Re: Living in MD with a Maine trailer tag
Yeah looks like I'm going to be scared into compliance. Probably better in the long run. Thanks for the advice guys
Wow man, I have alot to add to this one. I am in Maryland.
First off, can some of you tell me where I can find the bit about if its a second trailer, then it's ok?? Is this in the code because I could't find it. I did see that as a Maryland resident you have to tag your vehicles in the state, etc.
The flaming a-hole from whom I bought my last boat and trailer could never produce the title to the trailer. So, I registered it in Maine. I have gotten a rash of crap from the local PD. I used to leave my boat parked on my tow vehicle out on the road. (I live in a court- no way to put the boat in my yard). Unfortunately I live in a high crime area and there is a constant and heavy police presence, so I bet a police officer drives by my court 20 times a day.
I kept getting warnings for parking an "unregistered" vehicle. I caught one of them writing it up and I confronted them. He informed me that he could not get a "hit" on my Maine tag, therefore it must be no good. I showed him the registration and he declared it useless. He then proceeded to imply that the trailer was stolen.
I think the true issue is one of my neighbors must have been complaining about it and the cops have used the Maine tag as an excuse to beat on me about it. I even called Baltimore Co, headquarters and they explained to me that their system simply can not verify some state's/ types of tags and Maine trailers are one of them. I tried explaining this to the next officer that I saw walking around my boat, but to no avail.
It got to be so bad that I now keep the boat in a storage lot. I still have the maine tag on it, its never been a problem out on the road.
I also called Maine DMV and they were able to verify my tag over the phone and even suggested I give the number to the officers. The police officers were not interested in getting that phone number from me at all.
The trailer was originally from Virginia, and I contacted VA about getting a VA title for it, as they do have an "affidavit in lieu of title" process whereby if the previous owner is withholding the title, you can get one. After waiting 6 weeks, they sent it all back to me asking for $125 for an "investigation fee". (no mention of that on their website.) Just got that back in the mail about a month ago. It would be cheaper to bribe the shady bastard who sold me the boat. (It cost me $100 already to convince him to get me the title to the boat--Im not joking. Shame on me for taking the boat home on the promise that he would get me the titles the next day) I just REFUSE to offer him another $100 for the trailer title. Maybe I should and be waiting with a bat.
Add to that, one of the officers told me I could simply go to Annapolis DMV and just up and get a Maryland title. No, you can not. Maryland has NO facility to title a trailer that does not have a title. Unless you lie and say you "made" it and its "homemade". I find this troubling since many states don't require a title, or didn't 30 years ago when some of these things were new.
Regarding your boat sticker....I ran with a VA sticker for a year and got stopped on the water many times, the sticker never came up. Personally, I think they "profile" out there. My crappy old boat you know, Im bound to have issues...Im bound to be a good source of revenue for missing safety equipment etc. Proud to say that I have NEVER had any sort of ticket or citation out there despite being stopped 6 or 7 times the first year I had it in the water. It got so bad that at some point, all the DNR officers around Sandy Point got to know me and the last few times they approached my boat they realized who I was and waved me off. That was about 3 years ago. Havent seen many DNR boats there the last couple years, must be a budget crunch.
In short, I would fix the boat sticker for sure. As for the Maine tag, I dont think you will have any trouble unless you happen to live in an area where the shear frequency of scrutiny tips the odds, or some jerk neighbor calling on your boat all the time.
