Buying a vehicle is a crucial way for most of us to maintain our day-to-day independence. Without a car, it would be difficult to get to work, run daily errands or purchase the goods and services we need.
If the state suspends your vehicle registration, your car could suddenly end up stuck in your garage until you rectify the situation. Find out when you might be vulnerable to a vehicle registration suspension and how you can avoid this fate.
- Vehicle registration allows you to legally drive your car on public roads.
- Suspension of your vehicle’s registration is most likely to occur when you violate key driving laws and rules of the road.
- Unless your driver’s license has been suspended too, you can still legally drive other vehicles without their registration.
What is vehicle registration?
A vehicle registration officially certifies that your car is legal to drive on public roads. The state keeps a record of you and your vehicle.
Your state likely will require you to register the vehicle through a government agency. Many drivers complete this process at their local Division of Motor Vehicles office.
During this process, you will likely pay a fee and the government will issue a paper certificate or card showing that the vehicle has been registered.
What happens if my registration is suspended?
When a vehicle’s registration is suspended, the state has taken away their right to drive the car on the road until the registration is reinstated.
States require registering your car to obtain license plates and legally driving. In many states, you must have valid registration and plates to park a vehicle in a public area, such as the street in front of your house. When you fail to pay registration fees, your vehicle registration is no longer valid; thus, driving it is illegal.
“Maintaining your vehicle registration is really important. Failure to maintain the registration could result in your insurance company denying coverage if the vehicle is in an accident,” says Jason Turchin, attorney with the Law Offices of Jason Turchin in Weston, Florida. “Vehicle registration may be a prerequisite to obtaining car insurance, and failure to have the vehicle registered could void coverage.”
A state can suspend, revoke or cancel your car’s registration if you commit certain offenses. State laws vary, so contact your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to determine why your state will suspend someone’s registration. A couple of reasons that many states suspend registration is if you are caught driving without insurance or a license.
If you forget to inform the DMV that you changed or canceled your insurance policy without obtaining a new one within 45 days, the DMV will likely suspend your registration. Furthermore, you must provide the DMV with proof of insurance within 30 days of its issuance.
Why your vehicle registration might get suspended
There are many reasons why your state might suspend your vehicle registration. Suspension is most commonly levied on drivers who violate laws such as:
- Driving despite not having car insurance
- Driving without having a driver’s license
- Failing to pay parking tickets
- Failing to pay registration fees
There may be other circumstances where the state will suspend your license, such as failing to fix a broken headlight or violating other driving laws.
My registration is suspended, but I have insurance. Now what?
In most cases, you can’t register a car without proof of insurance in most states – the only states that allow registration without proof of insurance are Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin.
If your registration is suspended, driving the vehicle associated with the suspension is illegal, and parking it on public roads is prohibited. A state suspension of your registration keeps your car off the road for a specific time; typically, this is a penalty after you have committed a serious offense.
If you have insurance, such as an SR22 form required by your state to show that you have the mandated liability coverage, you’ll need to show proof of your insurance before the DMV will allow registration.
If you do not have insurance, most states will suspend your registration. The penalty for driving with suspended registration will vary by state but likely would be a fine and/or imprisonment and possible suspension of your driver’s license.
So, when your registration is suspended, you must surrender your registration and license plates to the state. Having your registration suspended does not stop you from being able to drive other vehicles that have valid registration unless you were also penalized by having your driver’s license suspended.
To reinstate your vehicle registration, you must pay a fine and furnish the DMV with proof of current insurance, so contact your local DMV.
How an insurance lapse affects your registration in New York
For example, if you had a lapse in your insurance coverage in New York state, you must turn in your registration and license tags.
If you do not surrender your vehicle plates immediately, your registration will be suspended for the days you did not have insurance coverage but did hold the vehicle plates. If that time is longer than 90 days, your driver’s license is also suspended for the same amount of time as the registration.
When your registration is suspended, neither you nor anyone else can drive the car. You cannot sell the vehicle to someone related to you, either.
For instance, the New York DMV states that it will not issue a new registration if the applicant for the new registration:
- Has the same last name as the registrant whose registration is suspended.
- Resides at the same address as the registrant whose registration is suspended.
The DMV will not issue a registration to any person unless that person makes a sworn statement on form FS-2. The statement certifies that the purpose of the application is not to avoid the results of the current suspension. The local DMV office determines if the application will be accepted or rejected.
Frequently asked questions: Suspended registration
Can I sell my car if my registration is suspended?
No. Driving without proper insurance can lead to registration suspension. When a driver’s credentials are revoked, they are denied the ability to take their car out on the roads and prevented from selling it.
How do you clear a suspended registration?
To reinstate a suspended registration, one must first ascertain the cause of suspension from their local DMV. Once the reasoning is determined, necessary measures should be taken to settle any outstanding fees and get your vehicle registered again.
Is it permissible to drive during a registration suspension?
You might think that car registration suspension would prevent you from driving. But this is not necessarily so.
Car registration suspension simply means you cannot drive the vehicle the state has suspended. However, unless the state also suspends your driver’s license, you can still drive other legally registered vehicles.
However, if your driver’s license has been suspended, you cannot drive any vehicle legally.
Does suspension of my current registration pose any issues for obtaining a new vehicle registration?
Once you have met your state’s requirements for registering your vehicle, obtaining a new vehicle registration should be pretty straightforward.
For example, in California, you can go to the Department of Motor Vehicles website to check the status of your suspension and to submit proof of insurance. Then, you simply:
- Provide your license plate number
- Provide the last five characters of your vehicle identification number (or a letter sent by the DMV that has your personal identification number)
- Pay a $14 reinstatement fee
Resources & Methodology
Sources
- Progressive. “What is vehicle registration?” Accessed March 2024.
- Insurance Navy. “What Does Suspension of Registration Mean?” Accessed March 2024.
- State of California Department of Motor Vehicles. “Suspended Registration Reinstatement/Proof of Insurance Submission.” Accessed March 2024.
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