Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

rs2k · Jul 19, 2009

The previous owner of my boat and trailer had the trailer for 10 years without ever having it titled. I do not know if the owner before that ever had it titled, but I don't believe that person is still alive so I don't think it really matters.

Because of the weight of the boat, this trailer should be titled. Being a very big boat this is very obvious. The proper procedure in this state would be to have the previous trailer owner to get the title from the 2nd previous owner. This is not possible.

The previous owner went 10 years and thousands of miles without a trailer plate. I myself have put on hundreds of miles without any trouble, but I would feel a lot better with a tag hanging off the back of the trailer when I finally take it across the country. What about calling a 30 year old trailer homemade? I believe that all it would need is an inspection. Maybe I should just go on without a tag. It hasn't been an issue in the past.

The boat is good enough to warrant a new trailer, but that's sure a good waste of money when it's sitting on a good one now.

Jeep Man · Jul 19, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

Don't know where you are located. Rules are different depending on state or province. If the trailer has a Mfg. plate with name and serial #, DMV can trace last registered owner. If it has never been registered, you should have no problem. You just need ID and bill of sale. If there is no serial number, then it would be registered as Home Built. My old Easyloader was registered this way because the number was illegible.

outkast7222 · Jul 20, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

Around here MN boats and trailers are both sold routinely with out titles, the trailers is mostly becuase of our lifetime license for trailers and everybody figures if it has the sticker on it why transfer the registration on it and pay for the new license.

That beind said it is worth having it registered think about this scenario: Lets say you are sitting at a red light and some moron not paying attention comes up behind you and smacks your boat....you call the police to report the incident thinking it is his fault for rearending you....they check your brake lights to make sure they were working....so far so good....and then the cop goes to run the plate...bang illegal trailer, your now at fault for the accident because you had an un-registered trailer on the roadway.

I would check with the DMV in your state and see how hard it would be to get it titled, possibly as a home made trailer if you have to.

gostephen · Jul 20, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

not sure ware you are but here in Arizona its a pretty big fine if the cops catch your trailer not being registered(more than the inspection costs). if im not mistaken they can impound the trailer if they want. but it may be different ware you are.
i had a simmelier problem but i had a title but the numbers on the trailer where unreadable aset of number and letter punches fixed this

home made may be the way to go or maybe a salvage title

45Auto · Jul 20, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

What state are you in and what state did you buy the trailer in? Do you have a notarized bill of sale from the previous owner? There's several things you can do, depending on what state you are in.

jdsgrog · Jul 20, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

Yeah, it depends on what state you are in. In Wisconsin, registration is not required on trailers. Here in Illinois, it's required, but it seems easy enough to get it registered even without a title. If there is a tag, most likely the state can track the trailer. If there isn't, I'd get a bill of sale as a "homemade trailer" and try to register it under that.

JDP · Jul 21, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

Had a similar situation here in Colorado. Bought a boat and trailer from a guy that moved from South Dakota. Never registered the trailer in CO. Since the title he had was from out of state I had to get a VIN verification. VIN could not be read due to age. Had to send paperwork back and forth to Denver so they could verify the trailer was not stolen and a bunch of other crap. Cost me over $100. Then I went to the DMV to get the plates for my bike and was talking the lady about the trailer and all the trouble I was having and she said I could register the trailer as home made and get the plates that day and it only cost me $15. Then I finally got a letter from DMV main office in Denver saying the only option I had was to register trailer as home made. Already did this but was mad because it cost me $100 to find out something that the lady at the DMV in town told me for free. So if I were you I would try to just get it registered as a homemade trailer and leave it at that.

NJGman · Jul 21, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

I would say register it under weight. At least then you would have a plate on it and I don't know anyone who ever got questioned on the weight of a boat trailer. Here in NJ we can register a trailer home made and need no documentation if under 3,000 lbs.

fix_it · Jul 22, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

Do you have any friends in Kentucky? KY does not require tags, title, or registration for utility and boat trailers. If you bought it from KY, it would be legit.

jakebrake · Jul 22, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

if your state is really backwards and crappy, you must live here in pennsylvania

you would be able to file for a "reconstructed or homemade title" this is not an easy process, but it is possible, and not overly expensive. it will take a little while, and may require you to ...um, well,...fudge a few details about how you made it.

if you live in a state that doesn't suck, i'm sure they have a similar, less sucky procedure, because it doesn't involve the antichrist we call pendot...)Pa residents are currently nodding and sighing in pained agreement of the preceding statement.).

janpetemar · Aug 3, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

jakebrake said:
if your state is really backwards and crappy, you must live here in pennsylvania
you would be able to file for a "reconstructed or homemade title" this is not an easy process, but it is possible, and not overly expensive. it will take a little while, and may require you to ...um, well,...fudge a few details about how you made it.

if you live in a state that doesn't suck, i'm sure they have a similar, less sucky procedure, because it doesn't involve the antichrist we call pendot...)Pa residents are currently nodding and sighing in pained agreement of the preceding statement.).

Michigan is no better.....at least we changed our system to a lifetime trailer plate for a mere $200.00. The only thing we have to do is provide a manufacturer, model, serial number, and gvw to transfer from one trailer type to another.

64osby · Aug 4, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

You might have some headaches getting it registered, but if your INSURANCE COMPANY is like mine you can't insure it unless it has a plate.

In Michigan if you get pulled over w/o insurance for anything on the road its $300.00 min, plus a fine for no registration and plate if you don't have that.

TerryMSU · Aug 4, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

64osby... This is a boat trailer. Insurance is not required for trailers here in Michigan. License is.

I bought a trailer as part of a package, but the title did not list the trailer. I had to come up with the bill-of-sale, and the weight and they wanted the VIN number. I could not find the VIN, but they did not have a problem with that. If I recall correctly, they just issued me a number. For weight, this was a relatively light boat and trailer, so I just got a combined weight of 1025pounds and paid the minimum based on that weight (much less than $200, maybe $75 if I recall). Also, a title is only required for small boats when there is a lein on the boat. Since I did not take a loan out, there is no Lein. I had them de-title the boat. Now there is no title on the boat period.

Again, this is all here in Michigan. Your state probably will be different.

TerryMSU

64osby · Aug 4, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

TerryMSU - "This is a boat trailer. Insurance is not required for trailers here in Michigan."

I have 4 trailers I use one is for my boat. I know I have coverage on my three others, seperate line on my ins. I think I have it on my boat trailer. Makes me want to ask my Ins. guy.

If I launch my boat and someone comes along and smashes my trailer while its parked or I'm going home, If I have no ins. who or what pays?

Sorry not trying to get off subject.

rs2k - I think, in our state, smaller trailers do not need a title but they still require a plate. This can be do with a weight, bill of sale and vin.

tmcalavy · Aug 4, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

He's in Kansas...need to check with state/county authorities, you may be able to register it as homemade like we do here in Tejas. Searching the Kansas Parks/Wildlife or State Trooper web site should tell you whether it has to be titled. Don't know but my guess would be yes...used to live in Kansas and they love to collect the personal property tax on any/all vehicles, etc. Just about crapped my pants the first time I registered my 5 year old Buick there...almost $800. I lived under the radar with a Texas tag on my truck for a couple of years...driving back to Texas to keep the registration/inspection sticker alive there. Swapped trucks along the way and before we left there, the county/state actually had to refund some of my vehicle registration fee because I switched to a 30-year-old F100 the last year we were there...man, did I have a laugh at the DMV office. The fun tax is probably why PO's never titled/registered it.

henrye718 · Aug 7, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

Too much to read here but if no one mentioned it yet..

If your state is being a pain try another state around you to register it in. With their docs you can then transfer it to your state.

For instance in NJ all you need is a bill of sale. From anyone, doesnt have to be the owner. So just sell from wife to you and have that notorized and boom you have a legal trailer you can now transfer it to your state later on if you wish. The reason they do this is if you stole and sold it to someone you now are on the hook for stealing it cause DMV has the records of you selling it. Which will come up when the real owner reports it stolen, thats why they are so laxed on it.

Shadow66 · Aug 7, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

It should have a title or a certificate of origina regardless. Otherwise it could have been stolen...no matter how long he had it. Mine was just stolen on July 13th...and I'm sure years from now someone will ask a question like yours and think the owner was all legit. Did you look this trailer up to see if it's stolen?

rs2k · Aug 7, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

I highly highly highly doubt it was stolen. The boat is clean and the PO had the trailer and boat together on the loan paperwork, insurance, and previous bill of sale. I hope I didn't open a can of worms, but I have a call into the highway patrol to try and figure out what I need to do. A trooper already told me worse case is I need to get a new trailer for the boat.

By the way, I didn't have any trouble insuring the boat and trailer. You can't title a boat in Kansas no mater how much you want to. It's hard to believe that an old boat trailer worth one tenth of the boats value can be so much more difficult. If I had a spare few thousand dollars It'd be fun just go get new trailer and forget about it.

That's been a problem with almost all my boat purchases. The boat doesn't have or need a title so the previous owner never kept the trailer information. It's a bit more of a problem with a bigger boat.

I'm moving to Florida this winter. Any ideas on what I can do if I move there and haven't resolved this yet?

canyonrider · Aug 28, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

jdsgrog said:
Yeah, it depends on what state you are in. In Wisconsin, registration is not required on trailers. Here in Illinois, it's required, but it seems easy enough to get it registered even without a title. If there is a tag, most likely the state can track the trailer. If there isn't, I'd get a bill of sale as a "homemade trailer" and try to register it under that.

Other then "homemade wrought" how else is it easy in Illinois? I am getting the complete Illinois run around where they say one thing on the phone you go to the dept of idiots and they tell you something different. Shore land r uses a paper sticker to display the VIN number and after a few years it gets wet and comes off. What are you to do with no VIN number or title?

bigskiohio · Aug 28, 2009

Re: Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

i just said it was homemade.

Trailer doesn't have a title, tag or registration. Opinions?

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