Maryland to start enforcing penalties against residents whose vehicles have out-of-state plates
by Brad Matthews · The Washington TimesStarting Thursday, Maryland residents with vehicles registered outside the state will have 60 days to register their vehicle in-state or face penalties.
To avoid penalties, residents will have to register their vehicles in Maryland, obtain a non-resident permit for their vehicle or submit documents to the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Administration explaining why they do not need to have their vehicle registered and titled in Maryland.
The MVA website says residents who do not change their out-of-state registration within the initial 60-day period will be fined $7 a day until they fulfill one of the aforementioned requirements. The maximum amount a resident can be fined under the policy is $420, corresponding to a second 60-day period.
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At the end of the second 60-day period and after the resident has been fined the maximum amount, the MVA will refer their vehicle to the resident’s county attorney for additional civil actions.
In addition, the MVA will issue license plate pickup orders for vehicles with out-of-state plates that meet one of the following conditions:
• The vehicle has a registration that has been suspended for six months or more due to a lapse in insurance.
• The vehicle is owned by a resident who has lived in Maryland for 60 days or more whose license has been suspended for child support.
• The vehicle is owned by someone who did not comply with two or more traffic citations, which includes speed and red light camera violations.
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Trailers, pole trailers and semi-trailers are exempted from the policy, the MVA says.
Officials said the residency rules are needed due to differences in insurance and safety inspection.”We don’t want anybody to face additional sanctions. Insurance requirements are different between Virginia and Maryland. Safety inspection requirements are not the same between jurisdictions, and that’s why it’s important,” Maryland Motor Vehicle Administrator Chrissy Nizer told WTOP-FM.
Almost all of the vehicles registered out of state identified by the MVA are not in compliance with Maryland safety inspection rules, the agency told WJZ-TV.
In particular, a sizable number of Maryland residents have cars registered in Virginia, which does not require residency as part of vehicle registration. Over the course of the year, the MVA has sent letters to about 137,000 residents thought to have vehicles registered outside the state, according to WJZ-TV.
Residents who register and re-title their vehicles in Maryland by Dec. 31 will not have to pay an excise tax, the MVA says. Vehicle owners who do so starting in 2027 will have to pay an excise tax.
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