Sold home bought boat - now what?!

[SV Wavelength]

We sold our home and bought the boat! The physical address we are using has a PMB; the problem is that many institutions do not recognize a physical address with a PMB and block the change of address. Is there an institution that has a workaround for this? THANKS

[Bill O]

Did you call them to see if they have a different address for the "residence" instead of the mailing address?

[John_Trusty]

Which mail service are you using, because there are work arounds? if using St Brendan’s Isle in Green Cove Springs like most of us, just call them for your answers. They’ve been doing this for 35 years, so have it all worked out.

For some financial institutions, you just need “permission” from a supervisor. Worked like that for my credit card company of 15 years when the answer was, “we need a physical address.” I just said I didn’t have one other than St Brendan’s or my boat documentation number, so if those aren’t good enough, just close the account. Suddenly, those were acceptable. BTW, my driver license address is my boat documentation number, so that’s how transient we are

[Kettlewell]

I have been around and around on this while cruising and the absolute best thing to do is to get someone somewhere with a real street address willing to be your "home" address for the things that require a real street address: driver's license, car insurance, boat insurance, banks, etc. It's the law that your bank has to have proof of your actual residence address, and online systems now instantly flag PMBs as businesses, not residences. For me it has always been a relative that I trusted. Sure, most of your mail can be sent to some PMB and forwarded to you, but by law now you need a genuine street address someplace for your residence for your drivers license at least. Personally, I found that I didn't really need to get about 90% of the actual mail, so I just used the relative's address for everything and had them throw out all that junk that arrived. It was someone I would call anyway and we would just go through things on the phone and she or he would save the important things for forwarding when needed. St. Brendan's Isle in Florida is a good option, but I found I didn't need to pay monthly for a service that only sent me about 6 important things a year. An option might be a really good friend at home who will enjoy living your travels vicariously. I would never use a marina address, even though it might be legit. You don't want anything important going to an address like that. Out of the blue I have had someone like the IRS send me a multi-thousand dollar check for some error or a stimulus payment and it would be awful to lose something like that.

[Kettlewell]

Here's a blog post I wrote about this problem. https://www.johnkettlewell.com/2022/...round-peg.html

[SailingHarmonie]

It actually has not happened to us for years, but we used to get an email from our financial institutions on a regular basis telling us to comply with Federal Law they needed an actual bona file physical address. We ignored every such request, and they eventually stopped coming, and there have been no repercussions of any kind.

If you really feel the need, give them the address of the marina you are staying at that week. Or a friend’s address, or any address near the anchorage you are staying at. the bank will be happy.

The banks didn’t feel any need to get the information for themselves, they were required to by a dumb and over reaching Federal law passed in the security panics post 9-11. They made an effort, we ignored it. Everybody left happy.

I am betting there is an entire building of people being paid to administrate this law that is worthless and generally ignored.

[SV Confianza]

We use Earth Class Mail. They scan all your mail and can forward something important somewhere if needed.

[SomeGuyInaShirt]

Assuming PMB is Postal Mail Box...I've been using a mailbox from UPS stores for years. I just write the box number as unit number. In this day and age I can't imagine many non postal shipping/receiving companies not accommodating this. Call and ask around. UPS Stores accept packages delivered by anyone, even competitors.

Good luck

[Kettlewell]

Assuming PMB is Postal Mail Box...I've been using a mailbox from UPS stores for years.

Does not work for things like your drivers license or opening a new bank account today! They check every address and if it is not a legit residence address it is no go. Some companies will not even ship packages to anything but your home street address that is where your credit card is registered. Sure there are workarounds, but make your life easier and find a legit residence street address someplace.

[John_Trusty]

Respectfully, I think Kettlewell is wrong that it cannot be done or is some sort of law. I suggest you try asking for a workaround. Homeless folks and hundreds of cruisers open bank accounts, have drivers license, and conduct other business without a fixed address. It’s up to you if you want to bother family or friends, and lie about where you actually live. My Florida drivers license and voter reg shows a doc number with a Green Cove Springs zip code. It can be done.

[Kettlewell]

Do some Google on the Patriot Act. Banks are required to get a physical address for you. They may be able to accept your proof of a street address and still send your mail to a mailing address. But, I have run into some problems like needing a replacement credit card, which they would only mail to my street address of record even though that address would not receive any mail. PO Boxes and PMBs do not count for several important things. Sure, some banks might look the other way, but it is against the law. Homeless people have always had these problems. They often end up using the address of a shelter they are in. Many end up losing their drivers' licenses, etc. Yes, a few of the big RV/Cruiser mailing services have managed to beat this by offering a street address that their client's use, but I know for a fact that some agencies and services will reject the St. Brendan's Isle address because I used to use it. In any case, get a real residence street address somewhere and save yourself a lot of hassle when it comes to your drivers license, health insurance, banking, etc. There is some good stuff about this in a Reddit thread.

You may still run into issues with the insurance companies, though. They want to know where the vehicle will be "garaged", since they use that location to determine your rates. The insurance companies have all those maildrop addresses in a database, and if they won't accept it as an address they will sooner or later kick it out and deny you a policy (it took them less than ten minutes to identify the maildrop I tried to use in Florida).

You will NOT be able to use a PO Box or UPS Box as a legal address. You can use them as a MAILING address, but not as a RESIDENTIAL address--and you'll need to provide a legal street address just to get a box in the first place.

[u4ea32]

A reason I’m thinking of selling my house to my kids.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by u4ea32

A reason I’m thinking of selling my house to my kids.

The address isn't as much of a pain as getting rid of all your accumulated stuff. If you sell it to your kids, they may let you keep some things there.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Do some Google on the Patriot Act. Banks are required to get a physical address for you. They may be able to accept your proof of a street address and still send your mail to a mailing address. But, I have run into some problems like needing a replacement credit card, which they would only mail to my street address of record even though that address would not receive any mail. PO Boxes and PMBs do not count for several important things. Sure, some banks might look the other way, but it is against the law. Homeless people have always had these problems. They often end up using the address of a shelter they are in. Many end up losing their drivers' licenses, etc. Yes, a few of the big RV/Cruiser mailing services have managed to beat this by offering a street address that their client's use, but I know for a fact that some agencies and services will reject the St. Brendan's Isle address because I used to use it. In any case, get a real residence street address somewhere and save yourself a lot of hassle when it comes to your drivers license, health insurance, banking, etc. There is some good stuff about this in a Reddit thread.

As of this year, this is pretty accurate information.

I have had accounts for many years and when I went into change some things they were adamant about some physical address that was not my mail forwarding address.

So I just gave them when I lived at 25 years ago. Lol good enough. They didn’t care.

[Kettlewell]

So I just gave them when I lived at 25 years ago. Lol good enough. They didn’t care.

You are lucky and the bank is breaking the law if it was for an account. Here in New York you need multiple proofs of your residence address to get a driver's license. You can also have a mailing address, but you need something like a lease or a utility bill to prove where you live. The workaround is they accept bank statements and credit card bills too, but then you have to make sure they match your address. I had to do the same when opening an account at a bank where my whole family has had accounts going back to the 1950s. I know the bank president personally and the staff knew me, but I needed multiple proofs of residence address to open an account. They are required by law to check those things and keep records.

Section 326 of the USA Patriot Act requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify & record information that identifies each person who opens an account or changes an existing account. This federal requirement applies to all customers. This information is used to assist the United States government in the fight against the funding of terrorism and money-laundering activities.
To comply with this federal requirement, *** asks every person who opens an account for their name, physical address, mailing address, date of birth and other information. For positive identification we will also ask to see each person’s driver’s license/identification card and other identifying documents. *** personnel will copy or record information from such documents and keep it as part of the customer’s file.