Establishing Residency


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Senior Member
[grace martin] I hope someone can advise me. We are currently living in NY state but will be leaving the end of March to become fulltime RVers. Since we are selling our house we will not have a permanent residence in any state. Through correspondence with experience RVers it seems like the best thing for us to do is become Texas residences using our mail address with the escapees. (We haven&#039t set up the escapees mail forwarding service yet.)

My dilemma is that I don&#039t know the sequence of events to become a Texas resident. What can I do before traveling to Texas? We need to get driver’s license, register our truck and 5th wheel, register to vote, and switch our State Farm insurance from NY to Texas. Can any of this be done from NY? If so, how long do we have until we need to be in Texas to have the vehicles inspected?

My biggest problem is that since the 5th wheel is in storage over winter, I have not renewed the NY registration. In order for me to put it back on the road I will need to register it in NY for a full 12 months but will only be in NY another 2 months. Unfortunately NY does not permit less than 12 months registration. Is it possible to register the 5th wheel in Texas before leaving NY?

Also, is there any personal property tax or surcharges for bring a vehicle into Texas?

Thanks you so much for your help.
 

Old Forum Post

Senior Member
Establishing Residency

[Put-Put] If you have decided that Texas is your choice for residency and you are interested in joining the Escapee&#039s RV Club, both great choices, I can provide the following information. We are life members of the SKP&#039s so this knowledge if from personal experience. The first step in the residency requirement is to get a mailing address, such as the Escapees mail service. We use that and it is a great service with more than 20,000 mail accounts. Vehicle registration starts with getting a TX driver license, which is required to register vehicles in the state. You have to come to TX to get the drive license. Any town or city with a driver license bureau can issue one since it is a state function. You can also register to vote at the drive license station, which is a good document to have if NY decides to challenge your residency when tax time rolls around. Vehicle registration is done in the county of residency. Livingston is in Polk County. The Escapee&#039s membership people can give you the phone numbers to the tax office where vehicle registration is done. Vehicle registration can be completely accomplished by phone and mail. Call the tax office, and identify yourself as an Escapee, to request the necessary forms and fee amounts for each vehicle you want to register. They are very helpful and pleasant to work with. The rest is done through the mail. If time is of the essence, you can do it by FedX but you have to send the tax office a completed prepaid air bill for the return mail. I did that and it works good. Just explain to the tax office your desires and give them thanks. Good Luck.
 

Old Forum Post

Senior Member
Establishing Residency

[maggie] We are doing the same thing you are. We are pulling out of Maryland the end of March. We still have not figured out the residence thing or where to tag our vehicle. We just bought the RV & it is not taged or titled in any state right now. Can anyone give us advise on where to go. What is Escapee Club?
 

Old Forum Post

Senior Member
Establishing Residency

[BECKY] Hi Grace,

If you haven&#039t totally committed to Texas I would suggest you check out Florida too. We are using American Home Base (1-800-422-4663) in Pensacola, FL. Ask for Kevin or Kelley. Tell them #791 recommended them. This is the third mail service we have used and we are most pleased with them. We plate out of Florida and have our drivers licenses in FL too. AHB can answer all your questions. We like AHB because they will really work with us if we have a special need example: buying a vehicle out of state they will do the leg work for you so you don&#039t have to return to the state.

We are Escapees but will be dropping our membership when this year ends. Escapees are wonderful people but its a waste of our money. Our needs are not met by this organization. We do have Good Sam -- have had for years and find it more worthwhile for our needs.

Want to wish you happy traveling. Hope to see you on the road.
 
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