Tears: Nix on the annual licensing fees for brakes, at least here in California where you appear to be (I'm in Marin). Makes no difference brakes or not. I licensed my 560 Ultra here three months ago, brakes and all, with no problem. It's a camp trailer under 16-foot overall, thus gets a PTI (Permanent Trailer Identification) license plate under California DMV regs. No annual fee (after paying the usual registration fee based on California sales tax less Wisconsin sales tax; my fee ran about $800), and good for five years.
Also, don't let them tell you you have to haul it into DMV for inspection before licensing. When I inquired ahead at DMV, they told me I had to bring it in to a DMV office to be inspected before it could be licensed, so I dragged it all the way from New Mexico to Marin County for DMV, only to be told that it wasn't necessary since I had an original manufacturer's certification form (or whatever it's called) from Camp-Inn. Double-bummer -- 2,200 wasted miles of extra driving before I got it back to my New Mexico second home where it stays!
Also, don't let them tell you you have to haul it into DMV for inspection before licensing. When I inquired ahead at DMV, they told me I had to bring it in to a DMV office to be inspected before it could be licensed, so I dragged it all the way from New Mexico to Marin County for DMV, only to be told that it wasn't necessary since I had an original manufacturer's certification form (or whatever it's called) from Camp-Inn. Double-bummer -- 2,200 wasted miles of extra driving before I got it back to my New Mexico second home where it stays!