After I moved to Virginia I attempted to switch my license and registration over from DC. I do not have a lease because I know my landlord personally. Since I do paperless banking and billing, and do not have a formal rental agreement, I could not provide a proof of address that the DMV found acceptable. After several failed trips to the DMV, I asked my bank to mail me my next bank statement. This was accepted by the DMV, but I was then told I needed my insurance company to send them a particular form.

After I had called my insurance company and had the form sent to the DMV, I returned only to learn that the DMV required an electronic title to be sent to them from the bank that issued my automobile loan. This request was made in spite of the fact that I brought my original DC title, with a letter from the bank stating that the loan had been paid off in full, to the DMV customer service center. At this point the bank should have had no involvement in transactions with the DMV, as the bank’s supervisor confirmed with me during a follow-up phone conversation. Furthermore, she explained that DC does not have electronic titles, so she could not fulfill the VA DMV’s request regardless of how nonsensical it was. Still, the DMV would not budge on this request.

Secondly, I was told by a DMV customer service representative that I could not register my vehicle in VA due to an unpaid parking ticket in Fairfax County. However, she was unable to provide any additional information on the ticket. I confirmed via the Fairfax County ticket payment website, as well as with two clerks at the Fairfax County Treasury Department, that no outstanding tickets existed for my license plate number. Furthermore, since I had never received a ticket in Fairfax County, I did not have an account with them. Fairfax County claimed that, for this reason, they could not provide a letter or phone call to the VA DMV to release my hold. Unsure of how to prove I did not have any unpaid tickets from Fairfax County, I made several fruitless attempts to discuss this situation with the DMV.

Because I am employed at a 9-5 job, it took some time to make all these phone calls and DMV visits. For every failed trip to the DMV I had to wait another week to try again, since I could only make it there on Saturdays. Personal and work-related travel further prevented me from being able to spend my Saturdays at the DMV. On two occasions the DMV’s computer system was down, and nothing could be accomplished at all. Eventually my DC car registration expired so I was unable to drive my vehicle, which made it even more difficult to get to the DMV.

Finally, concerned that I was getting nowhere, I emailed the DMV with my concerns and stated that I would be bringing the issue to court if it could not be resolved. This expedited my request and the holds were suddenly removed. I went to the DMV with the email and was finally– 3 months after starting the process– able to get my VA license and registration. I have NEVER had so much trouble with a DMV!

Of course, I think their system is still down - at least that’s what it sounded like from the article in the Post yesterday. Not sure how that would affect the online forms and such.

This strikes me as a bit of a strawman, because that’s not the retort I normally hear. Usually, the argument is that the growth that happens is consolidated among a few individuals, which leads to oligopolies and monopolies without government stepping in. Which brings us back to arguments over egalitarianism and individualism.