I mean nobody loves standing in line at the DMV but at least the people here are always friendly and helpful and make sure that you get what you need read more

I've been here many times over the years to get tabs, titles or title replacement over the years. The staff is very helpful and friendly. Fred, the owner is the kindest person ever and is the only African/Asian licensing owner in the nation. I highly recommend supporting them if you need any licensing services! read more

When I was stationed on what is now Joint Base Lewis / McChord I'd always drive from Tacoma to Ballard for my plates. Only agency in the state open, early, every Saturday with great service for all customers. I also wanted to support the ONLY African-American owned Licensing Agency in Washington State. I highly recommend Ballard Licensing to all Washington State Residents , but especially to my fellow Service Members read more

I've been visiting Ballard Licensing every year since I moved to Seattle to get my tabs renewed. They are always fast, reliable and super helpful. Convenient location and free 30 min parking in the back. This year I renewed online and all I needed to do was pick up. I was in and out in under 10 mins. Highly recommend. read more

Why did I pick this place to renew tabs? Avoid if possible. No communication, nothing. Phone rings endlessly or just goes to an answering machine (when you're lucky), two weeks after renewing online my tabs are nowhere to be found (not that I can actually ask anyone about this since there's no way to get in touch with them - and the vm mailbox is always FULL). read more

Did several car licensing doc here. Very efficient, helpful and friendly staff.

Paid for quick title. It's been 3 almost 4 weeks and have not received title. Does not answer phones. Called multiple times two days.

What an amazing DMV!! They were so caring and friendly, the owner is amazing he greats you when you walk in and they take care of you like your family!! Than you for all the help!! Everyone there is amazing!! read more

Wa state fees are totally a total rip off. That being said the staff here is really nice despite the long lines. Like the places that have a grab a number with chairs and a tv make this location look ancient :). Everyone in line has their faces glued to their phones and don't notice when it's their turn lmao. read more

Who ever thought that going to the DMV would be pleasant. These folks are smart, savvy, and efficient. I've had them guide me through licensing s classic car I bought from another state, with restored collector plates (the previous owner failed to notarize the transfer of title, and the car needed to be weighed at a certified scale), and switching out plates from a car I sold to my current car, and they handle it all with grace and patience. And they're super pleasant, to boot. Two thumbs up. read more

Not helpful and sometimes Deceitful with your tab information regarding home address and business address. They will push your tabs to king county where business is located not your home address Big money grab for sound transit. read more

I went down to this business to get my temporary handicap permit because I'm injured from a work accident and they had a paper sign up on the second floor on their door stating they're only open until 2 on Saturdays until further notice. Online, their website, and even voicemail (which is full) state it's open until 6. Tons of upset off people outside. Even the A-Frame sign outside states it open until 6 and all the signs on their windows. An 8.5/11 piece of paper is not good enough. They wasted a lot of peoples time that's one most valuable resource no one gets back. When people were naturally upset to come all the way there, the staff inside was incredibly rude. It's no one else's fault but the businesses that people are showing up expecting it to be open but it's not. If you're going to adjust your hours as business owner you need to pre plan and adjust all online sources and you're signage and phone messages. Especially when you provide this kind of service. It's a massive task for disabled people to get around and do things and this one of the few licensed places that provides handicap vehicle permitting. This is not acceptable for this business to treat people this way. read more

I have finally paid off my car and went to Ballard Licensing to change the title. Very efficient, free parking. I was greeted by a friendly African-American man - and I am so sorry I did not get his name - so we will call him Fred. Fred made my day! I might just have to make up a reason to go to Ballard Licensing again, just to have Fred greet me in his Fred-ly way! (OMG - I just read some of the reviews and the owner is actually named Fred and he is the African-American man! I think I should buy a lotto ticket this weekend.) read more

Recently a problem arose when the Washington State Department of Licensing sent me a letter saying my vanity plates were going to be cancelled even though I've had them on three different cars over the years. The owner of Ballard Auto and Vessel Licensing, Fred Maxie, helped me by letting me know that several hundred Washingtonians had received this letter in error, and he said I could ignore it. Sure enough, a few days later I received a letter from DOL apologizing for their mistake. I appreciate this company's fast, friendly service, and Mr. Maxie's very helpful customer service. read more

I was not expecting to be in and out in 30 minutes, given that I was registering a car that was just imported from Spain, but Sabrina made it happen! Outstanding service. read more

Easy peasy . Fast, super friendly, and helped me through my process of getting my boat and trailer titles switch over.

Don't ever mess around with that place that shall remain nameless inside a Rite Aid up north on Aurora ever, ever again. I'm not joking. Not only is this place better run, better staffed, and just much faster moving, but it is in a neighborhood where you can make a day of the trip. You just suffered through a DMV-like experience! Grab a cupcake, stroll down Market, eat at many a fine nearby establishment. They have a lot in back, but I don't think there are many stalls. I found close street parking. Staff is quick, quiet, and helpful. I'll never go anywhere else for DMV related needs again. They also have a notary in the place. read more

Incredibly patient and kind service for transferring my car registration from out of state. Special thanks to Juanita! Your kind, excellent, and professional support made the whole process easy and smooth. Thank you so much! read more

Ballard Licensing - Clean and quiet office - Registration Services Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Licensing is super fun, am I right? Well, that's not true and there are inherent limitations about how excited I can get about renewing my car tabs. I've been to a variety of different places to get my tabs and Ballard Licensing is pretty darn good. First, they have a cheap parking lot behind the building. If you're lucky, you'll find one of the time-limited free spaces. If not, it's only $2 per hour. Second, they're open on Saturdays. I have one near my house that is only open the last Saturday of the month, during a full moon, following the 2nd lunar eclipse of the century. Ballard Licensing is open every Saturday until 6pm! Third, the staff is friendly and appears to be faster than staff at other locations around the city. The last time I went in, there were 3 people in line and 4 at windows. At other locations this would equate to a 45 minute wait. I was in and out in 10 minutes. Since they're open until 6pm every day, you can also renew your tabs online and pick them up after work. Bonus: If you need a key made, there is a legit key maker right next door. I dislike getting car tabs but Ballard Licensing helps take the edge off every time. I also like that I can head to Market Street to get a cup of coffee or a snack (my reward for standing in line) after I'm done. read more

Have you ever gone to a licensing office and had to deal with long lines and felt like a number, in and out? Not at this office. The customer service is more than on point. You're met by the friendly owner, Fred Maxie, who greets you in a long line, apologizes for your wait and will offer you a glass of water in hot weather or friendly conversation. That was in the hot summer and thereafter as the lines have died down, still the friendly service from the staff. I can't go anywhere else to renew my license just because of the special treatment they give in making you feel valued. I highly recommend this office. Tell your friends. No need to go anywhere else. read more

We had a great experience here. Great customer service from everyone who works there and met the owner Fred personally who is wonderful. Such an amazingly easy experience, in and out in 15 minutes. Will definitely be returning for my other car needs. read more

I went Downtown to renew my tabs before Covid and they required so much information to renew my tabs from out of state to WA. The people at Ballard Licensing made it so easy and less complicated. Just make sure to have your WA drivers license and car registration from the previous year. They did everything else on the back end and made the process so easy and stress free. I walked out with temporary paper plates that morning! read more

Really made a complicated process easier ! New to Seattle and luckily live right next to this place. Ruth was very kind, patient and helpful and made registering my car a very pleasant experience even during COVID. Highly recommend this place to get your registration. read more

I haven't been to a licensing subagent in years. Decades, really. When I was a kid I used to go to the King County Administration Building with my dad for this sort of thing, and I remember going to the one on Roosevelt Way once or twice, but mostly I've just needed to renew tabs and I've been able to do that online. This time, though, I needed a replacement title for my vehicle. I could have gotten a form notarized somewhere else and mailed it in, or I could go to a subagent and get the whole thing done then and there. I actually intended to go the notary-and-mail route, but my bank didn't have one available when I went in the other day! So I decided to head up to Ballard Licensing. The line wasn't too long and moved reasonably quickly. (Glad I got there when I did, though, because it got longer while I was waiting.) The whole process went pretty quickly, and they offered cheaper solutions if I was interested (I ended up going with the quick title, which cost me about $50 more... I don't know if they made more off that or not, but they definitely made me aware of the cheaper route that would take longer). I think for routine renewals I'll still do so online (though am happy to use them to mail to me), but for anything else I think I'll make this my regular place to go. read more

How many times do you go to the DMV or auto licensing department and have a great experience that you want to share with everyone else, chances are that is fairly rare but when it happens do you want to talk about it and you want to talk about it because people need to know where to get the service and we need to reward the companies that are passionate about customer service and want to do the right thing for the customer and this is my story here today with Ballard auto licensing. I am out of state now in Texas and have a vehicle to sell and needed to get A replacement title and when I looked on the Washington website for service bureau's I noticed Ballard auto licensing. I used to live in Ballard and used it there but I had more than that, I had a personal connection because I met the owner about 20 years ago at the museum of flight Event honoring the Tuskegee airmen and one of the local Hero pilots. I met Fred Maxie If you times and cyber time or two at his office doing renewals. So I had my choice of over 55 places to send my business to and because of the personal connection I had 15 years ago I called up Ballard auto licensing and surprised to find somebody that picked up my car right away and gave me the information that I needed and was courteous and friendly and I thought to myself wow this was a great customer service experience. Most people do not associate that with her experiences at DMV's. But these are not quite DMV's because they are individually owned licensing bureau's and as Fred says he competes with all the other ones in the state for business. When I got all my docs together I thought I'd call the office one more time to make sureEverything right because one mistake can send it right back to where it came from here in Texas so I called and Fred answered the phone and ask him a question and he thought he should get one of his lead supervisors to weigh in on the details of an out-of-state title replacement and he said that he was the owner so I said is this Fred? And he said yeah this is Fred he says do you know me and I said yeah so we had a nice conversation to re-connect the dots and he said I want to make sure you're really being taken care of so why don't you fax over your documents to us and we can take a look at them before you send them so they don't have to be returned, so I scanned them to his email account, his supervisor Meagan, looked them over and told me what I needed to do to redo one document and advised that I should send it via UPS or FedEx for a better result and I did. So, Take away from this is customer experiences can also be related to the way the customer treats the vendor, you put out good vibes and say good things and people are willing to help you and I couldn't say more about the willingness to help by the owner and all of his employees I talked to three different people and everyone were stellar experiences so I would definitely recommend Ballard Auto Licensing even if you had to go out of your way a city or two. Thanks to the staff there and for Fred and for being the lock call advocate for the red tail pilots. And for what you do in the community. Don, commanding officer, 57th Fighter Group WWII association read more

Spent 25 minutes in line (4 people in front of me) while the tellers were chit chatting with customers about movies and other non-licensing issues only to find out my paperwork was not in order, though all the information they needed was provided just not the way they wanted it, I have been coming here for many years and really enjoyed the greeting I got from Fred at the door, by the time I left the line was out the door and down the hall. But after today I will be taking my business to another agency. I hope you are feeling better Fred. read more

i had a very pleasant experience doing a title transfer at ballard licensing. this was during the week in the late morning, and there was no line at all. the employee i spoke with was very personable and happy to answer my questions. it was not at all the stereotypical DOL trip with long waits and bland beaurocrats begins desks. this was back in march of this year, 2019. the other day, i met fred, the owner of this branch, who was in the middle of buying pastries for his employees. he was so amiable and charming i had to leave a review! read more

I highly recommend the Ballard Licensing Agency. The staff are always friendly, helpful, and efficient. They're open till 6:00 pm weekdays and Saturdays, while most licensing agencies close at 5:00 pm weekdays and are either closed or open shorter hours on Saturdays. There is some free parking in the lot behind the building (on 57th) and if the free parking spots are full, there are affordable pay spots in the same lot. read more

The line was not very long. I actually had to come in twice because I neglected to get an emissions test for my out of state car beforehand. Be sure to have all your paperwork! Still, they were very friendly about it and left my application "pending" while I got the test. When I came back stuff was handled in a quick and efficient manner. So.. I'm very pleased with how everything went. Bring cash or cheque if you want to avoid a $2 or $3 charge for using debit/CC. read more

Ive been there many times over the past 5 years and the lines are getting longer and the customer service/knowledge/professionalism of the employees working the service windows is getting worse. However, the City of Seattle, with its new, $100+ annual RTA excise tax, MUST keep them open and increase their funding because they actually provide a valuable service to the people living and working in Ballard and surrounding Seattle neighborhoods. read more

I ordered my tabs online the other day and was under the impression I couldn't get them in office, so I called to have them mailed out. Fred answered the phone to inform me that they're open and can come in during any time during business hours. He was so friendly and pleasant and some small things like this where we pay ridiculous amounts for our tabs, it's nice to see a smiling face willing to really make everyone happy. Thanks Fred! read more

Normally pretty good service but when I went to register a vehicle I had recently purchased - I mentioned that the guy who handled financing and titles at a small out of state dealership said he sent the paperwork to my local licensing office (which ended up not being Ballard Auto License due to a mix up) and the woman working the counter said "It wasn't the guy who handles financing - that would be the *girl* who handles titles. Trust me. It's the title girl" A few things: - The guy who did my title paperwork was a 6 foot tall guy named Lance who also handled financing. - The woman at the counter had never been to the dealer where I purchased my car and had no idea what she was talking about. - It's 2017. Is there some kind of gender restriction that prevents men from serving as title clerks (or women from handling new and used car financing??? read more

First yelp review I've ever written, but I felt compelled to share because this was the best experience (by far) that I've ever had with a licensing agency. After a two failed attempts with other agencies, I came here to transfer a vehicle title for a car that my girlfriend recently inherited. Before coming here, I prepared all the documents (correctly) that were needed to execute the transfer, and my girlfriend took them to two other agencies. Both agencies incorrectly told her that we provided the wrong form to prove the inheritance, which was from another state. After that, I called Ballard Licensing - the ONLY place open after 2pm on Saturdays - and spoke with the owner, Fred. Fred was kind, generous with his time, and most importantly, knew his stuff - he confirmed that we had the right documents, and promised to take care of us if we came in. So we drove to Ballard (from West Seattle), and it was absolutely worth the drive. Fred and his staff were friendly and knowledgeable, and we were in and out in 15 minutes. I honestly can't say enough good things about my experience here - light years ahead of all other agencies I've been to. Do yourself a favor and go here whenever you need quick, reliable service. Thank you Fred and your staff, Mitch read more

Fabulous customer service and great hours! Every time I come in the staff are friendly and they are conveniently open until 6pm and on Saturdays so I can come when I'm off work! The owner often comes out to chat and help customers as well. read more

The office isn't very large and is a bit dated, but definitely much better experience than going to an official licensing office. They're very courteous and helpful even over the phone. I had to register plates after moving to WA and they made the entire process very simple, took 5 minutes! They went as far as filling out all of the paperwork! While it is convincing, you do pay a few. In my case, it did add a bit to the cost. Was it worth it though? Yes! As I would have had to spend way more energy elsewhere. read more

Out of all the offices in the Seattle area, I find this one to be the quickest and have not-as-jaded employees. My husband and I are willing to drive pass several offices closer to home just to go to this office. This past week, WSDoL changed their software. It took them longer than normal to get up and running. Because of this, they apologize to customers regularly for the delay, as well as passed out chocolate and cups of water to those waiting in line. But the line continue to move. I think it took 30mins from start to finish. Pros: fast service, takes various CC (plus fee), answers phone calls, knowledgeable staff, open on Saturdays and for more hours Cons: don't have any? read more

Place sucks. Caused me two trips (time off of work) and messed up everything. This including messing up my title transfer from another state and not telling me what I needed to do in advance when I gave them everything, as they failed to review the details on my title properly the first time, which then got flagged by the state, and wanted me to come back again to fix everything (uh no! don't have time to take off of work for stupidity). Wouldn't take accountability, even when I told them they could have called me when they noticed later and got a alert from the state, and avoid another (third) trip to them. They were very condescending with me throughout process, not understanding I was from out of state and didn't know the rules and regulations here. They could have been kind and compassionate, not completely defensive jerks.Now I will have to make another trip to the DMV and take time off of work to clear up their ridiculous and dumb mistake. Go elsewhere, save yourself. You are welcome. read more

Amazing and fast service! I recently had to get new plates and register my car from out of state. Ballard Licensing made it easy and even helped me with navigating the bureaucracy of my car loan company and WA DOL. They were even open on the snowiest day in Seattle's recent history, another big plus! Thanks again! read more

Everyone I interacted with was so kind and helpful, particularly Fred (the owner) and Sabrina. Sabrina went out of her way to explain what I needed (I was renewing my tabs but had some complications with it). I was in and out with my registration and paperwork submitted within 15-20 minutes! I can't recommend it highly enough, I've never had such a pleasant experience at a DMV. read more

went to change the name on the title of my parents car to mine and the lady screamed at my mom. my poor mom had researched everything we needed, i don't have an ID right now and online she was told we wouldn't need one so we came with 3 other forms of identification. the lady behind the counter was extremely demeaning, told my mom to "calm down" and acted as if we were stupid. if she had nicely explained what she needed to get across that would be fine but your staff is literally combative with clients. don't work in customer service if you can't talk to people. read more