BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - question[s] about buying boats with no titles

Chuck Gould

wrote:

Some states consider boats " miscellaneous personal property" rather
than "vessels" and don't issue titles, but most states will issue a
registration so that they have a means to collect tax. No documented
vessel has a state title, but nearly all in the US will have a state
registration, once again for tax purposes.

If there's no title, it wouldn't be overly cautious to ask to see a
current registration and to confirm that the registered state is a
"non-title" state for boats.

Is the boat on a trailer? It may be that the trailer has a vehicular
title in a state, even if the boat is considered personal property and
does not.

Be really careful. It wouldn't hurt to run the HIN past the license
departments of a few neighboring states to see if there is a record
there. What you don't want to do would be to pay $20,000 for a used
boat and then have some bank from a neighboring state with an
unsatisfied lien show up and tow it away........