The Expert Podcast

Before you start the process of using the so-called Vermont loophole. In order to get a vehicle title, be aware that you may have a problem. Switching that Vermont registration over to your state And why is that Well, first of all the document that you get from Vermont is not a title. It's a registration, not a title. And it's going to have your name and address on it in your state where you live and won't have a Vermont address It'll have your name and address on it Let's say in Indiana wherever you live. Now what's your in theory going to do is you're going to bring that to your state to say look this is my ownership proof I want to get a title. And most of the time that's going to work. However, If the particular agent or the office or the location or even your entire state DMV…It's suspicious of this because…wait you have a vehicle that you just got a registration for a month ago. You live. In this state where you're getting the title. You don't live in Vermont and this vehicle was not last titled in Vermont. They're going to put a red flag and they may do some other research. It may turn out that you get your title. But it also may turn out that they make you jump through a bunch of hoops and they give you a hard time and they reject it There's some states that just flat out rejected those states usually rotate meaning that there's usually two or three states that at any given time reject them. And then later on they changed their mind but then another couple states do it. For example, last year there were signs in the Indiana DMV right on the window that says we don't accept Vermont registrations period. They'll signs are now gone. There's there was a time when, the state of Hawaii just flat out rejected them. Now they accept them. Recently there were reports that the state of Florida. Didn't reject them but they said if you have a Vermont registration, You have to have these other documents. Now a lot of times…you might think well can I find out in advance if my state's gonna accept it Well the problem with that is. Even if you ask. A representative or an agent or clerk at the window of your DMV. Hey can I bring you a Vermont registration and get me a title? That's all hypothetical. The person you'd talked to on that day. They may not know the answer to the question they might say no it has to be a title when in fact it would have worked or they might say yeah no problem If it comes from another state we'll do it. But then when you actually bring them the registration, two weeks later three weeks later, There might be a different person or they might have a different policy So you're not going to know in advance. You just have to try if you want to go that route…When you try you want to make sure you have all the paperwork done correctly…For him. like we mentioned Infor in Florida, they require extra documentation to get a title in Florida. If you're bringing them as Vermont registration if you bring them something from any other state. It flies right through, bring it from Vermont. They put extra scrutiny on it because they even used the word fraud. They have a bulletin that says, we're worried about people using this Vermont registration for fraud, right. Because some people do. So you want to make sure that you recognize that…any DMV is going to be skeptical of a Vermont registration because they know the deal This loophole is not a secret. If you know about it. The DMV knows about it. This has been going on for 20 years. So. any DMV that sees it they're going to say wait a minute we let's take an extra look at this. Do you want to use a process That's going to make the DMV even have more scrutiny on your file as you know, DMV is a government agency There's bureaucracy there. It's already hard enough to get a title Do you want to make it harder? By bringing them something that they're going to be suspicious of. The reason I say that is because there's other methods you can use to get a title or website list them all out. You may look at all those and still say well I want to do Vermont anyways That's fine. But don't disregard the other methods. Just because you think Vermont is a magic bullet that's going to fly right through. The states that get Vermont registration. very frequently. We'll put extra attention on your file because they think you might be trying to avoid something. By going to another state, they're going to look at your registration and say look, you live in Texas. You have a Texas license Texas address. This vehicle is from Texas. Why did you suddenly get a Vermont registration and then and bring it right back? It doesn't make any sense. There must be something else going on. So they might do some extra research and. Whether or not that's something you want to do. That's up to you but. Be aware there's other methods that might be more direct. That might be more straightforward. And also don't forget the fact that if you go through Vermont you have to pay Vermont sales tax. Which is a big big bill because they base it on full retail book value. And your car might not be retail condition. It doesn't matter They're still going to charge you retail book value. And that expense you have to factor in as well. So the Vermont process is. Notorious and famous and people do it all the time. But don't. Jump right into it just because that's the only thing you've heard of. Do your research being a form consumer use our website as a free consumer resource. And that way you won't get. Forced into doing something that might not be in your best interest in the long run.