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The frustrations of moving to a different state have been brought to my attention lately.

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Advantage

I have just put a house under contract to a lovely couple who is moving to Arkansas from another state.  They are cash buyers.

They knew they had to open a bank account and asked about a strong bank and I recommended my favorite. They came back complaining about how difficult it was to open a bank account!!  It took them a very long time.  I laughed and said, "Well, that may be why they are so successful and strong."

The next time they were in, however, they were complaining about what happened when they went to get an Arkansas driver's license.  The lady was angry and I agreed with her anger.

She said they told her she had to have her birth certificate, her social security card (not a copy), her marriage license or certification, plus no telling what else.  Of course she didn't expect such scrutiny and did not have those items with her.  It should be a simple process of trading one state's rights for another.

What did the husband have to have?  Practically nothing! 

I screamed, "That's not right!  How can they treat women that way!"

Relaying this to one of our agents at the office, she joined in and said it was that way.  She also had to have all those items PLUS more.  Since she'd been married three times, she had to have all three certifications plus all the other things. It required her spending money trying to track down papers from a marriage that might have been a small bump in her childhood. Husband?  Nothing except proof of birth.

I'm still smarting over this.  I wonder if the other states require all this to get a driver's license.

The explanation given to them was that this came about as a result of 9/11.  The women have to trace their identity back to birth.  Since men don't change their name with marriage, they don't have to do that. I feel that it is a violation of a woman's privacy, for one thing, plus an unnecessary chore to go through to dig everything up.  If you can drive in one state, it should be a simple matter to transfer that license to another state.

If you have had an experience such as this why don't you share it.

 

Show All Comments
Wanda Thomas
Montana Homestead Brokers, Broker, CRS, GRI, SFR, RN - Billings, MT
Billings Montana Real Estate

Holy cow, this is just plain weird!  The strangest is the birth cert for the woman, but not the man?  At least they should be the same at the start!

My mother in law and her friend just had a time getting a passport.  Both were born out on the ranches in the hard to get to Eastern Montana Prairie.  Birth certs were done "the next time we get to town".  Since the certificates were not witnessed births they didn't count for the passport people.  These two are in their late 70's, both retired teachers, one served in the Navy.  The fellow is really hurt, he can travel outside the country to serve, but not on a cruise?

Come on people, let's be reasonable!

Sep 29, 2009 03:31 PM
Bob & Carolin Benjamin
Benjamin Realty LLC - Gold Canyon, AZ
East Phoenix Arizona Homes

This is just silly-- i  guess the states are trying to stop criminals from coming in -- but why women and not men???? Makes no sense.

Sep 29, 2009 06:30 PM
Terry Chenier
Homelife Glenayre Realty - Mission, BC

Baebara,

That's just nuts! That would have warranted a phone call to the bank from me.

Sep 29, 2009 06:39 PM
Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital

Barbara, of course, if they tried that stunt here in DC, somebody would sue the DC Government!  That's pretty outrageous!

Sep 30, 2009 01:15 AM
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

I haven't had this experience, thank goodness....but here's one I thought frustrating and, in a way, funny:   when we moved from Illinois back to Arkansas, my husband who is crippled from polio when he was l5 yrs. old, walks with a brace and crutches....had to get a doctor's certification for his handicapped license.  He was in the revenue office, for all to see that he was very handicapped...and even had his old Illinois handicapped license plate on his car.   Go figure.

Anita Fuller

Sep 30, 2009 01:46 AM
#5
Steven L. Smith
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham WA Home Inspector

Barbara,

That is interesting but seems odd too. I guess there could be some validity to keeping track of name changes but it does not seem like it is being handled well.

Sep 30, 2009 02:47 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Wanda, what an apt statement you just made.  He served his country in war but can't travel on a cruise.  The people I referred to are also getting up in years and shouldn't be put through such an ordeal to get a driver's license.  If this is what the former administration did to our privacy and freedoms, it needs to be changed.  Thanks for the comment.

Sep 30, 2009 07:19 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Bob and Carolin, especially elderly people being treated as criminals.  Something is not right.

Terry, the bank was bad enough but the driver's license was the worst.  I wish our newspapers would follow up on this.  I thought about a complaint to the ACLU.

Patricia, I think the government, if the government did this, should be challenged.  If it is our state alone, not all the others, then we have a private fiasco. 

 

Sep 30, 2009 07:22 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Anita, that too is an abomination.  That also would have happened several years ago.  Pray he doesn't have to go back anymore.  What if the woman had been married 7 times?  I did ask if they also required her divorce certification from each marriage.  She said no.  I guess they didn't care about the legality of the marriages.  I'm still mad about this way of treating new people to this state.

Sep 30, 2009 07:26 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Steven, if name changes are done, it would have to be reported to the social security office, wouldn't it?  The local license bureau does not seem to be the proper place to make someone drag out all their personal stuff.

Sep 30, 2009 07:27 AM
Brian Madigan
RE/MAX West Realty Inc., Brokerage (Toronto) - Toronto, ON
LL.B., Broker

Barbara,

Yes, I've run into this on many occasions. However, it applies only to persons who have changed their names.

A corporation is also a "person", and might change it's name as well. In such cases, just as much additional information is required.

Men have the same problem, if the mother perhaps has remarried and their names have been changed.

It's an aggravation, but not really discrimination, in my view.

Brian

Sep 30, 2009 11:01 AM
Kate Kate
San Diego, CA

Not about drivers licenses but one of my daughters could not get a social security # for her daughter. When they told her it was because she could not prove the baby was her daughter, she just about lost it. I could have told them not to mess with her when it comes to her kids but I doubt they would have listened.

Back to your post: Had the woman not changed her name in marriage, would they have required the same documentation as her they did for her husband? That is what we don't know.

Sep 30, 2009 12:13 PM
Anonymous
SHS 51

A couple of years ago Colorado cranked up their computers and compared the information on the driver's license with Social Security's computer records. Mine did not match. I had to report to the nearest driver license office with CO lic and Social Security card. I wasn't told why, but was then referred to the SSA office. When I got there I was told I needed my birth certificate. ( Colorado could told me that in the first place.) When I came back to SSA with my birth certicate; I was told I need to show my passport also. Another trip home and back.  Problem was the SSA data base showed my SSN as belonging to "Bobby" although my SS card and drivers license read "Robert". Finally got the problem resolved after a couple more trips to the local SSA office. See? You could live here where they treat man and woman equally-- Like ****!

Bob Collins

Sep 30, 2009 12:29 PM
#13
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Brian, I didn't understand how the man would have the problem if the mother had remarried.  And "their" names were changed, meaning adoption?  You'll have to clarify.  I think it has to do with the invasion of privacy that started around 9/11. 

Kate, she should have lost it.  That's a  terrible thing to say to her.  She had, probably, the birth certificate?  So what more did she need?  I am pretty naive and don't notice a lot but it could be because our lives are too secure with no changes needed.  Moving to another state or applying for social security benefits might give us a better view of what has happened in the past few years.

 

Sep 30, 2009 01:00 PM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Bob, the big question is WHY they cranked up all those computers.  They were gathering information for a national database?  A  few years back here in Arkansas our driver's licenses had the social security as the number!  Things have certainly changed.  Now they demand your social security card but recommend that you not carry it on your person.  I guess they can tell where we live by visiting google earth and they want to know every little secret thing that we've been hiding.  I'd hate to have been married 7 times, be 70 years old and have to provide all that information.  It's going too far, I think, unless I'm arrested for a crime.

Sep 30, 2009 01:06 PM
Anonymous
SHS 51

Barbara, the reason for comparing driver's license info with the SS data base is because some undocumented workers (unarmed invaders), and others, were purloining  SSN belonging to US citizens and using it as there own SSN for employment and driver's license, i.e, identification, purposes. I'm sure Colorado caught a lot people who had falsely obtained ID in that manner. We no longer show our SSN on the CO license, but it is part of the state's licensing data base.

Bob Collins

Sep 30, 2009 02:32 PM
#16
Kate Kate
San Diego, CA

Barbara, yes, she had the birth certificate but they argued it could not be tied to the physical baby in her arms. Well, our granddaughter was not born carrying picture ID however she is the spittin' image of our daughter. I guess she should have taken in all of the gestational ultrasound images?

Oct 01, 2009 01:40 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Bob, but do you punish everyone for the sins of someone else?  We don't have SS on our license either but I would not think I'd have to carry the real card, assuming I could even find it, to get another license.

Kate, so how did she solve this problem.  Are they going to start branding babies with a number (heaven forbid)? 

Oct 01, 2009 02:10 AM
Kate Kate
San Diego, CA

Barbara, No one showed up at her door to take the baby away so although I can't remember the solution, it got resolved.  But I could have told the SS dept not to tackle this with our daughter, saved SS some time. Even a slight suggestion to any new mother that the baby in her arms is not hers ... NOT a good idea.

Oct 01, 2009 02:18 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Kate, sounds as if your daughter is as tough as my little godson, Nutsy.  You've met him, I believe?

Oct 05, 2009 11:58 AM
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