Dead people's boats and trailers
 

I think you'll find that you don't need a title for a boat that small.
The trailer would be another story. I've been told that the easiest
way to rectify the "no title" trailer is to register it as a homemade
trailer. But you would have to either do some significant work on the
trailer in order to justify the "homemade" classification, or you'd
have to live knowing that you lied about that :/ (probably best to
visit the registration department and find out for certain what your
options are)

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 16:06:38 GMT, Ignoramus26831
wrote:

I am in IL.

I bought a 12 foot boat with trailer at an "estate sale", for $120.

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/12-f...raft-Seafarer/

All we did was writing a "bill of sale" on a small piece of paper.

Now I am beginning to realize that I have to possibly go through a
mountain of paperwork to actually get title to the boat AND trailer.

Does anyone have any actual experience dealing with transfer of
boat/trailer titles etc?

Connecticut is a non-title state so any answer I give might be
suspect, but generally a bill of sale is sufficient proof of ownership
- in particular for $120.

If the boat had been previously registered, then you should be fine.
If the trailer has a VIN number on it, then just have the seller redo
the bill of sale referencing the VIN. If it doesn't have a VIN, then
just tell them that and show the bill of sale.

While I'm not a fan of most DMVs, usually if you approach them with
the attitude that you have a problem that only they can solve, it's
amazing how quickly it gets resolved.

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 18:02:59 GMT, Ignoramus26831
wrote:

On 5 Jul 2005 10:27:35 -0700, Arcadefreaque wrote:
I think you'll find that you don't need a title for a boat that small.
The trailer would be another story. I've been told that the easiest
way to rectify the "no title" trailer is to register it as a homemade
trailer. But you would have to either do some significant work on the
trailer in order to justify the "homemade" classification, or you'd
have to live knowing that you lied about that :/ (probably best to
visit the registration department and find out for certain what your
options are)

I have spent the good part of the morning trying to reach the DMV and
DNR on the phone, with no luck. I get either busy signals, or very
polite women who do not know anything and refer me to other, busy,
numbers.

It seems that I will need title and registration for the trailer, and
registration and possibly title for the boat itself. The boat should
not be a big problem.

The trailer will be more work. I was able to locate the seller of the
boat and she is willing to sign the necessary paperwork.

It looks like into this $120 boat, I will have to put $500 worth of
legal efforts and wasted time, PLUS FEES.

What the hell did you expect? It's a boat. :)

"Ignoramus26831" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 18:11:06 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:
On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 18:02:59 GMT, Ignoramus26831
wrote:

On 5 Jul 2005 10:27:35 -0700, Arcadefreaque
wrote:
I think you'll find that you don't need a title for a boat that small.
The trailer would be another story. I've been told that the easiest
way to rectify the "no title" trailer is to register it as a homemade
trailer. But you would have to either do some significant work on the
trailer in order to justify the "homemade" classification, or you'd
have to live knowing that you lied about that :/ (probably best to
visit the registration department and find out for certain what your
options are)

I have spent the good part of the morning trying to reach the DMV and
DNR on the phone, with no luck. I get either busy signals, or very
polite women who do not know anything and refer me to other, busy,
numbers.

It seems that I will need title and registration for the trailer, and
registration and possibly title for the boat itself. The boat should
not be a big problem.

The trailer will be more work. I was able to locate the seller of the
boat and she is willing to sign the necessary paperwork.

It looks like into this $120 boat, I will have to put $500 worth of
legal efforts and wasted time, PLUS FEES.

What the hell did you expect? It's a boat. :)

If registartion of the trailer proves to be too painful or expensive,
I will probably just cut it in pieces with an angle grinder and throw
away. The boat is small enough that I can fit it into my truck's bed.

i
****ED OFF

Tell the DMV that it is a home built trailer

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 16:06:38 +0000, Ignoramus26831 wrote:

I am in IL.

I bought a 12 foot boat with trailer at an "estate sale", for $120.

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/12-f...raft-Seafarer/

All we did was writing a "bill of sale" on a small piece of paper.

Now I am beginning to realize that I have to possibly go through a
mountain of paperwork to actually get title to the boat AND trailer.

Does anyone have any actual experience dealing with transfer of
boat/trailer titles etc?

i

As you said it was an estate sale, this might help:

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/pu...s/vsd27518.pdf

Or:

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/de...tion/home.html

"Ignoramus26831" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 14:54:27 -0400, P. Fritz
wrote:

"Ignoramus26831" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 18:11:06 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:
On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 18:02:59 GMT, Ignoramus26831
wrote:

On 5 Jul 2005 10:27:35 -0700, Arcadefreaque
wrote:
I think you'll find that you don't need a title for a boat that
small.
The trailer would be another story. I've been told that the
easiest
way to rectify the "no title" trailer is to register it as a
homemade
trailer. But you would have to either do some significant work on
the
trailer in order to justify the "homemade" classification, or you'd
have to live knowing that you lied about that :/ (probably best to
visit the registration department and find out for certain what
your
options are)

I have spent the good part of the morning trying to reach the DMV and
DNR on the phone, with no luck. I get either busy signals, or very
polite women who do not know anything and refer me to other, busy,
numbers.

It seems that I will need title and registration for the trailer, and
registration and possibly title for the boat itself. The boat should
not be a big problem.

The trailer will be more work. I was able to locate the seller of the
boat and she is willing to sign the necessary paperwork.

It looks like into this $120 boat, I will have to put $500 worth of
legal efforts and wasted time, PLUS FEES.

What the hell did you expect? It's a boat. :)

If registartion of the trailer proves to be too painful or expensive,
I will probably just cut it in pieces with an angle grinder and throw
away. The boat is small enough that I can fit it into my truck's bed.

i
****ED OFF

Tell the DMV that it is a home built trailer

That's an interesting thought. I can surely remove the nameplate. What
would be the implications? Let's say that I am stopped by police for
some unrelated reason, would I get in trouble if they find out that
the registration is false?

How would they find out unless you told them?


i

I opted not to go this route myself, but just because it has
manufactured parts does not make "not homebuilt".

I do have a trailer that I bought from harborfreight as a kit. It is
licensed as a homebuilt trailer eventhough the manufacturer provides a
VIN plate and nice neat parts that are obviously prefabbed. I provided
the certificate that came with the trailer (that said "homemade
trailer" or something like that), and they went ahead and licensed it
as a home built trailer.

Also, I've licensed trailers as homebuilt when they were built from a
truck bed, or from parts of another trailer that had failed and
required siginificant (okay almost complete) rebuilding of everything
except the leafsprings.

As long as the #'s on your frame do not match up to a stolen or another
currently licensed trailer, they won't (and should not) question you.

"Arcadefreaque" wrote in message
oups.com...
I opted not to go this route myself, but just because it has
manufactured parts does not make "not homebuilt".

I do have a trailer that I bought from harborfreight as a kit. It is
licensed as a homebuilt trailer eventhough the manufacturer provides a
VIN plate and nice neat parts that are obviously prefabbed. I provided
the certificate that came with the trailer (that said "homemade
trailer" or something like that), and they went ahead and licensed it
as a home built trailer.

Also, I've licensed trailers as homebuilt when they were built from a
truck bed, or from parts of another trailer that had failed and
required siginificant (okay almost complete) rebuilding of everything
except the leafsprings.

As long as the #'s on your frame do not match up to a stolen or another
currently licensed trailer, they won't (and should not) question you.

I've built a couple of kit trailers over the years and had the same
experience....as well as helped a friend build one out of the remains of a
pick up.

"Ignoramus26831" wrote in message
.. .
I am in IL.

I bought a 12 foot boat with trailer at an "estate sale", for $120.

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/12-f...raft-Seafarer/

All we did was writing a "bill of sale" on a small piece of paper.

Now I am beginning to realize that I have to possibly go through a
mountain of paperwork to actually get title to the boat AND trailer.

Does anyone have any actual experience dealing with transfer of
boat/trailer titles etc?

i


You may not need a title for this size of boat. The State registration
numbers on the boat along with the bill of sale may be all you need to get a
new registration for it.

BTW: Why do you keep changing the numbers in your handle?

I have spent the good part of the morning trying to reach the DMV and
DNR on the phone, with no luck. I get either busy signals, or very
polite women who do not know anything and refer me to other, busy,
numbers. ....It looks like into this $120 boat, I will have to put $500
worth of
legal efforts and wasted time, PLUS FEES. ..."

Welcome to ILLINOIS!

Explain to the nice policeman that you re-built an old non-roadworthy
trailer....

Arcadefreaque wrote:
I opted not to go this route myself, but just because it has
manufactured parts does not make "not homebuilt".

I do have a trailer that I bought from harborfreight as a kit. It is
licensed as a homebuilt trailer eventhough the manufacturer provides a
VIN plate and nice neat parts that are obviously prefabbed. I provided
the certificate that came with the trailer (that said "homemade
trailer" or something like that), and they went ahead and licensed it
as a home built trailer.

Also, I've licensed trailers as homebuilt when they were built from a
truck bed, or from parts of another trailer that had failed and
required siginificant (okay almost complete) rebuilding of everything
except the leafsprings.

As long as the #'s on your frame do not match up to a stolen or another
currently licensed trailer, they won't (and should not) question you.

** I almost went this route last year when i bought a 19 foot sailboat
, 6hp Evinrude and roller trailer.
The original owner is French and lives in Quebec. He bought all new in
1986, moved all to a lake cottage and didn't move it. He never did
register the trailer (or boat)
Next he sells to a friend after using the boat 16 years. The friend puts
an old license plate on the trailer so he could bring it to his town and
just uses the boat on the St. Lawrence...at his doorstep. he doesn't
register anything. Two years later, this guy deceides he wants a bigger
sailboat and advertises my boat on the internet. I stumble onto the
add, travel 800 miles and try to negotiate in a foreign language. His
was foreign to me and mine to him. D'oh!
I buy the boat and trailer it through 3 provinces with the phony plate.
Then I tried to register the trailer in my home province...what a song &
dance. Took weeks and numerous e-mails...letters and phone calls to the
original owner...who of course is French.
It finally all came together and I got it registered properly.

"Stanley Barthfarkle" wrote in message
. ..
Explain to the nice policeman that you re-built an old non-roadworthy
trailer....



The cops are not going to question the title to a $1,200 package of a 12
foot fishing boat with trailer.......all with proper boat registration and
trailer tags, homebuilt or not.

I think they have better things to do than the question this legitimate
deal.

"Red Cloud®" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 16:06:38 GMT, Ignoramus26831
wrote:

I am in IL.

I bought a 12 foot boat with trailer at an "estate sale", for $120.

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/12-f...raft-Seafarer/

All we did was writing a "bill of sale" on a small piece of paper.

Now I am beginning to realize that I have to possibly go through a
mountain of paperwork to actually get title to the boat AND trailer.

Does anyone have any actual experience dealing with transfer of
boat/trailer titles etc?

i

I don't think it will amount to a "mountain" of paperwork. You may need to
get
the seller to sign and notarize something, but it's not the end of the
world.
Trying to make the trailer a "homebuilt" will create more of a hassle, as
it
will then need to get temp plates and be inspected, and then re-inspecdted
to
correct faults. That will no doubt involve jumping through a lot more
hoops than
playing it straight and getting the paperwork filled out properly.

My homebuilts were never even looked at, it was simply a matter of
writing a check to the DMV and getting the plate and tabs.



The boat will be even less complicated.

rusty redcloud