My Dakota Address is closing it's doors effective July 31, 2018. **UPDATED INFO*

The Escapees mail service in Livingston, TX is reportedly the largest in the country with ~15,000 clients and it's own ZIP Code. For SD, they use a unique dual address setup where you use an SD address for official mail requiring an SD address, and a TX address for all other mail. The SD mail is forwarded on to the TX address for distribution along with the other regular mail. Escapees membership is required to use the service...

https://www.escapees.com/mail-service/how-escapees-mail-forwarding-service-works/

Many financial institutions balk at using a PMB for a home address. So I just use the PMB for my mailing address. It would be the same thing as going down to your local post office and getting a post office box to receive all your mail. I pretty much don't care where a business thinks my house is, as long as I receive mail at a place that can get it to me is what is important. And 98% of the business mailings I receive are all via email anyway. Very little actually comes snail mail.

Interestingly when I changed the location of address on my RV/auto insurance, the policy went down $44.  Different zip code I guess.

Update from a call with Terri today at around 11AM PST:

1) The deal to possibly sell the business is not going forward, so 7/31 is the last day

2) You should have any mail forwarded ASAP.

3) No mail will be forwarded after 7/31

4) She recommends Dakota Post

5) She does not know of a way to do address changes online for licensing and registrations.  She said the next mail forwarder should be able to handle.  My concern with not handling sooner is that if any traffic tickets may be sent via mail, that we won't get them.

6) Apparently Your Best Address is advertising themselves as recommended even though Terri hasn't given her blessing.  Sounds a bit predatory to me, but if they're a good service, whatever I suppose.

If you read through the email that Terri sent Marty in the first post, notice that Your Best Address is first on the list of forwarders she suggested.

This is from an email I received yesterday from Dakota Post:

With the unfortunate news that My Dakota Address will be closing at the end of the month, please help get the word out to your friends about DakotaPost. The owner of My Dakota Address is graciously referring her clients to us. Given that these folks are working on such a tight time frame we are waiving their set up fee and offering a discount to make the transition smooth. Remember to have them list you as a referral and you get $40 for each new client you send our way.

Sad that My Dakota Address did not notify it customers properly and such a short notice is insane.

I have been satisfied with Dakota Post.

SargeW said:

I just made the switch to "Dakota Post" in Sioux Falls.  I decided on them as they are a little  higher tech, and offer some nice features. 

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Sarge, for future reference, can you be more specific about the features and technology that caused you to decide on DP?

Yes Scott. They have a feature called the "Virtual Mailbox".  It is a process where all of the face of your mail is scanned and listed in a web page assigned to you. It is password protected page, and when you log in you can see all of your mail and decide what you want to do with it.  You can have it opened and scanned, shredded, or sent to your location of choice. You can do the whole process on line, or call them.

Since it's on line it's 24/7 to see your mail, and if you choose to have it sent, they will ship the next business day.  I like the automated process to see all mail at my convenience.

And now the other shoe has dropped. I  received this just minutes ago from Terri.

Terri Lund
7:36 PM (8 minutes ago)
to info

I regret to inform you that we are closed for business as of July 31st.  Thank you for your business and friendship.  I cannot express how saddened I am to give you this information.



Unfortunately, any mail that arrives for this address will be returned to sender as of July 26th.



Please let me know your current address so we can get your mail sent to you now.



After talking with most of the mail forwarding companies in South Dakota, I would strongly recommend that you use DakotaPost in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to help you with your mail forwarding needs.

They seem to be the most like us.  They have a very caring staff that will provide you the best in customer service.  They will be happy to take care of your mail forwarding and continued South Dakota residency needs.



I have negotiated with DakotaPost to waive their sign up fee for my clients and to match my price on the GOLD plan with their Virtual Mail Box Service. By the way, their Virtual Mail Box Service is regarded as one of the best in the industry and the first of its kind in providing digital mail to its clients. DakotaPost will also provide attractive pricing  on all its other mail forwarding packages.



To ensure folks get this handled in a timely manner DakotaPost will open this Saturday July 28th from 10:00 AM CST ? 2:00 PM CST to help you get signed up and answer any questions you might have.



You can also sign up online at dakotapost.net by clicking on Travel Solutions ? Mail Forwarding - Start The Process Online Now. 



Their normal business hours are Monday ? Friday 8:00 AM ? 5:00 PM CST. Do not hesitate to call and DakotaPost will help you out with your needs. Call 1-800-477-2664.



About DakotaPost



They have been in the mail forwarding industry since 1989. They are a full service company that does vehicle registrations, registered agent services and we offer other solutions to the challenges full Time travelers face. DakotaPost is in a large 8000 sq. ft. facility perfectly located in Sioux Falls SD with a team of 15 caring employees waiting to serve you.



https://dakotapost.net/

Phone:  800.477.2664

Dakota Post

3916 N. Potsdam Ave

Sioux Falls, SD  57104



I am truly sorry for all the inconvenience this will cause you.





Best Regards,

My Dakota Address

110 E Center St

Madison, SD  57042

605-427-5863

Boy, that's not much of a heads up. You'd think that at a minimum, it should have been at least 30 days. How many people are on the road and won't find out about this till it's too late.

Rene T said:

Boy, that's not much of a heads up. You'd think that at a minimum, it should have been at least 30 days. How many people are on the road and won't find out about this till it's too late.

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That was my thought as well.  This is going to create a huge mess for many people, by the sudden notice without a lot of time to react.

Yeah, to bail out like that and walk off with no notice? What about the people that still get checks in the mail at the end of the month?  There will be a lot of upset folks about this one.

I suspect they were hoping for some sort of last minute reprieve, perhaps a business loan or even outright sale of the business that fell through, and they were walking the highwire thinking it would come together but didn't. No excuse for the lurch they left their customers in and poor business practice.

Yeah, on a different forum I am on there are a lot of full timers that got caught by surprise. One poor guy just bought a new car and had the title and all paperwork sent to her to do the registration in SD. Now he's wondering where his title is going to end up.  What a shame.

SargeW said:

Yeah, on a different forum I am on there are a lot of full timers that got caught by surprise. One poor guy just bought a new car and had the title and all paperwork sent to her to do the registration in SD. Now he's wondering where his title is going to end up.  What a shame.

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Plus, he was invoiced on 7/24 for the next 3 months, and he paid it in good faith they were going to be in business as he had no knowledge there was anything in the works. I find it hard to believe they didn't know on 7/24 that they were going to stop receiving mail in a day or two. 

There's one mention in another forum of an alleged Madison LEO posting on a Facebook RV group that MDA was shut down by the SD Dept of Revenue. No verification though...

NY_Dutch said:

There's one mention in another forum of an alleged Madison LEO posting on a Facebook RV group that MDA was shut down by the SD Dept of Revenue. No verification though...

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My speculation (without any evidence) is that it was a bankruptcy.  No advance notice is given and all assets are frozen as of the date of filing.

A couple of things I discovered over the past two days:

1.  If you have vehicles registered in SD, you can easily update the address using the MY SD Cars website.  Just set up an account using your SD license number and all your vehicles will be displayed.  You can then update both their mailing and permanent addresses.

2.  For driver's licenses, you have several choices. If you don't care about having a license with a current address, you can simply email the Department of Public Safety (DPS) with your new address so they would know where to mail you things like traffic tickets. ?  However, if you prefer to have a license with the proper address you can request a Duplicate/Replacement License using the DPS Duplicate/Replacement  website.  Be aware that you will be required to provide two pieces of mail sent to your new address (although a copy of your new, signed mail forwarding agreement may suffice) and you probably ought to sign a new Residency affidavit.

I was told today by a DPS worker that if I come into the office next month to get an updated license I would need the two pieces of mail as well as a receipt for a night's lodging just like we were getting a renewed license.  I didn't think to ask if this would change my renewal date, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.  We're going to be in SD anyway so it's not big deal to stop by DPS to get this done.

3. Virtually all my accounts have now been changed to the new address.  You need only to update your Social Security account which will also update your Medicare account.  The Social Security website makes the address change very easy.  Our Medicare supplemental and Part D insurers both required phone calls rather than allow address changes online.  Every other financial account we've been able to update online.

FWIW we've gone with Your Best Address.  I've been very impressed with the professionalism of the staff despite the fact that they and the other SD mail forwarders are being swamped with calls.  YBA is FMCA's preferred mail forwarder.

Dance Chick said:

Plus, he was invoiced on 7/24 for the next 3 months, and he paid it in good faith they were going to be in business as he had no knowledge there was anything in the works. I find it hard to believe they didn't know on 7/24 that they were going to stop receiving mail in a day or two. 

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Ouch. Now that's adding insult to injury.....

I kinda wondered when Terri said the reason was "financial" if it was a tax situation. That is one way to have a business stop abruptly.

It seems odd that Jon Knuths, the MDA owner and also president of a Madison bank, would let his business get in this situation, but stranger things have happened.

NY_Dutch said:

It seems odd that Jon Knuths, the MDA owner and also president of a Madison bank, would let his business get in this situation, but stranger things have happened.

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At a rally in Gillette a number of years ago I met a person who identified himself as "one of the owners" of MDA.  He was a faculty member at one of the local universities.  I don't remember his name.

I also feel bad for Terri. I've seen her mentioned many times and seems like an efficient, stand-up lady. As someone mentioned, she feels horrible about this, and I'm sure feels stuck in the middle of it. She'll be out of a job. I hate it when anyone loses their job for reasons not of their own making.