DMV wait times are often long. Are appointment resellers making them worse?
Ticket resellers have come under fire for profiting off of sky-high prices for major concerts and sporting events. Now, in some parts of the country, officials are investigating whether third-party sellers are making money from free driver's license appointments, too.
That's right, it's not just Eras Tour tickets. The tax collector’s office in Florida’s Miami-Dade County announced last week that it “uncovered a network of appointment” resellers booking hundreds of Department of Motor Vehicle appointments before turning them around to unsuspecting residents – for a fee.
And Florida officials trying to put a stop to the practice aren't alone. State senators in Nevada have also issued warnings about platforms selling DMV slots to people who need to renew their drivers' licenses, register their cars and obtain copies of important documents, such as birth certificates and marriage licenses.
Selling public appointments is legal in most places across the U.S., including Nevada and Miami-Dade County. But policymakers are beginning to crack down.
$45,000 for DMV slots
Nevada State Sen. Fabian Doñate, a Democrat who represents the area around the Las Vegas Strip, recently introduced legislation to prohibit third-party sites from posting or selling restaurant reservations and public service appointments without consent from the organization that created the event.
Doñate said appointment reselling has made it difficult, and sometimes nearly impossible, for people in the major Nevada city to find available time slots to go to the DMV to receive essential services.
In an analysis conducted in February, his office found that resellers could be generating between $45,406 and $47,488 each year from rebooking DMV appointments if 1 out of every 20 people who visited their site bought one.
“When reservations are booked and no one uses them, it makes it harder for everyone else to get appointments,” said Doñate. “These are things that should be free.” He expects his legislation to pass in the coming weeks and could be signed into law by mid-May.
But what about the warning from Florida officials? The Miami-Dade County Commission is also reviewing an ordinance that would criminalize the resale of DMV appointments. The law would make it illegal to sell or post public appointments without written consent from the tax collector's office. Violators would face fines of up to $500 or 60 days in jail.
The ordinance passed unanimously on first reading last week and could be approved after its second reading on April 1.
Other communities and states have faced similar problems with resellers trying to make money off of people who need to secure appointments for some of their most important documents.
The Hillsborough County Tax Collectors office, which oversees the area around Tampa, Florida, changed its appointment scheduling system to enhance verification and only allow for one reservation per email address in 2023 after it found scammers were bulk booking driver's license appointments.
Colorado’s Attorney General's Office launched an investigation in 2016 after it found people were booking and reselling DMV appointments for between $50 and $1,000 to undocumented immigrants who the state had allowed to apply for driver's licenses.
Real ID deadline approaches
These latest appointment reselling scams come as people across the country scramble to renew their driver's licenses before Real ID requirements take effect on May 7.
By the deadline, all U.S. citizens and permanent residents over age 18 will need to have a government-issued ID with a star in the upper right-hand corner to travel domestically. The symbol shows that the ID meets the "minimum-security standards" set by the Real ID Act of 2005.
DMV locations from North Carolina to Nevada have experienced long wait times and appointment backups in the lead-up to the deadline, which has been pushed back several times over the years. The original deadline was slated for 2008, but state compliance issues and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed implementation.
In South Florida, some people have camped on the concrete sidewalks outside DMV offices to ensure they can get an appointment, according to local TV station WSVN.
The Miami-Dade Tax Collector’s office said in a statement last week that the reselling practices have exacerbated the problem ahead of Real ID deadlines by creating “false demand” and “unnecessary barriers” that have made it difficult for residents to access appointments.