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.
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