boat registration

[minnesota wizards]

i got a old hull with bill of sale but the guy that sold it to me never put it his name so when i went to get registration they said they cant do it unless the guy he bought it from signed it well he is not going to be found so my question is there a way around this

 

[Shrike]

Re: boat registration

What state?
Maybe apply for lost title?

 

[oldjeep]

Re: boat registration

Um, sign it yourself?

 

[hunter0527]

Re: boat registration

+1 sign it yourself!

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: boat registration

+2 - the lady at our local DMV actually told me one time "Sir, we aren't signature experts - as long as it's signed, we're happy".

Sign it yourself, and had back in.

 

[109jb]

Re: boat registration

While signing it yourself may work, it is ILLEGAL. It is called forgery and is punishable by up to 3 years and $5000 in Minnesota.

The next posts will probably say "but who's goiing to know" or "who would ever check", or similar. Well just because you can probably get away with it doesn't change the fact that it is a crime and a felony at that.

As for what to really do, I can tell you what I had to do. I live in Illinois and bought a boat from a guy in Wisconsin. I didn't think they had titles on 16 foot boats but they did. The guy moved before I figured it out and I had no way to get a hold of him to get a title or to get him to sign anything else. Illinois DNR wouldn't do anything for me. At the instruction of Wisconsin DNR, I wound up seending a certified letter to the address that WI DNR had on file for the previous owner and of course it got returned. I took the UNOPENED returned letter to a WI DNR office and they opened it, saw what it said and issued me a Wisconsin title for the boat. In my case the letter basically said I bought a boat from you and you need to send me the signed title so I can transfer it to my name. Maybe something similar can be done in your case.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: boat registration

good points, JB.
Every state is different in this regard, and even within a state, it sometimes depends on the mood of the clerk. And the clerks can give inconsistent information. So any info from this forum from other jurisdictions would just be illustrative.

One work-around I've heard discussed here is to register it as "home made" as if it is the first title. For one thing, that's a false statement same as forging. For another, you lose your ability to register a serial number, make/model, etc. But ervery circumstance is different and I don't see a great moral failing in signing for the long-gone previous owner.

I bought a used boat recently and caught crap from the DMV clerk b/c my bill of sale did not have the trailer's serial number AND COLOR on it--even though I had the properly signed-over title (same as a car's). I don't think I even need a bill of sale in the first place and thought I was doing OK by getting one! I eventually sweet-talked her into letting it go. I mention this as an example--anything can happen even if you follow the rules.