While other states have the DMV, or Department of Motor Vehicles, Maryland decided that was too ordinary sounding, so they created the MVA, or Motor Vehicle Administration.

After my recent unpleasant dealings with the MVA, it's no surprise that other meanings for MVA include:

Motor Vehicle or Multi Vehicle Accident
Manual Vacuum Aspiration (a type of abortion!)
Malignant Ventricular Arrhythmia
Merverdiavgift (Norwegian taxes)

So, here's the deal.
I had a '96 Accord that my parents got me when I was 17. It was kinda old, but it still worked well. Back in November '09 I was in a minor accident and totalled it. I worked with Geico through the process (who were fantastic by the way!), and a couple weeks later I bought a 2000 Accord. I notified Geico when I bought it, to add it to my insurance policy and to make sure the '96 had been taken off.

Well, a year and two months later, I got pulled over for rolling through a neighborhood stopsign, and the officer tells me that my registration/ tags have been suspended since April, and gives me a $150 fine! Apparently VEIP had sent me several letters that I was supposed to have my emissions tested in February '10, and I had never responded (because I never got this so-called letter!), so they suspended my tags. Another curious thing is that I was pulled over in late May of '10 for a burned out headlight, and that officer said nothing about my tags having been suspended. As a former professor of mine used to say, "I smell a rat." Things aren't lining up here. SOMEONE hasn't been doing their job.

I call VEIP and the lady says it was actually only one letter that they supposedly sent me, but that I have also been incurring a $15/ month fee since April on my account. She said she could give me an extension and erase the fees, except that I had an insurance violation as well. She couldn't give me an extension until that had been taken care of. I was confused, so I asked her to make sure the MVA didn't still have my '96 listed, and she said no, it was only the '00.

So I have Geico send over an FR-19, proving that my '00 has been insured this whole time and there's no violation. Well about a week later, the insurance violation still hasn't been removed, and I get a letter requesting a total loss letter for my '96. I called the insurance department of the MVA, and it turns out that the first woman I talked to was incorrect; the MVA DID still have my '96 listed on my account. I don't know how it's been over a year and they still didn't know my car had been totalled, but it happened. The girl at the insurance dept looked at my case, had me hold on for about 5 minutes, and when she came back she said that yes, Geico had indeed faxed them all the necessary information back in Dec '09, but for some reason it had been lost or misfiled or the information hadn't been recorded in the right place, I don't know what!

So now, after a few weeks and a few hours on the phone with Geico and the MVA, the insurance violation is finally closed and I can get an extension on my emissions test. The woman at VEIP I spoke with told me that they can't do anything about my ticket, though, and I'll still have to go to court! I'm going to call them again and hopefully get that taken care of. How ridiculous, that because of clerical error, SO many people's time has to be wasted. My money had better not be wasted on this either!

It's interesting too, that the request for a total loss letter made it to my house just fine, but this supposed VEIP letter never made it! Hmm... I'd hate to think the MVA was being deceptive just to swindle a few bucks out of the public, but something is definitely fishy about this...!