lady sent me this:
Attachment 66868
https://content.govdelivery.com/atta...e%20Manual.pdf

I should have my new Title in about 2 to 3 weeks. I'll keep all this info to show to the Buyer, as I'm selling the Bus as soon as I get the Title.

I'd take a look at Brian and Erin Adventure Partners on YouTube. They titled their bus in TX as a motorhome and made no mention of any "reconstructed" brand. They did put in the minimal conversion stuff for TX .... water system, sink, bed, electrical system, cooking facilities....not sure what all but they did a "this will meet the requirement" "build" then ripped that out to do teh real build.