NM MVD on Verge of Destroying Thousands of Licenses

By: Bridget Clerkin June 6, 2016
Several licenses sent to incorrect addresses could soon meet the shredder.
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Trouble finding your New Mexico driver’s license? You might want to check the Santa Fe Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) office before it’s too late

Nearly 3,000 licenses have been returned to the state agency already this year, and with more and more filing cabinets being filled with the repossessed IDs, the MVD is getting ready to make more room—by sending the licenses to the shredder.

Licenses get returned if their recipients move before the MVD can send them in the mail, or if the name on the mailbox doesn’t match the name on the license, among a litany of other reasons. The MVD has said it will attempt to mail the license back a second time in these cases, but if the same problem persists, the card ends up back in the state agency’s files.

It sounds like it should be a rare problem, but New Mexico has already collected 2,983 of the orphaned identification cards in 2016—and all of them will be destroyed 60 days after the agency receives them, unless their owners come calling.

If you’ve waited longer than 40 days to receive your license in the mail or have other reason to believe the MVD may have your license, you can contact the agency by calling the phone number on your temporary license or visiting their website.

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