Trailer title in Indiana

[jlgab345]

We just got our first boat and finally received the title in the mail today. Seller is from Ohio and says that they never titled the trailer (it's the original glastron trailer that was packaged with boat).

Does anyone know if we will need a trailer title in Indiana to make registration legal? If so, how are we going to get a title?

Guess we can call the DMV in the morning but of course we want to know now

Thanks!

 

[scca vette]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

We just got our first boat and finally received the title in the mail today. Seller is from Ohio and says that they never titled the trailer (it's the original glastron trailer that was packaged with boat).

Does anyone know if we will need a trailer title in Indiana to make registration legal? If so, how are we going to get a title?

Guess we can call the DMV in the morning but of course we want to know now

Thanks!

Yes the trailer has to be titled here in Indiana. If the title was filled out buy never used you are OK except you might have to pay a late fee.

 

[jlgab345]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

Thanks! I'm assuming the DMV will be able to tell us if it has been filled out?

This is going to be very dissapointing if we have to wait WEEKS to get something sorted out with the trailer title!

 

[scca vette]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

Thanks! I'm assuming the DMV will be able to tell us if it has been filled out?

This is going to be very dissapointing if we have to wait WEEKS to get something sorted out with the trailer title!

Thre should be a area on the title that showes "seller" along with a purchase price and date. Look and see if that area is filled out.

 

[jlgab345]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

The seller only sent us the boat title. He said he never had a title for the trailer...and didn't need it in ohio. So we have no trailer title. There's nothing on the boat title that indicates anything to do with a trailer

 

[christal]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

This is something I know a little bit about. What you will have to do is go to the BMV and get a VIN number form then have a local police officer come to your house and look up the VIN to make sure it is not stolen and have him fill out the form, and if I'm not mistaken take it to the BMV and that should be enough to get a clear title for the trailer, if you have a bill of sale that will come in handy as well.

 

[scca vette]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

This is something I know a little bit about. What you will have to do is go to the BMV and get a VIN number form then have a local police officer come to your house and look up the VIN to make sure it is not stolen and have him fill out the form, and if I'm not mistaken take it to the BMV and that should be enough to get a clear title for the trailer, if you have a bill of sale that will come in handy as well.

You are correct however I think the VIN should already be on the trailer somewhere and they just need to pick up the blank form from the DMV and then call the police to check it as you described.

Another "tip" for Indiana DMV is that you can go to any of them and get plates for your county. I drive to the the next small county (Tipton) where my dad lives and they are a lot easier going and very helpfull when it comes to odd situations with titles or plates. Sometimes the small town DMV's are more helpfull then the larger ones around here.
Good Luck!

 

[scca vette]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

OH FYI! If the boat is also from out of state you will have to have the police do a VIN check on that also. Tell them at the DMV that you need to do a title transfer for the boat from out of state and they will give you the form for that also. The police officer can chack both while he is there.

 

[jlgab345]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

We already had the state police do a vin check on both the boat and trailer...so hopefully we are good! Wish us luck registering it today!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

well in ohio trailers ARE required to haave a title but if you were to have an indiana bill of sale with the name address and signature of anyone in kenntucky "who sold you the trailer" then all you need is a police inspection and indiana will issue you a title because Kentucky does not require titles or tags on non commercial trailers.... The seller in ohio would have recieved a certificate of origin if they had purchased it new. You could also check with the manufacturer to see if they will send you a certificate of origin... Indiana will not issue you a title for a trailer purchased in a state that does require titles.

The Ky thing isn't quite right but works quite well... You need to use an official IN bill of sale since it does not need to be notarized and then pick a town and find a cheap motel for an address...

 

[jlgab345]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

oh crap! I wish I had read that last post about 20 min ago! The hubby is on the way to the DMV now!

 

[thunder219]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

I went through this about 15 years ago and just ended up saying it was home made and the bmv issued me a new vin that I had to stamp on the trailer. The police had to come out, check it again and took that paper back to the bmv and it was done. I dont know how much things have changed since then. It was a hassle, but after a few trips to the bmv, I knew the police officer so I didnt have to wait on him. Hopefully it wont take long for you to get it sorted out.

 

[jlgab345]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

Our first try with a non-nortorized bill of sale from OH didn't work. Our offical IN bill of sale from the DMV with a KY seller worked like a dream We got to take our new boat out today!

We had one challenge...a pretty important hiccup. We broke the locking mechanism on the winch broke off completely when we accidentally turned the wench handle the wrong way. That was fun trip home!

Thanks so much for the advice!

 

[nimmor]

Re: Trailer title in Indiana

I have found the easiest method is to register it as homemade.