DMV does it again
 

I sent in my renewal check on December 1st. Due on the 31st. The 29th rolls around and the check still hasn’t cleared. So to avoid a penalty fee I pay the $427 on line. I get my tags the following week and I figure the check was lost. Yesterday after checking my account balance I see they cashed the check the day before. Two months after I sent it in. I called them this morning and after waiting for an hour they tell me the money was processed to another vehicle. Not any of mine. Now the fun begins.

... Jeebus :(

Good grief!

I use checks as little as possible. I always assume that a check being handled by hand is far more likely to go astray than an electronic payment.

Good luck. You should charge them interest as it's likely to take you a long time to get your money back.

I just renew my tags on line. Simple CC payment the the new sticker comes in the mail a few days later.

Glen Calidirnia sees this as a source of income. It sort of is. They get free use of his money, for as long as it takes him to get it back

I think it's been 20 years since I wrote my last paper check ... never got my "check reorders" from my CU ... and have never looked back.

Good luck!

It's easy to Monday morning QB but you should have stopped payment on the check . Good luck retrieving your funds .

Not my kind of fun. I wish you luck, and patience.

Walked into my small town city hall yesterday at 4, showed old title, proof of insurance, wrote a check (not quite $700 for sales tax, new plate, initial registration thru 2025 since my birthday is in March), and walked out at 415 with a new plate and registration for my sons new car.

In a few weeks when I go to pay the tag renewal on the rest of our cars, my boat, etc. it might take twice as long if there are more than one or two people in line.

You are correct. By the time I found out the check was being processed it was too late. I’m not a on line bill payer. I just don’t trust any electronic thingy. I’m old and set in my ways….get off my lawn!!!

On line works!

I pay 100% of my utilities with an automatic bank withdrawal. I don't even have to thing about my utility payments. Same for my insurance, and most every other bill.

It is simple and easy, and never a missed payment.

There's a DMV form to submit to get back that check (or rather, the funds from the check).

I had a similar situation. Mailed in a renewal with check. Didn't get a response. Went to DMV on date of expiration and paid in person. A couple weeks later the original check got processed in Sacramento, so effectively I paid my registration twice. I completed the DMV form (albeit twice), and eventually got my money back.

Now, I just go to AAA to get it done.

Our version of DMV is closing their locations and opening up kiosks in Walmarts.
Let the games begin!

L.A. County Tax Collector pushes E-check as a form of payment, no fees. I did this and it never showed up. I had done it before and it worked. The obvious answer I that I mistyped a number. So an E-check is drawn from your bank. I go to the bank and they have no idea how to fix this. Call E-check they say.

No such number or way to contact them. I go to the Tax Office. Can't help, no money ever came, pay the 10% penalty or wait until it's 20% and so on. I paid.

There is no stop payment, that check is still out there a year later. So last payment I used my CC and paid the 2.5% to see my transaction go through with a receipt on my end. At some point I got a receipt from the tax man but it went to spam.

Fun times.

Don't get me started on my CA St. Contractor's license. At the time you could only mail it in ON THEIR FORM which that year was never delivered. No online download. They've since changed that. They slapped me with a 50% penalty and I told them to stuff it. Catch me if you can.

They don't have the resources so I'm rogue. Don't care. Hate my city and I don't even recognize my state. I do have to pay county taxes. I like my house and neighborhood, so I'm just a sovereign resident.

I let my contractors license expire not wanting to give the state more money for nothing in return. The guy I gave all my contacts to does not have a license and he has never had an issue.

I find it easy and quick to do registration renewals online at the DMV website. Enter the info that uniquely identifies your vehicle, add to cart, go to checkout, pay with e-check if you want to avoid fees or credit card if you want to pay the fee (~3% IIRC). Done - you get an instant confirmation # and a receipt you can print. I usually put a copy of the receipt in the car until the new sticker and registration card arrive.

HTH

BMV (our DMV) in Ohio is actually pretty good. You can do a lot of stuff online. I did all my cars/bikes (9 of them!) in about 20 minutes, got the tags and registration papers in the mail about 6 business days later.

So I got in contact with a human on the phone from the DMV. I was told to fax him the copy of both sides of the check. I did that and he calls shortly after and tells me he has no idea where the check was processed to and that he can’t do anything for me. I was told to fill out a reimbursement form and mail it in. I took the form to the DMV in person. We will see.

Jersey DMV used to be an all day nightmare. It still can be in some areas but up here in the sticks I have a small DMV office that is appointment only and works great.

As for tags online is the only way to go.

I haven't bothered to balance my checkbook in a couple of years.

I noticed that the plates on my '50 VW had expired, and I never got a renewal notice. So I figured I'd pay late and pay a penalty. Sucks, but whatever. I couldn't pay online since the VIN with just 5 or 6 digits wouldn't compute.

So I went in person and they said they have no record of my car. My father owned since 1985, and then I had owned it for about 10 years. I renewed and drove it every year. Then it just disappeared from their records. I had to pay $950 to establish a new registration for it. Gotta love the DMV.