For the last two years, I was one of those drivers you see publicly shamed on social media for rolling through town with outrageously expired license plates. My registration expired in July of 2022, making it 27 months out of date when I finally completed the arduous renewal process last Friday, October 4.
I bought the car from my mother five years ago, but until last week, it was still registered under her name and address. So all of the registration reminders never reached me. As a downtown resident who rarely drives, I did not notice the registration was expired until a mechanic pointed it out to me at the beginning of 2024, but by then, it was already over thirteen months past due, meaning I couldn't renew online.
Hard to believe I don't smoke weed, right?
Dreading the DMV visit, I continued pushing off the renewal — until I received a $100 ticket in late August, mere days after the Denver Police Department concluded its month-long enforcement period for expired plates. It was time to face the bureaucratic beast.
We've All Been to Hell: It's the DMV.
I began the process in early September, calling the DMV for guidance on where to begin. I was told I needed an emissions test, a renewal appointment and either my mother's attendance at the appointment, a notarized power of attorney allowing me to act for her, or to transfer the vehicle title to my name.My mother is a child-care provider who often works twelve-plus-hour days and cannot take time off of work without forcing all of the parents of the children she cares for to take time off as well. Bringing her to the DMV (which is only open on weekdays during business hours) or to a notary service in her town (which has similar scheduling conflicts) was not an option. So we set out to transfer the title. The only issue: We couldn't find it.
After multiple fruitless days of tearing through my apartment and my childhood home in Aurora — and several arguments about whether my mother gave me the title five years ago — I opted to get a replacement. However, when I requested a duplicate title on the DMV's website, it said there was no match for my vehicle's information.
Another call to the DMV and twenty minutes on hold later, I learned that the website was blocking me from requesting a title because my vehicle's registration was too expired. I needed to renew my registration in order to get the title. And I couldn't renew my registration without the title.
At this point I had given up, resigning to drive dirty for the rest of my life. But then the Denver Police Department announced its second crackdown period for expired license plates during the week of September 23, celebrating the fact that the August enforcement period had resulted in 430 citations issued.
With a renewed sense of motivation, my mother embarked on one more search of her files. Miraculously, this time she found the title (it turns out she didn't give it to me five years ago). Now the real work could begin.
The next day I got an emissions test. I failed the emissions test. I bought a new gas cap. I retook the emissions test. I passed the emissions test. Veni, vidi, vici. Now it was time to cross the Rubicon.
I tried to make an appointment to renew my registration as instructed, but learned that while the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles says you need an appointment for all in-person services, Denver DMVs are not accepting appointments at this time.
With my only option being to walk into a DMV and hope it wasn't too busy, I waited for a day when I could miss work for what was certain to be an all-day endeavor. On October 4, I finally went to the DMV. Four hours in the waiting room later, I was no longer an outlaw.
How to Renew Vehicle Registration (and Get Out of the Late Fee)
Learn from my mistakes. Renew your vehicle registration within a year of its expiration and you'll be able to complete the process online with myDMV or at a Colorado MV Express kiosk, which you can find at grocery stores around the Denver area and beyond.For my fellow procrastinators: After thirteen months, you need to handle your business in person. You'll need to bring identification, proof of insurance and fork over a $100 late fee (or $25 per month if less than four months expired). But if there's one good thing that came from my nightmare experience, it's this pro tip: You can get out of paying the late fee by registering your vehicle under a new name.
When I transferred my vehicle's title and re-registered my car from my mother's name to my own, it wiped out all previous fees owed, including the overdue registration and even toll charges, the DMV employee explained. The employee said people often re-register their vehicles under another family member's name living at the same address to get around paying fees.
Thanks to this loophole, I only paid around $84 in registration fees. If I hadn't re-registered under my name, I would have had to pay for all of the years of missed renewals plus a $100 late fee, totaling around $350. Even when you include all of my costs for the registration, emissions test and ticket, I only paid $230 overall.
Although the process is daunting, Denver residents should address their expired tags sooner rather than later. The police are increasingly cracking down on vehicle registrations. The week-long September enforcement period along Interstates 25 and 70 resulted in 339 citations, according to the Denver Police Department.
Some of the oldest plates caught included May of 2019, August of 2021 and (gasp) July of 2022. Be safe out there, scofflaws.
