On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:09:28 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

Isn't documentation akin to title insurance?

Not exactly. Documentation establishes the chain of ownership and
establishes that there are no unfullfilled *prior* liens. I have
personal knowledge of a case however where a governmental authority
threatened a lien and vessel seizure because of an alleged tax
liability incurred by a prior owner ten years in the past.

Supposedly all they have to do is notify the Coast Guard to effect the
seizure. The boat in question was bought with the usual contractural
assurances of clean title, no liens, judgements, etc plus an assurance
to defend against any such action. That is all meaningless however
unless you can get your legal hands on the prior owner(s), and
meanwhile the boat could be under seizure and tied up in litigation
until the mess is resolved.

Fortunately in this case, the governmental agency in question came to
their senses and decided not to pursue it further but it was very
messy and tense while it lasted.

One possible way to avoid or minimize such a risk is to document
offshore which breaks the USCG chain of title and makes the boat very
difficult to trace through its doc number.