Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with outofstate

How to drive home a car bought in another state?

HopperFan — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:01:41 -0800

So I bought a car from out of state...please help me with the logistics! I bought a Volvo on eBay for a good price, yay. It's about 6 hours away, though. (Ohio to Virginia)

I've read this question, and this, this, and several others - but I still have questions, because there seems to be some conflicting information.

Step 1 : Insure vehicle. I'll be doing that tomorrow, I have the VIN.

Step 2 : Go to Virginia, meet seller with car. Make sure VIN on car and title matches with what was posted on eBay.

Step 3-4-.... : ?

The questions I've thought of so far are:

1. Does the seller need to have access to a notary? Otherwise, how would signing the back of the title and the bill of sale be valid?

2. Is it true that with a signed over title and a bill of sale, I could drive this vehicle back to Ohio and placate any police officers that happen to stop me?

3. It seems like a very bad idea to fedex payment down without a title in hand, trusting he'll send me the title in exchange, just so that I could obtain temp tags here before driving down. He hasn't asked me to do that, anyway.

The car does not currently have plates. I checked auto shipping companies, but the cheapest quote is around $300. This may or may not be worth it, depending on what I learn about this registration process.

Being sued in LA, live in MS

anansi — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:41:15 -0800

YANML, but . . . I received a summons today for Los Angeles. I live in Mississippi. What do I do? OK, here's the deal. As a chronically broke grad student, I became unemployed the year before last and was unable to pay off a credit card to the tune of about $1300.00. They canceled my account and sent it to collections. During this time I was living in LA. I have recently moved to Mississippi. I received a piece of forwarded mail today from a law office. It contained a summons for LA Superior court for the debt that I owe the credit card company. The summons was remarkably void of information concerning who to contact and what to do, other than to get various forms from the courthouse to respond to the summons and the phone number for the law office that is suing me. I will be contacting the LA Superior Court this week, but in the meantime I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this for me? In particular, Does the LA court have jurisdiction over me? I don't have money for a lawyer, are there any orgs that might be able to help me out with this?

What is a Cheap/Reliable Way to Move Out of State?

mephesta — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:04:34 -0800

I will soon be moving from Southern California to Spokane, WA to attend Law School. I am looking for a good (cheap reliable) way for my wife and I to move some of our belongings up there. We don't have too much stuff; bed, a couch that is 7feet long and 2 50"tv's as well as a variety of boxes containing clothes and things.

We have looked at Uhaul and also getting one of those pods that you can pack yourself but they both would end up costing around $2000 from the few estimates I've gotten.

If anyone has a cheaper way, company or idea, or can just recommend some information from past experience that would be a huge help!

Thank you very much!

I can drive here, yes?

xiaolongbao — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:36:22 -0800

Driving with an out-of-state license, valid for a state in which I no longer reside. I've been moving around a bunch lately. Got my PA driver's license renewed in CA just shy of a year ago. Now I'm living in NYC (~6 months) and haven't had the time to register/renew here yet. I'm going home to PA to visit my parents and want to drive a few places while I'm there. Is this technically legal? Am I likely to run into any trouble? I'm a good, responsible driver with no record to speak of. I don't have auto insurance, but my parents do, and I'd be driving their car. Am I way over-thinking this (probably yes)? Help me give my parents some piece of mind. On a side note, would I run into any trouble renting a car with my CA license?

Hopefully this was pretty clear and comprehensive - I'll be monitoring the thread closely to make any clarifications, as necessary.

Thanks Mefites!

Do I really need to pay WI state tax?

mezamashii — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:08:49 -0800

If I interned for 3 months in Seattle but live and go to school in Wisconsin, do I need to pay WI state tax on the money I made over the summer in Washington, which has no state tax? (posting for mezamashii's significant other)

I interned for three months last summer in Seattle. I made quite a bit of money while I was there but only had to pay federal taxes since Washington has no state tax. However now my father's tax preparer claims I must pay over $800 in Wisconsin state taxes for the money I made in Seattle. Since I am a student and only work for my university during the school year, I paid no state or federal taxes on any of the other money I made last year. Do I really need to pay all that WI state tax on money I never even MADE while I was in Wisconsin? Can you point me to any sites that prove this tax preparer is wrong?

(IANAL, you aren't my tax preparer, yada yada)

Can I get auto insurance using a PO box or other address I don't reside at?

feloniousmonk — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 04:55:28 -0800

I need to buy a car in a state that I am not currently resident in. Here's the rub. I live in Massachusetts and want to buy the car in Florida. I don't have a Florida address. I can't insure the car in Florida without one, and I can't insure it in MA without registering it both there and in Florida.

This situation has arisen because of a couple of awesome coincidences related to my housing situation taking longer to resolve than I had expected. Is it an option to use someone else's address for a week or two? Does anyone else have any other ideas?

really bad credit in Texas = no credit in Washington?

damnjezebel — Wed, 10 May 2006 18:51:58 -0800

[badcreditfilter] Does moving out of state affect your credit status for the good, for the bad, or no? Without getting too involved here (because that would require a LOT of details and even then it wouldn't be that clear), I have bad credit. I have atrocious credit. I'm working to pay it off, yes... but it's a slow process and at the rate I'm going, it's doubtful I'll be able to use my credit for myself by 2010... if I'm lucky. Within the next year, I'll be purchasing a car, as well as moving to an apartment - both being the first in my name in a long time. As of today, my credit sucks and there is no way that without a hefty down payment, I'd be able to accomplish this.

In passing, a friend of mine mentioned that when he moved out of state (from Vermont to New Hampshire, if that matters), he inadvertently went from having a low credit score of roughly 350 to having no credit at all. He was told at the car dealership where he was trying to lease a used car that he had absolutely nothing on his credit and would need a cosigner. This same friend has googled this (although I have not seen the search terms and am still looking myself) and found that this has happened to other people as well.

What is it, exactly? Is my friend talking out his ass? Is going from really bad credit to no credit really as easy as moving out of state and getting a license there? It doesn't sound like it, but since google has (so far) not turned up anything, I thought I'd ask all of you.

if it matters, I'm in my midtwenties, I've lived in Dallas my whole life and I'm a freelancer.

DC Parking Ticket

vers — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 18:41:47 -0800

I've a hunch a similar question has been asked here before, but Googling doesn't turn up anything specific. I'd like assistance understanding the commonsense guidelines for paying an out-of-state parking ticket, since cash is a scarce commodity and we misread the meter. In a nutshell, I'd pay without question if i could spare the hundred, but want to understand the consequences if I can't. Will it affect my credit, in-state DMV standing, or anything else? The ticket was issued in Washington DC, if that is of any import.