BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you are experiencing a delay in getting the registration and sticker for your vehicle, county clerks who run local DMV offices on behalf of the state say they can help.
If you wait until too long before your registration expires you can always log on to the state DMV website, renew it, and print off a temporary registration.
However, according to the DMV, it can take up to 90 days for permanent registration and a sticker may arrive in your mail.
While delays of that length are not common since the DMV caught up from pandemic-induced supply shortages, it could still potentially leave you at risk of having that temporary registration expire.
Many may not know... that a local DMV office run by a county clerk can put your fears to rest.
"What they can do is to come into our office and we can look it up and if it's been processed we can present the registered owner with a duplicate registration and their sticker for their window," said Niagara County Clerk Joseph A. Jastrzemski.
Erie County Clerk Michael P. Kearns noted that there is a $3 fee for the service.
"But at least when you walk out of there you have the proper documentation," Kearns said.
Jastrzemski said his office more times than not will waive the fee for Niagara County residents. "We don't want you to have to pay twice," he said.
The story is a bit different if you purchased a new vehicle, and still haven't gotten the permanent registration and sticker.
In most cases, the clerks say those are sent back to the dealer, who then has the responsibility to get it to you.
"If you are out 50 days or better and you haven't received it and you are still driving around with that temporary sticker on there that the dealer put on the window, I recommend you call your local dealer that you bought the car from and find out where your sticker is," said Jastrzemski.
However, according to both clerks, those who don't want to wait any longer can also come to a local DMV and a get duplicate registration and sticker and then discard the one that may arrive later.