need help with trailer and boat registration

[zaroba]

looking into getting the boats and trailer registered, but am running into a snag.

mainly, it register a boat or trailer in pa, you need to be able to show proof of ownership. i don't have this for either of the boats or the trailer, unless they will accept emails from the people saying i can have them. the people i got them from didn't have this either.

the guy i got the motorboat from got it from his boss 5 years ago and never had the registration moved over and never used it. its registration expired in 1997. might be able to track down his boss to have that fixed, but with it being expired for more then 10 years, i wonder if its even on file with the state anymore..

the harder thing is the trailer and the other small boat. the father of the guy i got them from bought the boat and trailer at a yard sale a few years ago and gave them to him. they tried to get the registration and title moved over but the previous owner never completed it. the sticker on the boat is too faded to see the year it expired in, but the registration sticker on the trailers plate is from 2000. tracking him down will probably be impossible. "hey, where did the guy live that had that yard sale a few years ago where you got that boat from?" lol.


so, what would be the best route to get both boats and the trailer registered without any proof of ownership or other past info on them? should i just tell them the above and hope they accept it? or will the law be against me in it?

there are forms to register a boat that was abandoned on private property, and we are good friends with somebody who owns a large farm. what if we said he found them on an unused field and he gave them to us? would that work better?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: need help with trailer and boat registration

what about registering home made? we do that in Florida.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: need help with trailer and boat registration

You shouldn't have too much trouble with the boat in PA. I got mine with no title or current registration or anything but it had PA numbers on it. They looked it up and sent the previous owner a letter to make sure it wasn't stolen. In the meantime I was given temp registration stickers. Believe it or not they couldn't have been more helpful at Fish & Boat. The trailer though, I've heard that's a whole other story. We just use the plate and registration from an older trailer we had that rusted into the earth. I believe you can do homemade though but you have to take a bunch of pictures and other hassle-y things.

 

[Nandy]

Re: need help with trailer and boat registration

I know in NC you cant do the home made unless it is really home made as the DMV will inspect it and believe me, they can tell. The abandon vessel might work, but maybe there are better options for your state. Also, there is a service where they get it register for you but it cost over 150.00. Good luck...

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: need help with trailer and boat registration

Here in delaware for your trailer, the policy is this: (i did not have title for my trailer in DE). Here in DE 1 Wednesday of the month the state police are at the the motor vehicle "recheck lane" for just this type of a thing. They do trailers with no titles and campers and such. I took my trailer that i had no title for there and they found the VIN (somehow, as i could not find it!!!!) and ran it. It did not come back as stolen took 2 min.. They then came out with a stamper thing and stamped a new VIN on the tounge of the trailer. Gave me some papers and sent me inside. Costed me 25 bucks for 3 years!