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Celestialsailor · 23-06-2012, 09:11

It is a pain...Even when I lived in a house in Hawaii, I had a Rural Route mail box. But Ohhh nooo!!! That wasn't good enough. Most institutions wanted a physical address. I tried to explin that USPS would not deliver but it made no nevermind to them. They would try to deliver it that way. At times it would take up to 6 weeks of them fumbling around before they would give in or give up. At times I think it is so the authorities can find you if need be.

susanna reiter · 23-06-2012, 11:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

It is a pain...Even when I lived in a house in Hawaii, I had a Rural Route mail box. But Ohhh nooo!!! That wasn't good enough. Most institutions wanted a physical address. I tried to explin that USPS would not deliver but it made no nevermind to them. They would try to deliver it that way. At times it would take up to 6 weeks of them fumbling around before they would give in or give up. At times I think it is so the authorities can find you if need be.

That is exactly the sum and substance of it....service of process....

svjustus · 23-06-2012, 17:55

Thanks everyone!! I will use the marina"s address until the boat is refitted. After that, a family address. I will tell the boat next door that they are SOL if they wanna be off the grid!!
Hope to see some of you (or all) in Abaco early next year!!

Kettlewell · 29-11-2012, 17:44

Thread revival. I was just looking at the drivers license requirements for a couple of states in the Northeast and they have recently been revamped to follow much more strict rules in the Patriot Act. If you live aboard it might be quite tricky to follow the letter of the law with regard to proving your residency address. Frankly, I can't see how I would do it in either state if I were living aboard without using the street address of a trusted person. It looks like a marina contract wouldn't meet the letter of the law. You need things you won't have like a utility bill that shows a street address or a recently cancelled check showing the street address. That sort of thing. Plus, you can't register a car in those states unless you have a driver's license from those states--that used not to be the case in many places. Not sure how snowbirds who fly back and forth will now deal with that problem.

Teknav · 29-11-2012, 18:26

OK...here is a quick solution that will work fine. Open a small mailbox at a UPS store; one year duration. Send ALL your credit card statements and mail to it. Once you get a few utility bills with your new UPS address, you have established residency in that mail box. This is how a mailbox renter's address looks like: Mr. John Q Public, 1234 Main St. <UPS store's address>, # 345 <this is your mail box number - businesses will "assume" that it is your apartment number>, City, State, ZIP Code. You do not have to include in your mailing address that this is at a UPS store. Anyone wants proof of address, can be shown your utility bills with your mail box address, and satisfaction is guaranteed. UPS store will need to know a real address/driver's license for their own record; your address cannot be from out of state, or from out of the country; open a mailbox where you used to reside or currently state of residence. It is that simple. For a fee, you can authorize UPS store to mail your letters to wherever you want them...but NOT out of the country...ONLY to a US address. I am assuming this is for a legit mailing, with no hanky-panky.

Kettlewell · 29-11-2012, 18:33

My understanding is the UPS or other commercial address doesn't work anymore as they run the address through the computer and it tells them it is a business and not a legitimate home address. Even to open a bank account now you need to prove a legitimate street address, and to do that I had to show a recent utility bill to prove it.

FSMike · 29-11-2012, 18:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teknav

OK... For a fee, you can authorize UPS store to mail your letters to wherever you want them...but NOT out of the country...ONLY to a US address......

I find it hard to believe that a UPS store won't forward mail to another country. If that's the case I would find a different mail forwarding service,
such as St. Brendan's Isle.

Astral Blue · 29-11-2012, 18:45

Although South Dakota is landlocked and not exactly a domicile choice for most cruisers, there is a service that will establish residency in South Dakota. Here is the link:

http://mydakotaaddress.com/

There are tax advantages to this as well.

Teknav · 29-11-2012, 18:48

All my utility bills, bank statements and credit card statement go to a UPS mailbox. UPS store will not forward your mail to a foreign country, because it is assumed a Fraudulent Business.

Capt Phil · 29-11-2012, 18:58

I now live in landlocked Nevada with no postal delivery but have a PO Box that I clean out once every couple of weeks. Interestingly, the only time I need a physical address is to buy a firearm. The local DMV issues a piece of paper with my physical address on it for $7 which I need for a background check. The DMV has no clue if the physical address I give them is correct but it works for the FBI... chuckle, chuckle... Phil

susanna reiter · 30-11-2012, 04:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

My understanding is the UPS or other commercial address doesn't work anymore as they run the address through the computer and it tells them it is a business and not a legitimate home address. Even to open a bank account now you need to prove a legitimate street address, and to do that I had to show a recent utility bill to prove it.

That' s absolutely correct.

Sailormantx · 30-11-2012, 06:39

If you have a CDL (commercial drivers license) Texas will allow you to have a P.O. box as an address on it. Don't use it anymore, leftovers from another life, but keep it up for address and quick employment if needed. Cost is a bit more and Texas won't let me renew by mail.

Sailor_Hutch · 30-11-2012, 07:08

Any backflips from the foredeck to satiate patriot act rules and whatnot are short term measures. Things will only get worse, and more complicated. I would'nt doubt that in a few years it will be logistically impossible to cross all their t's, dot all their i's, and still go ocean sailing. It'll just be illegal. My suggestion? Find a "home" address in another country.

There is this very nice young lady, name of Laura Chinchilla. She runs a real old time democratic country where you can do anything you like, and do it damn near hassle free! She's THAT nice! It's called Costa Rica. Hell - they don't even require licenses to sell real estate down there! Or boats! So, the only downside is that you're technically supposed to spend at least three months a year there to be claimed as a "permanent resident." Also, they'll tax the crap out of your boat unless you buy it there, so you might have to work out a swap "deal" with a broker.

Better add the emoticon :-) - don't want Laura mad at me now .....