I don't think most states charge the ridiculous back fees if you don't register or PNO, you're just no longer registered (and obviously get ticketed/towed/etc if you get caught driving)My experience here in NC:
Drive 20 minutes to DMV. Really worried because my reg is 15 months overdue.
Walk in and greeted: “Hi darlin, what can I do for you?”.
5 minutes and 62$ later I drive home.
Also here they have private companies that provide for license and registration stuff. Never spent more than 15 minutes in one of those. With friendly employees, that don’t have “I can never be fired” arrogance and entitlement.