Trailer, RV & OHV VIN Verification
Tow it, camp in it, or ride it off-road — we verify it where it sits. No hooking up, no hauling anything to an office. Read the PTI section first: a lot of new trailers do not need a REG 31 at all, and we would rather you found that out here than after paying someone.
Towed, Lived In, and Ridden
We verify
- Travel trailers, camp trailers, tent trailers and fifth wheels
- Utility, flatbed, cargo, horse and boat trailers
- Commercial and semi-trailers
- Motorhomes and camper vans
- Off-highway vehicles — ATVs, UTVs, side-by-sides and dirt bikes
- Electric off-highway motorcycles (eMOTOs)
Good to know
- Trailer VINs sit on the frame or a manufacturer’s label — usually the tongue (A-frame) or main frame rail
- Trailers have no engine and no emissions label, so those REG 31 fields stay blank
- Gas OHVs need the engine number physically read and recorded
- An OHV serial shorter than 17 characters is normal and perfectly valid
- Have your title, out-of-state registration or MCO to hand
One practical tip: clear whatever is stacked against the trailer tongue and frame rail before we arrive. A legible VIN is the entire job — everything else on the form follows from it.
PTI: When You Can Skip the REG 31 Entirely
Permanent Trailer Identification is California’s registration programme for qualifying trailers — one-time registration, a permanent plate, no annual renewal. It also carries an exemption that saves a lot of people an unnecessary appointment.
A new out-of-state trailer needs no REG 31 when all three of these are true:
- ✓It qualifies for the PTI programme and has never been registered anywhere
- ✓It has not been modified, altered or assembled from a kit
- ✓A secured MCO/MSO for the complete trailer is submitted
Used trailers, trailers with no record on file, home-built units and anything outside PTI eligibility still need the verification.
The trailer classes that decide it
- Camp trailer
- Designed for human habitation, under 16 feet long and 96 inches wide. Tent trailers, pop-ups and teardrops fall here. VIRPM 14.005
- Utility trailer
- For livestock or personal property, GVWR under 10,000 lbs. VIRPM 14.005
- Fifth-wheel travel trailer
- Connects by kingpin. If it exceeds camp-trailer dimensions it is classified as a Trailer Coach (CCH) and is not PTI eligible — this is the one that catches people out. VIRPM 14.005
- Semi-trailer
- Built so part of its weight rests on the towing vehicle. VIRPM 14.005
- Tow dolly
- Towed unit used to transport another vehicle. Registration is optional, though PTI is encouraged if the dolly will be used out of state. VIRPM 14.005
Motorhomes, Camper Vans & Conversions
If you built it yourself, the body type model on your registration is the thing that matters — it decides whether you keep paying commercial weight fees. The DMV draws a hard technical line here, and a lot of builders assume they are on the wrong side of it.
Motorhome
Needs permanently installed, independent life-support systems meeting ANSI criteria — at least four of: cooking, refrigeration, self-contained toilet, heating/AC, potable water supply, separate 110–125V electrical supply, or LP gas supply.
Van Camper
A van modified for human habitation — bed, cabinets, carpet — that does not meet the four-system motorhome test. Most DIY builds land here, and that is fine: it still drops the commercial plates.
Either way, when the current owner alters a vehicle in a way that changes the body type model, the DMV requires a REG 31 completed after the alteration. Adding a mattress to the back does not qualify as habitation — the modifications have to meet the definition.
Converting a commercial van to a Van Camper The three forms, the VLF adjustment, and how to drop commercial weight fees.Off-Highway Vehicles & eMOTOs
ATVs, UTVs, side-by-sides and dirt bikes registering in California, plus the electric off-highway motorcycles that became a formal category in 2026.
Gas-powered OHVs
- The engine number must be physically read and recorded on the REG 31
- Exempt from the Federal Certification Label requirement
- 2003 and newer should carry an emissions control label, typically on the frame
- A serial number shorter than 17 characters is normal and does not affect the REG 31
Electric OHV motorcycles
- CVC 436.1 (SB 586, effective 1 January 2026) classifies eMOTOs as off-highway motor vehicles
- They are exempt from the motor number requirement
- Zero emissions, so they receive a green OHV sticker
- Exempt from the Federal Certification Label as OHVs
Electric ATVs and UTVs are different
CVC 436.1 applies only to two-wheel electric OHV motorcycles — the definition requires handlebars, a straddle seat and exactly two wheels. Electric ATVs, UTVs and side-by-sides are explicitly outside it, and no equivalent motor-number exemption exists for them under current California law. Those still need a motor number reading.
Check before you book
Tell us what it is and whether it is new, and we will tell you straight away whether you need a REG 31 at all. If the PTI exemption covers you, we will say so.