Living Full Time - Driver's License, Loans, etc.

[aerowenn]

We have been planning to live full-time out of our rig so that we can supercharge our house build in a couple years. We're actively looking for a plot of land in WA (where we currently live) but want to not have to pay rent or a second mortgage, hence the bus.

One oversight we've had is that you must have a physical address, it seems, to keep a driver's license. Also if we don't purchase land before our lease runs out, we'd potentially be applying for loans without a physical address to use. Curious if anyone has had a similar situation and how they might get around it? We were hoping to have boondocking be our go-to option in West WA, around the Cascades where I work (Seattle area).

I've thought maybe we could have our mail forwarded to a family member and just ride out the 12 month forward period using our current address by just not changing or updating anything, which I know is not quite legal. We've also thought about renting a dump of a place, which would be far cheaper than what we currently pay but is essentially paying for residency. Using a P.O. Box and Amazon Lockers if we need packages (or just ship to my work).

Open to any and all ideas!

[cadillackid]

there are services which provide domicile addresses.. of course in most states there are lawsthat say if you spend X amount of time there you have to change you license, car tabs, etc... but I know when I had a condo in florida for a couple years that it doesnt seem like any of this gets enforced regularly.. my cars and busses all have ohio plates and I never once got stopped for "hey we have seen you around here longer than 6 months with ohio plates".. maybe a small town would be different..



usiong a domicile service of course you would have to visit the state of your choice to obtain and renew your license and probably your car tabs.. youd want to choose someplace where insurance rates arent bad.. (note NOT a no fault state or a high base state like FL or CA.


when i dual-resided i chose not to move anything of mine to florida as far as insurance or car related items.. they were simply much cheaper to keep them at my ohio residence..



getting loans - if your credit score is high enough it seems about any address will do for financing.. they really only get touchy about your address if you are a lower score customer.. your address on your license should match the address you put on any loan applications.


your tax base will also be from that address as well.. that address is also what you would list for an employer.. most times these days any employer-provided health insurance allows you to pick primary care facilities from anyplace you are.. but make sure thats the case..

[Drew Bru]

We were domiciled in South Dakota. There are several services that offer mail forwarding and count as a "physical address". SD requires you to spend 12 hours in the state (overnight in a hotel, keep the receipt for proof) for residency. From there you go to the DMV and attest that you plan to reside in the state when you're done traveling. Its crucial that you answer "yes" to that question at the DMV, as they'll deny you if you don't. In one day, you're a resident of SD with a "physical mailing address". Your vehicles will be titled and registered, you'll pay a whopping $0 in state income tax, and you'll get to vote for the SD crook of your choice at election time.


It was pretty much hassle-free. Insurance was a bit of a hassle though, being both a bus and us being full-timers. We ended up getting Progressive Commercial for Personal Use (liability only).


If you look into South Dakota domicile services you'll find 2 or 3 that cater to full time RVers. When you see an RV out in the wild with South Dakota plates, there's a good chance they're full timers that hail from elsewhere. Florida and Texas are also common states for full timers but I believe they have annual vehicle inspections, whereas SD does not. Some people also register as an LLC in Montana, but I'm not too familiar with that option.


Update: Apparently SD has changed some of its requirements in the past year, so you might disregard the "hassle-free" claim I spoke of. Might still be worth looking into, I dunno.

[ewo1]

Florida does not require annual inspections but many insurance markets ( cities) are rated super high for auto insurance. SE Florida is crazy high $$$!!!

[Albatross]

I would argue that your concern over staying "legal" is a bit obsessive--especially considering the penalties. I would also ask, "who are you actually harming by failing/refusing to keep the government informed of your exact whereabouts and activities?" If you're not actively harming anyone, then you're not actually committing a crime, but rather, denying the state to collect what revenues it alleges that you owe it, for some reason or another.


Do you live by the tolerance and whims of the government, or does the government exist by your tolerance to do your will? The answer to this question really tells you all that you need to know.


The Escapees use a mail-forwarding service that can, in all essences, be used for reporting a location to the government, if you don't mind stretching the truth a little bit. This should buy you all the time you need. Additionally, last time I checked, they had locations in TX, FL, and SD, so you can stop paying income tax like some slave to the government.


The cheapest rent I've seen in the past 5 years or so was around $350/mo, which is exorbitant considering what you would get for it--additionally, that was down in TX, and I doubt you're going to find anything remotely close to that cheap in WA. If I were in your shoes, I would use a family member if you had to, not report **** to the government, and not worry about it.



The People are private, and the government exists to take care of public needs and solve public disputes. What you are doing is none of the concern of the government until you harm some other private person, and the dispute becomes public if you cannot resolve the matter privately.