Move a Trailer to Minnesota

Register a utility or house trailer within 60 days after becoming a Minnesota resident while its former registration remains current. Register immediately if that registration has expired or the trailer is commercial. This road-trailer rule is separate from the vessel's 90-day foreign-registration exception and the boater-permit nonresident exception.

Minnesota generally does not issue a title for a trailer with a gross weight of 4,000 pounds or less unless a secured party has an interest or Minnesota or another state previously issued a title. A trailer designed primarily for agriculture has a separate exemption, but that agriculture exemption does not cover a recreational vehicle or manufactured home. A trailer outside an exemption needs its current ownership document for titling.

The ordinary noncommercial new-resident filing does not include a periodic safety or emissions inspection. Minnesota's Mandatory Inspection Program does apply annually to a vehicle or combination over 26,000 pounds, a bus, or a vehicle carrying enough hazardous material to require placards. A semitrailer without a VIN, reconstructed trailer, or salvage-branded trailer can require a separate DVS inspection or title path.

Register the trailer separately from the tow vehicle and, for a boat rig, separately from the vessel. A non-recreational trailer registered at 3,000 pounds or less receives registration valid for the life of the trailer while it remains at that weight. A non-recreational trailer over 3,000 pounds is taxed annually, with an annual or three-year choice through 7,200 pounds. A towed recreational vehicle uses annual or three-year registration, not lifetime registration. Keep purchase and prior-tax records so the deputy registrar can determine tax and any credit.