1 /5 C E: Best case, Maria Elena Sanders does not fully understand DMV requirements and should not be in charge of your paperwork. Worst case, shes knowingly overcharging people for profit. Stay far far away.
My husband and I just moved to CA from out of state and needed to update our cars registration. The DMV site said they werent currently offering out-of-state registration and to use a partner office instead, so we made an appointment with Maria Elena Sanders, who is listed on the DMV website as a licensed partner. When we arrived for our appointment, she immediately asked for money upfront for the registration, $135. Since this was similar to our online DMV quote, we felt comfortable paying and proceeding with our paperwork. As we got started, she insisted my name could not be added to the title (the car was only in my husbands name previously). She asked us to fill out our own Verification of Vehicle form, even though the form said very clearly it was "Not To Be Completed By Applicant," and tried to charge us $95 for it (which we didnt see until she gave us the invoice later). She was in and out of her side office several times, and without getting full details from us or having us fill out a Title Application, she came back with an invoice amounting to $975 to register our car. Even after I disputed the hundreds of dollars charged for taxes (weve owned our car outright long past the 12 month DMV tax window, I showed her documentation for this, and it would have been reported on the Title Application if she had ever given us one), she refused to update the invoice and still tried to pressure us into paying by telling my husband and I that the DMV would charge us the same amount anyway. She was not clear about where the other itemized charges were coming from and said I could not take a copy of the invoice with me unless I paid her. She did allow me to take a picture. When I made it clear I would not be paying her invoice, she returned my documents and part of my money. She kept $65 as a "service charge" for "cancelling our appointment."
The DMV made an exception for us and we were able to register our car (under both of our names) the same day for a grand total of $183, a nearly $800 difference in cost.
