buying boat out state problem

kevinlboat

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Sep 20, 2019
Messages
15
hi everyone, need some help
i from ohio brought a boat from old couple in maryland
i have the tittle tranfer to me. with a bill of sale
so i went back to ohio, try to get the tittle at the court house..
for some reason the bill of sale signature did not match ( because the husband sign , not the wife
so the court house said they wond let me get the tittle .. i try to contact the seller get a new bill of sale. she give a hard time. saying i lair and try to do stupid thing on my end.
she did not want give me the new bill of sale and dont want to deal with me..
i try go get the help from the ohio court house . they said is not their problem. is my
i try many time to call the seller, now she do not want anything to do with it...
can anyone give me some idea . what i do next
if without the bill of sale from her, i cant get the boat register and title in ohio.
thanks
 

alldodge

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Mar 8, 2009
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Would need more info as to everything which transpired. Right now just don't understand why someone would have trouble signing something again.

Don't know the laws of Ohio or Maryland but if all else fails might have to file a law suit
 

RE2Master

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Sep 18, 2019
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8
If the couple are married and the boat is only in her name then if your state wont recognize the bill of sale then go back to their state and file for title. If they have an issue at least there you have a better chance with legal action against the couple if they do not comply.
 

kevinlboat

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Sep 20, 2019
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thank for all the information. they are very old , the way they think is im trick them... they told me , everything done on that day is done. they do not want anything to do with it..and when i look for boat sell on face book. her grand kid is the one post the sell.. now she even block me on face book.. im so sad right now.not sure what im going to do with it.the only hope is i try to contact the court house . she said she will send there but im not sure .or trust it her .. if she not send to them. what im going do...i just dont want go to the legal action. i dont know anything about legal action.. what are the step. i need to do.please help
all i know is. just use my saving for the boat . buy it with a good price, i just want like people register the boat and have some fun. now is trouble after trouble . so sad :blue::blue::blue:
 

Silvertip

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Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,758
In most states it is illegal to sell a titled vehicle or boat if your name is not on the title. So the bill of sale is invalid in this case if I understand you correctly. Your best bet is to go back to the state where the boat was originally registered and show them your documentation. A couple of things may happen. 1) they may issue an "Owners Duplicate of Title" which may be called something different in those states. The seller would then be forced to provide a new bill of sale with the proper signature. 2) Maryland may contact the seller to instruct them to provide a new bill of sale with the proper signature. Regardless, I think your best chances to get this taken care of is to deal with the Maryland pleading that this was an improper sale because the signatures were wrong.

Unfortunately way to many folks look at title, bills of sale too lightly and run into exactly this type of trouble. Always pay attention to detail on legal matters like titles.
 

froggy1150

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Nov 3, 2017
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796
Also if the one person who signed the transfer was not on the title signed for their spouse that would be forgery and fraud. Both crimes and possible felonies
 

Texasmark

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Dec 20, 2005
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14,544
I agree that you contact your issuing agency and ask what your options are, since it's an out of state purchase, agencies on both ends. In Texas Texas Parks and Wildlife handle the boat-motor title transfers and the county tax assessor handles the trailer registration. You can apply for a lost title if the previous owner can't seem to locate their title(s) but the PO has to request that and then there is another avenue and just now I can't recall it where you can show adequate proof of a legitimate (good faith) transaction gone bad and the state can issue a special title that has to be renewed every 3 years or something of the sort.

Patience and courtesy........goes a long way. Good luck. I just went through the purchase without a title thing because the PO elder had misplaced his titles. Bought from a dealer and the dealer worked the problem and finally got it solved. I had contacted the associated agencies and found out what my options were if the dealer was unsuccessful....but they were. One reason I bought from a dealer....I know that part doesn't apply to you...just what happened in my case.

Patience and courtesy...........Good luck.
 

dingbat

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Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,417
Good luck getting Maryland involved......lol

Maryland is a title State. Completing the application for reassignment of title is part of sales process.

To be a valid transfer, the Title must to be signed by the parties noted on the title, accompanied by a valid bill of sale.

No if, and or buts. They are very strict on this. You will be turned away at the reception desk w/o valid documentation.

In the eyes off Maryland, the sale is invalid without said documents. They will not get involved in third party disputes
 

kevinlboat

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Sep 20, 2019
Messages
15
this is my first time. buying a boat i have no experience . all i know give them the money . they said here the tittle and i write my name down . they give me a bill of sale . but i did not know . the husband sign the signature is different.
soon drive like 6 hours back, the next day . i run to the ohio court house get the tittle . they said cant accept this.
i try so many time try to reach the seller. finally i got her on the phone. they talk to her. .they said only way they can do it . need a new bill of sale from the seller.. they told me send her and self envelop with my address on .. so she can send back to me...i run to the post office do that... 2 day later i told her the envelop will arrive , can you please send me the new bill of sale.... she said is your problem at your end not my...and told me dont even want talk to me any more.. i try to reach out her grand kid that post the boat on sale on Facebook. she even block me . saying she dont want a part of this.

i know she dementia.. she do not remember this she do.. last time i try to talk to her . she told me i steal her husband signature for the bill of sale..
finally i got so mad tear off the bill of said that not sign her.. but i still have a copy on my phone..
the court house said is my responsibility to get all the paper work. and tell me they cant help me...
i very sad . did not eat dinner for couple day.. try to find the best solution .... i dont want to deal with her again..if i dont have too.. im waiting see if she can send me a new bill of sale... what if she dont send me anything ?
should i take the boat back to maryland try to get my money back. what if she dont want give me my money back. what is should do ..? it take almost 6 hour to get there. and 6 more hour to get back.
 
Last edited:

dingbat

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Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,417
this is my first time. buying a boat i have no experience . all i know give them the money . they said here the tittle and i write my name down . they give me a bill of sale . but i did not know . the husband sign the signature is different.
soon drive like 6 hours back, the next day . i run to the ohio court house get the tittle . they said cant accept this.
i try so many time try to reach the seller. finally i got her on the phone. they talk to her. .they said only way they can do it . need a new bill of sale from the seller.. they told me send her and self envelop with my address on .. so she can send back to me...i run to the post office do that... 2 day later i told her the envelop will arrive , can you please send me the new bill of sale.... she said is your problem at your end not my...and told me dont even want talk to me any more.. i try to reach out her grand kid that post the boat on sale on Facebook. she even block me . saying she dont want a part of this.

i know she dementia.. she do not remember this she do.. last time i try to talk to her . she told me i steal her husband signature for the bill of sale..
finally i got so mad tear off the bill of said that not sign her.. but i still have a copy on my phone..
the court house said is my responsibility to get all the paper work. and tell me they cant help me...
i very sad . did not eat dinner for couple day.. try to find the best solution .... i dont want to deal with her again..if i dont have too.. im waiting see if she can send me a new bill of sale... what if she dont send me anything ?
should i take the boat back to maryland try to get my money back. what if she dont want give me my money back. what is should do ..? it take almost 6 hour to get there. and 6 more hour to get back.
As I said earlier, Md is a title state. Until you have valid signatures of on the parties listed on the face of the title, it wasn’t a valid transfer in the eyes of the State.

Tearing up the bill of sale did you no favors. At this point, your only option is to get your lawyer involved
 

alldodge

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Sounds like your on the up and up, but with dementia and family also mad, did you get the boat really cheap?
 

kevinlboat

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Sep 20, 2019
Messages
15
i buy for 3500,cash on that day.
yes the tittle is sign by the owner.
i just contact Maryland DNR again, she told me they also need bill of sale from her..
i try to get help from Maryland but not sure this will going well
the only hope is she will give me bill of sale..
this so bad . i hope no one out there will get this problem on there end ..
im so frustrating right now. not sure what step i should do if she do not remember the sell or the bill of sell :blue::blue::blue::blue::blue::blue:
 

briangcc

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Jul 10, 2012
Messages
2,090
I am not offering this as advice, only personal experience...

I bought a shell of a 1980 Pontiac Firebird out of PA which happens to be a title state AND they require the title to be notarized to be transferred. I did that with the owner on the title. What I didn't notice was the seller was NOT the owner of the car so the Bill of Sale I filled out (didn't require a signature in NY that I recall) raised some flags when I went to the DMV in person. So...the rep looked at me, and handed me a new Bill of Sale to complete in front of her with the name of the person on the title (see above - this was a notarized title signed by the owner, in person, with the Notary). Went right through after that. No muss, no fuss.


So...you have the signature on the title that needs to match the Bill of Sale. Connect the dots your registering authority wants and move on...
 

kevinlboat

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Sep 20, 2019
Messages
15
just got email back from Maryland. they said i cant not help me send her anything...
they told me to send her a register mail. ? i will do that with no problem . but what about she not reply ...
she already told me . dont want anything to do with me ..
 

kevinlboat

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Sep 20, 2019
Messages
15
thank i got that .but this is only do by the seller only. if she dont want to do that . i cant force her ..
 

kevinlboat

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Sep 20, 2019
Messages
15
the trailer dont have any tittle . in ohio you dont need title for trailer. i just got the trailer notary. only the boat is problem.. been contact the maryland department.. still waiting for them..
 
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