New Hampshire vehicle registration

Nov. 15, 2007

A bill pending in the New Hampshire Legislature would allow residents to register their RVs in the state even if they do not have a stationary home address there.

Currently, drivers who register a vehicle in New Hampshire must have a physical address. That doesn’t bode well for full-time RVers and others who travel outside the state for an extended time, because many of them list their home address as that of a post-office box or mail-forwarding service.

House Bill 45 would establish vehicle registration requirements for persons without a permanent street address at the time of re-registration.

Those temporarily traveling out of the state in an RV could renew a vehicle registration by providing written attestations of residency from two adult citizens of the municipality. One of the attesting citizens must act as the person’s mailing address for purposes of contact by the Division of Motor Vehicles.

HB 45 defines “residence” as intention to return to the municipality after a temporary absence.

The bill also calls for modifications to vehicle registration forms to allow for the use of mailing addresses that are not residential addresses.

In 2005, State Rep. Susan Almy introduced a similar bill that would have allowed RVers to re-register their vehicles in New Hampshire. The Transportation Committee relegated the bill for further study, and Almy reintroduced the bill in January 2007.

Status: In January 2007, HB 45 was retained for further study by the House Transportation Committee. On. Nov. 5, the committee, by a vote of 13-0, referred the bill back the House floor with an "inexpedient to legislate" recommendation. This is legislative jargon for suggesting that a bill be defeated. The House will take up the recommendation on Jan. 2, 2008.

A unanimous recommendation is routinely adopted, so the bill is unlikely to pass.