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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    3,269

    Masshole auto purchase-title transfer question

    My kid is buying a car in Boston that will come home to Oregon in about 6 months. My plan is to register there and insure through my policy home but some verbage about needing a "insurance stamp" from an agency AND the plates stay with the previous owner. In Oregon we just sign over the title , fill out a few forms and provide proof of insurance and you receive a temporary registration and the title comes in the mail in a few weeks.
    Can someone advise what the procedure or the best way to be legal while in Mass ? My plan is to let my magna cum laude grad navigate the process but I want to make sure we don't have any mistakes(half wit dad fucking shit up). She has a Oregon license and no permanent address right now but we have multiple local addresses we can use in the area.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
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    Among Greatness All Around
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    6,628
    Have you called your Insurance Company and asked them the process and what they can do? Sounds like the first step if the deal is going to happen. Is your daughter on the policy as a driver, if not then may need to do a joint ownership with both names on the title also??

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    driven way past the Stop and Shop
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    3,068
    MA is not cool with out of state temp tags.
    Damn, we're in a tight spot!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    3,269
    Quote Originally Posted by RShea View Post
    Have you called your Insurance Company and asked them the process and what they can do? Sounds like the first step if the deal is going to happen. Is your daughter on the policy as a driver, if not then may need to do a joint ownership with both names on the title also??
    She is on our policy and my agent is in Oregon and they weren't sure how to MASS handles proof of insurance. I am calling a local(Boston) insurance agent tomorrow. I flew in Wed, she graduated Friday found apartment and car now heading home. She won't "buy/take possession" of the the car until 6/12 and she starts her job in 6/13.
    Lots of moving pieces in a tight window but it's all worked out so far.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2020
    Location
    in a freezer in Italy
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    7,181
    I'm sure however we do it is the best way.

    kidding.

    I re-registered a car here that was from out of state a few months back. The way it worked was I had to get insurance up front. I went with Travelers, the broker is called Hub International, they're very big and based in Boston. I contacted them, paid for the insurance, and they emailed me back a tag application for the DMV (called the Registry or RMV here) with the insurance info part already filled in. They call it a stamp but there's no stamp, it's just a section on the form that has their info filled in.

    I printed the form out and filled in the rest of it and took it to the Registry (make an appointment online, trust me), gave them the completed forms, the clear Maryland title (I assume she will need to get the Mass. title from the seller?) and a check, and they gave me a set of license plates. Then you have a week (I think) to get the car inspected. Tons of places do inspections, gas stations etc. There's a list on the Registry's site.


    Not too hard of a process except you have to line up insurance up front and prove it with the "stamp" before they give you the tags.

    I assume the process is pretty much the same for an in-state used car.

    https://www.mass.gov/register-and-title-your-vehicle

    edit: The OR part I think she'll have to do completely separately, however they do it, when she gets back there. I don't know if your OR agent can help you with the Mass. process, I had Nationwide in Maryland and couldn't just use Nationwide here, they aren't registered or something something in Mass. so I had to start from scratch, which is how I ended up with Travelers.
    Last edited by ötzi; 05-30-2022 at 06:43 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    MA
    Posts
    7,017
    I can check w my insurance guy tomorrow. Provided he’s done puking out the shots and beers I fed him this weekend/today. Pm me.
    Decisions Decisions

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Location
    Idaho
    Posts
    1,725
    IIRC, there are no Saturday or evening hours at the RMV. In my daughter's case we had to have a runner shuffle the paperwork, pick up and mail the plates since she wasn't able to get to an RMV office during business hours. Oh and the sticker goes on the rear plate, don't ask me how we found out. She will need a MA agent and a new policy to get coverage.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Posts
    679
    If you've got a helpful insurance agent in MA they can handle the registry trip for you and mail the plates, worth asking. Always had good service with Liberty Mutual there.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Dystopia
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    21,053
    Quote Originally Posted by Brock Landers View Post
    I can check w my insurance guy tomorrow. Provided he’s done puking out the shots and beers I fed him this weekend/today. Pm me.
    This is the best answer.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    3,269
    I think I have it figured out. The seller agreed to let my kid keep the plates in the car since he's moving out of the state. She'll head to the insurance agency either Friday or Monday and finish the process. I was a bit nervous about her driving around for a few days without plates.
    I was under the impression she had to get a Ma license to facilitate the title transfer but that's not the case.

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