Frequently Asked Questions
Motor Vehicle Division
You will need to come into the office to register the homemade trailer. We will need you to be sure that the trailer weighs 2000 pounds or less. We will need to know the color of the homemade trailer, and a description of the trailer.
We will complete an application for registration that all owners of the homemade trailer will sign. It will be registered as a specially constructed small regular trailer.
Small trailers are not issued titles; they are only issued a registration.
If you are renewing a truck registered weighing 28 or more tons you will need a current 2290 Form that has the correct VIN of the vehicle being renewed. The form must also be stamped by the IRS with a received date.
You can only renew semi-annually if your registration month is December. You can choose a different month for registration; however, you will be required to pay one full year's registration fee.
More information, including the form and instructions, can be found at the
Internal Revenue Service website.
In order to store a vehicle the vehicle registration must be current. Bring in the plates and registration for the vehicle. We will place the vehicle in storage and stamp your registration with our "stored" stamp.
When you bring the vehicle out of storage a full years license fee will be due.
You may come to the office, and we can reprint your registration for $3.
Law enforcement defines the enforcement date as the first day of the second month following the registration month. It is recommended that the renewal be processed, and the sticker be affixed to the license plate on or before the enforcement date.
For large plates, Iowa law requires the registration validation sticker (often called a tag) to be affixed to the lower left side of the rear plate and for small plates the tags should be affixed to the upper left corner.
Affixing the registration validation sticker should occur on or before the "enforcement date".
Following the three-month renewal window, a penalty is assessed at the rate of 5% of the fee due, per vehicle, per month, rounded to the nearest dollar with a minimum penalty of $5 per vehicle
When the last day of the month is a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, renewals can be completed on the first business day of the following month without added penalty.
Vehicle owners receive an annual renewal notice sent from their County Treasurer. This penalty will still accrue and cannot be waived if you do not receive your notice.
Vehicles may be renewed during a three-month window around your renewal month without penalty. This includes the month prior to your renewal month, your renewal month, and the month following your renewal month.
If the last day of the three-month window falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, renewals can be completed on the first business day of the following month without penalty.