No Valid Registration in Florida
What does no Valid Registration Mean?
In Florida, before a person can legally operate a motor vehicle on roadways they must first register the vehicle with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Once a vehicle is registered the owner of the vehicle will receive a registration card and a yellow sticker that has the expiration date of the registration; this sticker is required to go on a person’s license plate.
By law every year a driver must renew their registration of their vehicle by their expiration date, which is technically the birthday of the person that the vehicle’s name is under, but the driver is supposed to renew the registration by the first day of the month that the owner of the vehicle was born in; this is the date on the yellow sticker that is on the license plate.
If a driver does not register their vehicle with the DMV, or if a driver does not renew their registration by the expiration date, they can be charged with no valid registration.
Penalties for No Valid Registration
If an officer pulls a person over and their registration has been expired for less than 6 months it is not considered a criminal offense but will come with penalties. However, if the driver’s registration has been expired for more than 6 months, the accused individual will receive a criminal offense of a Second Degree Misdemeanor.
Penalties that come from a no valid registration charge are:
- Up to a $500 fine
- Up to 60 days in jail
- Up to six months of probation
In addition, a person who receives a criminal offense may have a hard time finding a job or keeping a job if their job requires a clean criminal record. Moreover, a no valid registration charge is a criminal traffic violation which will cause a person’s insurance rates to go higher and add points to their license which can ultimately result in a license suspension. If the person’s license becomes suspended then they will have to pay even higher amounts of money in fines and fees. The ultimate result of this charge could end up costing a person thousands of dollars and possible jail time.
Defenses
Not having proof of registration is a completely different charge than not having a valid registration. Not having proof of registration means that the driver has registration but does not have the ability to prove it to the officer at the time of the traffic stop and is a lesser offense than a driver having no valid registration. These two offenses should never be mixed up.
Although it is a person’s responsibility to know the expiration date of their registration, a large portion of people forget about it until they receive the notification in the mail. At the same time many people move and forget to inform the DMV of their new address, therefore they may not get the notification in the mail.
If a person is driving on an expired registration because they completely forgot about the expiration date, they were committing a crime that they had no knowledge about and with the right attorney they could get their charges reduced or dismissed. Driving with no valid registration is a serious charge that could impact a person’s life in a negative way causing numerous hardships to occur; therefore it is a wise choice for a person to contact a criminal defense attorney to help them with their case.
Call us today
Our firm has represented and won numerous cases regarding criminal traffic violations, including no valid registration charges throughout the years. Our attorneys have the knowledge and experience to represent you in a court of law. We have a full team of dedicated professionals that are available to assist you twenty-four seven and we will be with you every step of the way. Call us anytime to set up a free consultation at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848).
