Eddie wrote:
Ok, this may be really dumb on my part, knowing that if I sell my
house and carry the note and it defaults, I know they can't take the
house somewhere. But I've been offered a monthly plan with 15% down
on my $17,000 Regal. Payments for 4 years with 6% interest.
The person is a professional with a good paying job and I have
everything from him to check such as personal references, work
references, and rent references. He claims he's been a victim of
identity fraud and thus unable to finance through a bank.
My gut feeling is the guy is ok, my daughter says no. She says let
him fix the current financial problem, wait 6 months or so and if I
still have the boat, get him to try financing with a bank.
Anyone out there with an opinion? And yes, I would keep the title.
But there is the chance that he could just motor on down to Mexico or
whatever, right?
How easy is it to get away with boat theft? Do the hull numbers mean
anything? Could one simply trailer it to another state and get some
kind of registration?
Thanks for any insights and help on this matter.
Eddie

Assuming the guy's story is legit, (5% chance), and he's really an
honest, upstanding,
hardworking responsible person who only has cruddy credit due to
"identity theft," you still want nothing, nothing, nothing to do with
this transaction.

Everytime the boat breaks or needs something replaced, count on hearing
"I can't or won't make my payment unless this repair gets handled...."
(That's in the unlikely event that he even intends to pay you at all).

If you're going to have to fix everything that breaks, you might as
well keep it an enjoy it rather than let somebody else enjoy it while
he cons you into fixing it....and probably walks away from the whole
enchilada next fall or winter anyway.

Be aware that there are a number of states that don't even require
boats to be titled.
If he hauls your boat to one of those states, he can get a
"registration" with nothing but a forged bill of sale from a fictitious
individual in another non-title state. He can then sell the boat to
somebody in that same state, and odds are that until and unless
somebody tries to register the boat in yet another state that requires
a proper title trail you would never hear from the guy or see your boat
ever again.

Take it from a guy who chased probably about $1mm worth of automobile
collateral all over the country over a five year period of time- the
cops don't care and won't help you. Even *if* you can find the boat
following a default, the local police will tell you it's "a civil
matter" and do nothing to help you. (The good news is, if they know
what's going on in advance, they will often turn a blind eye while you
literally steal your own property back).
Then there's always the chance that the boat will be wrecked, if and
when you find it.

Run, Forrest, run! :-)