USAF reservist re-registering current TX vehicle in CA. Are back fees due?
***Edit*** Thanks everyone for the responses. I think what I'll do is go to another DMV office (maybe one a little closer to the base I'm stationed at ;) and see if I get the same answer. If I do, I'll consider the matter closed and just sell the bike as is.
Original post:
Hi everyone,
After numerous DMV visits and research, I can't get a straight answer to this. Hoping someone on the thread can help me.
In 2011 I was active duty USAF and bought a motorcycle at my duty station in Texas. Shortly after I was transferred to California and went active duty to reserve (still currently in the AF reserve).
Instead of re-registering the motorcycle in CA, I just kept renewing the TX registration year after year (the SCRA allows servicemembers to do this if the move was due to military service/obligation). It never lapsed, and has current TX plates and registration to this day.
So finally, after riding my TX-registered bike in CA for ~14 years, I decide I want to sell it. So I get the paperwork in order and go to the DMV to get CA plates for it. They say that I owe CA registration back fees all the way back to 2011 when the bike was purchased in Texas. $861.00.
Does this sound right? I know that if you are discharged from the military you have like 20 days or so to register your vehicles in the state you live (if they aren't already). I guess this might technically apply to me since I was "discharged" from active duty service to start Reserve duty. But I have been serving in the military this entire time with no breaks in service.
Can anyone shed any light on this? Should I just be paying the nominal $25-ish fee for new plates or am I destined to ride this thing with out of state plates forever? (Ghost Riders In the Sky by Johnny Cash just started playing in my head). Thanks so much in advance.