No HIN what to do?

I posted earlier about a boat Im looking at and the owner has no title. he recieved it from a guy who owed him money. i was asking him more about it and have now found out that it doesn"t have a HIN either. its 18ft 60in width, would it be hard to register it as homemade in ?lorida? thank you before hand for any info

I would call the registry, they will let you know. You might have to title the boat differently without a HIN and then have it inspected for safety. Each state varies.

Start by checking Florida laws on abandoned property. Every state is different and this will save you all the effort of checking, only to have someone come forward and claim the boat at the end. Each state can assign an HIN but first you are going to have to go through the routine for abandoned property. Here's a link to the FL application form for certificate of title.

Then check the Coast Guard's Vessel Documentation Search By Name, or call the Coast Guard Doc Center. They have all the records for documented boats and can do a search.

Boats manufactured or imported on or after August 1, 1984, are federally mandated to have a duplicate secondary HIN affixed somewhere on an unexposed location inside the boat or beneath a fitting or item of hardware.

I believe that in Florida if you have bill of sale you can sign affidavit stating that the HIN # is not available and the boat is not stolen, and get it registered. But you might need something with the seller's signature too.

HTH.

If it was built before 1971 it might not have a HIN.

Here's the Florida registration info.....

https://www.boatingbasicsonline.com/content/general/3_7_a.php?new_state=FL