If you have a car, you know that it’s gotta be registered to the owner. But what happens when it’s time to renew your registration? Here’s a quick guide to that process that will hopefully simplify the process for you a little bit! If you already have a registration, this guide is for you.

One way to renew your Maryland vehicle registration is online. You need your vehicle title and license plate number, and you can only do this if the name, address, insurance, and vehicle information on the registration renewal notice you received are the same. You can also renew your registration over the phone! A third way of doing this using ~technology~ is to do it through the eMVA Kiosk, which is at all MVA locations. You need your current registration card or renewal notice, insurance information, and some money (either plastic or a check) for the associated fees. At these kiosks, you can not only renew your registration but also request your driving records, apply for a personal identification number, change your address, request a replacement title, request an extension for the inspection deadline, order replacement plates, pay fees, order county pride stickers, request temporary registration, or request duplicate or additional registration cards.

You can also renew your registration via mail. You need your registration notice, and all you need to do is fill it out. Don’t send cash in the mail for the fees, though – only send a check or money order. Write your driver’s license number and home or work phone number on the check and you’re good to go!

Your County Treasurer’s office will also renew your plates for you, for a fee, Monday through Friday. This is only to renew your tags, so if that’s what you need to do you can go here. Locations and hours of these offices can be found online.

Here’s some more information, straight from the MVA:

• Registration surcharges increased from $13.50 to $17.00 as part of Transportation Infrastructure Investment Act of 2013.  New dollars go directly to the Maryland Emergency Medical System Operations Fund to support Maryland’s world-renowned trauma and emergency management system, including the Maryland State Police Aviation Command, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute and the Volunteer Company Assistance Fund.

• Renew now. If doing so by mail, your renewal notice must be received at the MVA no later than 15 days prior to the expiration of your current registration.

• If renewing your registration only, you will receive one license plate sticker. If receiving new license plates, you will receive both a month and a year sticker.

• Trailers not for rent or lease do not require insurance.To avoid a substantial uninsured motorist penalty fee, return your registration card and plates to the MVA on or before the day the required insurance is terminated.

• Administrative fees will be assessed by the MVA if your vehicle registration is being withheld as a result of failure to satisfy the requirements of a traffic control device violation, law enforcement agency referral, or failure to satisfy the requirements for a returned check. The Administrative fee by the MVA is assessed for each administrative action imposed. Any fee remaining unpaid may be referred to the Maryland Central Collection Unit for collection.

• Post office boxes are accepted as long as the name of your street is provided and the zip code is the same for the post office box and street.

• If your license plates are lost or mutilated check the box above the tag number on your renewal notice and include applicable fees.  Please remember that when you receive new plates, any old plates in your possession must be returned to an MVA office.

• If the vehicle is sold, traded or junked and you have NOT transferred the plates, throw away this renewal notice. Remember: The plates must be returned to an MVA office to avoid the penalty fees.

• You may apply for a refund if you have not used your 2nd year’s registration.

• If your plates have officially been transferred to a new vehicle, record your new vehicle information in the gray areas provided on the renewal notice.

And if you need a vehicle to register in the first place, King Volkswagen has you covered!