Credit union won't provide financing without a trailer purchase ????

medic181075

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Jul 17, 2008
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I have been working tirelessly making a deal on a new Hurricane Sun Deck. Finally the dealership and I came to an agreement. I had them fax me the paperwork and I took a ride to the credit union to start the financing. It was here that I ran into just one more snag. The loan officer looked at the sales agreement and asked "where is the trailer?" I explained that there isn't one. I don't need one and it added $4,000 to the deal. I can't justify paying $4,000 for something that I am not going to use. I asked why. She explained that if they have to repo the boat, having a trailer makes it easier. I then explained that, if they have to repo it and I have a trailer, I can hide the boat. Without a trailer, it is stuck on a small lake and I have no way to move it. They will have no problem finding it. She is going to call the main office in the morning and try to get them to bend the rules for me.

Has anybody else ever heard of lenders requiring a trailer?
 

alldodge

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I have been working tirelessly making a deal on a new Hurricane Sun Deck. Finally the dealership and I came to an agreement. I had them fax me the paperwork and I took a ride to the credit union to start the financing. It was here that I ran into just one more snag. The loan officer looked at the sales agreement and asked "where is the trailer?" I explained that there isn't one. I don't need one and it added $4,000 to the deal. I can't justify paying $4,000 for something that I am not going to use. I asked why. She explained that if they have to repo the boat, having a trailer makes it easier. I then explained that, if they have to repo it and I have a trailer, I can hide the boat. Without a trailer, it is stuck on a small lake and I have no way to move it. They will have no problem finding it. She is going to call the main office in the morning and try to get them to bend the rules for me.

Has anybody else ever heard of lenders requiring a trailer?

Nope, but CU's just like banks all are different and make there own rules, its their money :pound: I almost lost it on that one. It's our money but they get to make the rules
 

keith2k455

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Jul 23, 2012
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Man, that floors me too. My cu made it a point to tell me that I didn't need a trailer. All make their own rules is true
 

MTboatguy

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Neither my bank or my CU will finance a boat purchase unless there is a trailer listed on the purchase order. So I gave up on using the boats for securing my purchases, I just get a signature loan against my account these days and pay it off early.
 

medic181075

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Jul 17, 2008
Messages
51
Update:

After explaining the situation to the credit union CEO, they will provide financing if I can provide a signed contract for winter storage at the lake. Their concern is that I will place the boat on a trailer that is owned by me. If they have to repo the boat and it is on my trailer, they would need to find a way to remove it from my trailer and place it on their trailer. They need to feel confident that, IF the boat is on a trailer, it is a trailer that they have legal rights to. I guess I understand after they explained it better.
 
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Mikeopsycho

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Wow! If my credit union treated me like that I'd be looking to bank elsewhere. What an insult!
 

smokeonthewater

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Makes me really glad that everything of mine really is mine.... I have no desire to run around in a boat that a bank has rights to.
 

MTboatguy

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None of the banks here locally will loan on a boat that does not have a trailer and we have a lot of boats in this area with one of the largest lakes west of the Mississippi. Like I said, which is the reason I don't use boats for collateral anymore.
 

JaCrispy

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Makes sense if you look at it from their perspective. If they repo the boat they need a way to move it around or re-sell it.
 

oldjeep

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Update:

After explaining the situation to the credit union CEO, they will provide financing if I can provide a signed contract for winter storage at the lake. Their concern is that I will place the boat on a trailer that is owned by me. If they have to repo the boat and it is on my trailer, they would need to find a way to remove it from my trailer and place it on their trailer. They need to feel confident that, IF the boat is on a trailer, it is a trailer that they have legal rights to. I guess I understand after they explained it better.

Kind of a strange deal. When I bought my boat last year my bank (US Bank) suggested that I make the 2 transactions separate and pay for the trailer in full so that they didn't have to lien the title on the trailer and the boat.
 
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ssobol

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Sep 3, 2010
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Even it you have a trailer, the CU can't make you keep the boat on it. You could launch the boat and lend the trailer to a friend for an indefinite period (or just hide the trailer in some storage lot). In any case, when they come to repo the boat there is still no trailer. You could get a used trailer somewhere for less $ and tell the bank you already have one and don't need to buy a new one for the boat.

When I financed my boat, the issue of whether it had a trailer never even came up.
 

MTboatguy

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ssobol, nobody said it was logical, as you said, just because you buy a trailer with the boat, does not mean they are going to be kept together. As many of us have found out the last few years, often time logic and banks do not go together.
 

cptrick3

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Apr 11, 2015
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Haven't had a trailer for the past 18 years and three boats. What do they do with big boats. Once owned a boat with a 13' beam. Didn't have a trailer for that either.
 

gm280

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Heck just pay cash and forget the CU's and banks. Then it is yours free and clear the moment you buy it... Works for me! Debt free for decades and cash IS the way to go.. You get better deals as well. :encouragement:
 

MTboatguy

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Heck just pay cash and forget the CU's and banks. Then it is yours free and clear the moment you buy it... Works for me! Debt free for decades and cash IS the way to go.. You get better deals as well. :encouragement:

I agree, I just get a signature loan against my accounts, no lien on my property and pay it off pretty quick, just keeps my credit in good shape with the C/U in case I find another house I want, or a major large purchase, that I don't want to pull out of the investment accounts. I can borrow through my C/U for a very low interest rate against my investment accounts and still come out a head on the small amount of interest I pay, my last loan was at 1.05% and I am still making about 2.7% on the account, so it is a net to me and if something happens I can still pay it off.
 

jkust

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Aug 2, 2008
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This is interesting...on my lake, pontoons are now the most common boat having taken over the bowrider class for popularity. Most just rent a trailer by the hour from the local marina twice per year for their pontoons. They must all be either paying cash or have banks/cu's with more lenient underwriting.
On the flip side, I'm attempting to buy an additional nearly new yet used boat with cash to add to the fleet and that has an equally frustrating set of problems...everyone is a misrepresenter or a flake. 'Excellent/like new condition' means something completely different to people selling. Having cash means essentially nothing these days.
 
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