I live in Illinois and was thinking of moving my boat to a Wisconsin boat yard/marina.
When applying for a Wisconsin sticker, they wanted me to relinquish my Illinois Title
to the boat and get a Wisconsin title. I reside in Illinois and have had my title with them for
over 30 years. As long as I can prove that I am the owner of the boat, why are they insisting on
retitling the boat in their state? They don't do this for cars.
You can get Wisconsin car plates without retitling your car there. Why are they discriminating to
boat owners?

Sherwin D.

I lived in IL and kept my boat on a WI lake for several years. The
trailer was stored on-site with my IL plate in plain view. The numbers
on the boat were always ILXXXXX. Where are you getting this
information? What has changed?

Why are you applying for a WI sticker? Your IL registration should be fine.

sherwindu wrote:

I live in Illinois and was thinking of moving my boat to a Wisconsin boat yard/marina.
When applying for a Wisconsin sticker, they wanted me to relinquish my Illinois Title
to the boat and get a Wisconsin title. I reside in Illinois and have had my title with them for
over 30 years. As long as I can prove that I am the owner of the boat, why are they insisting on
retitling the boat in their state? They don't do this for cars.
You can get Wisconsin car plates without retitling your car there. Why are they discriminating to
boat owners?

Sherwin D.

Hi Dan,
I'm getting this information from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
who regulate boating licenses(608-266-2621). There is supposedly a big fine for
boats stored in Wisconsin with out of state registration. Maybe this is one of those
laws that seldom gets inforced, but I would feel uneasy about being stopped and fined even if the
chances are remote. I would be willing to register my boat in Wisconsin, but not to transfer my title
to them.

Sherwin D.

Dan Krueger wrote:

I lived in IL and kept my boat on a WI lake for several years. The
trailer was stored on-site with my IL plate in plain view. The numbers
on the boat were always ILXXXXX. Where are you getting this
information? What has changed?

Why are you applying for a WI sticker? Your IL registration should be fine.

sherwindu wrote:

I live in Illinois and was thinking of moving my boat to a Wisconsin boat yard/marina.
When applying for a Wisconsin sticker, they wanted me to relinquish my Illinois Title
to the boat and get a Wisconsin title. I reside in Illinois and have had my title with them for
over 30 years. As long as I can prove that I am the owner of the boat, why are they insisting on
retitling the boat in their state? They don't do this for cars.
You can get Wisconsin car plates without retitling your car there. Why are they discriminating to
boat owners?

Sherwin D.

I was one of 5-6 boats with IL registration and hull numbers at my
marine back then. If you call the WI DNR they will always look to
charge you some money. People trailer out of state boats to WI and
other states everyday.

As far a storing out of state boats in WI, how is that any different
than a car? Enforcement isn't the issue, it's the law. The bottom line
is that you are spending far more for fuel, food & beverages, supplies,
etc. in their state than the registration fee so unless they changed
something in the last 15 years, it sounds like a canned response to a
valid question.

I see two other problems: (1) If you are forced to title your boat in
WI they might try to charge sales tax (again) and (2) how can you title
a boat in a state where you have no address?

Did you find a link regarding the fines for boat storage in WI?

Dan


sherwindu wrote:

Hi Dan,
I'm getting this information from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
who regulate boating licenses(608-266-2621). There is supposedly a big fine for
boats stored in Wisconsin with out of state registration. Maybe this is one of those
laws that seldom gets inforced, but I would feel uneasy about being stopped and fined even if the
chances are remote. I would be willing to register my boat in Wisconsin, but not to transfer my title
to them.

Sherwin D.

Dan Krueger wrote:


I lived in IL and kept my boat on a WI lake for several years. The
trailer was stored on-site with my IL plate in plain view. The numbers
on the boat were always ILXXXXX. Where are you getting this
information? What has changed?

Why are you applying for a WI sticker? Your IL registration should be fine.

sherwindu wrote:


I live in Illinois and was thinking of moving my boat to a Wisconsin boat yard/marina.
When applying for a Wisconsin sticker, they wanted me to relinquish my Illinois Title
to the boat and get a Wisconsin title. I reside in Illinois and have had my title with them for
over 30 years. As long as I can prove that I am the owner of the boat, why are they insisting on
retitling the boat in their state? They don't do this for cars.
You can get Wisconsin car plates without retitling your car there. Why are they discriminating to
boat owners?

Sherwin D.

Dan Krueger wrote in
ink.net:

I was one of 5-6 boats with IL registration and hull numbers at my
marine back then. If you call the WI DNR they will always look to
charge you some money. People trailer out of state boats to WI and
other states everyday.

As far a storing out of state boats in WI, how is that any different
than a car? Enforcement isn't the issue, it's the law. The bottom
line is that you are spending far more for fuel, food & beverages,
supplies, etc. in their state than the registration fee so unless they
changed something in the last 15 years, it sounds like a canned
response to a valid question.

I see two other problems: (1) If you are forced to title your boat in
WI they might try to charge sales tax (again) and (2) how can you
title a boat in a state where you have no address?

Did you find a link regarding the fines for boat storage in WI?

Dan


sherwindu wrote:

Hi Dan,
I'm getting this information from the Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources,
who regulate boating licenses(608-266-2621). There is supposedly a
big fine for boats stored in Wisconsin with out of state
registration. Maybe this is one of those laws that seldom gets
inforced, but I would feel uneasy about being stopped and fined even
if the chances are remote. I would be willing to register my boat in
Wisconsin, but not to transfer my title to them.

Sherwin D.

Dan Krueger wrote:


I lived in IL and kept my boat on a WI lake for several years. The
trailer was stored on-site with my IL plate in plain view. The
numbers on the boat were always ILXXXXX. Where are you getting this
information? What has changed?

Why are you applying for a WI sticker? Your IL registration should
be fine.

sherwindu wrote:


I live in Illinois and was thinking of moving my boat to a Wisconsin
boat yard/marina. When applying for a Wisconsin sticker, they wanted
me to relinquish my Illinois Title to the boat and get a Wisconsin
title. I reside in Illinois and have had my title with them for
over 30 years. As long as I can prove that I am the owner of the
boat, why are they insisting on retitling the boat in their state?
They don't do this for cars. You can get Wisconsin car plates
without retitling your car there. Why are they discriminating to
boat owners?

Sherwin D.





I know nothing about this particular law, but I do know that states in
general don't want their own residents registering cars or boats in
neighboring states for a lower fee and then using and storing them in
their home state. That may be what the "big" fine is for. If you check
more carefully, it may not apply if you are truly not a resident of
Wisconsin. I know that here in California, there is an issue with people
registering cars in Neveda to avoid the higher sales tax and annual
registration. They even have a special task force to look for these
people. That may be what you're finding in WI.