BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - question[s] about buying boats with no titles

Dave Hall

On 19 Oct 2006 21:29:48 -0700, wrote:

mgg wrote:
FWIW, CA issues titles for both boat and trailer.

Same in Illinois. and that to me is the difficult decision on buying an
out of state boat and/or trailor where a title isn't required by the
origional residential state.

I know I can check in with the IL. DMV about a trailer transer and
various state laws, but in IL we don't have a "title" to a boat/craft.
Its a "Water Conservation Certificate" issued by the Dept. of
Conservation.

Getting info from our local office is like 1) finding hens teeth, 2)
then pulling them.

Until the late 1990s Pennsylvania did not require titles on jetskis
(and I assume certain small boats). I had two jetskis with no title.
Then I bought a Seadoo via ebay that was in NY which had no title
requirement. I got a notarized bill of sale (I also went with the
owner to his bank and wrote the payoff check to the bank so I knew
they had no lein on it). In Pa they were now requiring titles
(unbeknownest to me) so they tried to give me a hard time, but a
loacal notary and licensing service put all of the paperwork through
and got the new title. I have lived in two states (PA and WV) and in
both there are title service companies that people use to transfer
titles when doing private vehicle sales. These companies tend to know
all of the ins and outs of titling in the stae and for a relatively
minor fee can get these things through the process. I don't know if
such services are regularly available in IL, but if so I would bet
that they can get you through the red tape rather easily.

Dave Hall