Getting tough on illegal car registrations

In New Hampshire, motorists do not have to pay sales tax to register their vehicles. The state doesn't even require auto insurance.

But where Massachusetts motorists might see opportunity for financial gain by registering their vehicles across the border, officials in the Bay State see a violation of the Commonwealth's vehicle registration laws. And they say the violation puts an unfair burden on legally registered motorists in Massachusetts and presents a potential disaster for anyone who gets into an accident with a New Hampshire-registered vehicle.

"It is technically a form of fraud," said Methuen Police Officer Brian Hellman. "These people are avoiding the excise tax and moving to our cities and making our residents cover their costs."

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles - along with communities near New Hampshire such as Methuen - tends to seek simple compliance with the law and is usually willing to forgive those who illegally register in other states as long as they are willing to switch to Massachusetts tags. However, in Lowell, where the city has seen a mounting number of traffic accidents, the police have been cracking down on illegally registered vehicles, not hesitating to slap their operators with the $500 fine allowed by law.

Lowell has made illegally registered cars a priority since 2004, its police officials say, but the issue has really come to the fore in the past year and a half after the Police Department instituted its Strategic Traffic Enforcement Program to tackle the high number of road accidents in the city. A study this year by the Massachusetts Highway Department showed Lowell had one of the highest frequencies of auto accidents in the state as well as the number one and number three most crash-prone intersections in the Commonwealth.

Pity those who get into an accident with a New Hampshire vehicle with little or no insurance coverage.

"There's no recourse for people who get into accidents with them," said Lowell police Captain Thomas Kennedy. "Take them to court, whatever - you won't see any money."

Motorists pay roughly the same in fees whether they register their vehicle in Massachusetts or New Hampshire. The real savings for those who register in New Hampshire is that they don't have to pay sales tax on the vehicle, and they can choose not to carry auto insurance, under the state law. Massachusetts requires 5 percent sales tax and a certain level of insurance coverage in order to drive.

To register in New Hampshire, one must have the vehicle's title and proof of residency - but the residency requirement is easy to bypass. In Salem, N.H., for example, people can get on the residency list by simply showing a piece of mail or a cable work order with the New Hampshire address. Kennedy said Massachusetts residents who illegally register their cars in New Hampshire typically have some connection to a legal resident of that state, such as a relative or a friend.

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has a 15-year-old hot line - 800-IPAYTAX or 800-472-9829 - where tipsters can request a form to lodge a complaint about illegally registered vehicles. Since June when a new hearing officer took over, 149 complaints have been received as of Nov. 6. Of those, 34 have been processed, resulting in 16 people being forced to register in Massachusetts. The Registry of Motor Vehicles doesn't have the power to levy the $500 fine like police departments, but the hearing officer can suspend a violator's driving privileges if he or she refuses to comply.

"It is one more way that we can aid law enforcement and go after this type of avoidance behavior," said Registry spokeswoman Ann Dufresne.

Lowell relies heavily on its tipster hot line - 978-937-3260 - to find people who are illegally registered, but officers on patrol keep a watchful eye for violators, said Kevin Hawes, a Lowell police traffic enforcement officer. Checking is a laborious pursuit as officers must first take notice of the car, see if it is still staying in the city 30 days later, and then issue a citation against the owner.

"The towns closest to the borders, this is more of an issue," Hawes said.

The Methuen Police Department has two officers assigned to tracking down illegally registered cars. Both work the midnight shift as it is easier to cruise through housing complexes and down residential streets searching for out-of-state plates settled in driveways and parking lots for the night, said Hellman, one of the two officers.

In 2007 - his first full year in this duty - Hellman tracked 225 out-of-state registrations, resulting in 95 people complying with the state law. Many turned out to be false warnings, as the out-of-state plates were either from people visiting Metheun or those who can legally keep an out-of-state registration in Massachusetts, like college students or military personnel. Hellman also wrote 22 citations for the $500 fine against people who would not comply with the Massachusetts law. The town also has a hot line for tipsters - 978-983-8785.

Illegal registrations are so widespread that Hellman estimated the department could easily cite 200 people per night, if it had an unlimited number of officers to do what he does.

"I'd rather see people comply than anything," he said. "We are pretty lenient with people."

Through Nov. 5, the Methuen Police Department assessed a fine on 1 out of every 10 people its officers cite for illegal vehicle registration. Of the 154 illegally registered vehicles tracked, 16 have received fines. Another 96 decided to comply with the Massachusetts registration laws.

Lowell police, though, are not so lenient, writing a citation for nearly all tracked violators. Officers wrote up 178 fines from Jan. 1, 2007, to Nov. 6, 2008. Kennedy said those fined in Lowell have the opportunity to get the citation dismissed by a hearing officer if they show compliance, but compliance doesn't guarantee the fine will be dismissed.

Brad Kane can be reached at brad.j.kane@gmail.com.