FREE BOAT!!! but... issues...

I live in Middle TN, but my in-laws bought a place down on the TN River in Northern AL last year. The previous owner left this boat (pictured below) and a garbage trailer on the property when he left. After several email communications to set up times to come pick it up, he failed to do so. Finally, he said to keep it. One problem... it hasn't been titled since 1997 and there is no title to speak of. I'm wondering how much trouble it's going to be to get it registered and titled? Does anybody have any experience with this sort of thing? I don't want to invest any money or time on something I won't be able to use legally. Any advice is appreciated.

Looks like a nice boat and worth the time and effort to get it legal.

You have contact with the previous owner....that's half the battle.

Not sure how TN works, but in IL, you fill out a "power of attorney" form, which basically says, you're the new owner.
This form needs to be signed by the previous owner, and presto whammo....a title, and registration should come in the mail.

Kick the guy a 20$ for his time, and see if he'll sign the papers for you.

IL is basically the corruption capital of the United States, and people lose titles all the time. (if TN needs a title, I'm not sure).

If registration is all you need down there, I'd think it'd be super easy....probably just need the other guys signature on something, and they'll send you the new registration in your name....most of the time, the states' just want your money.

1) Write up bill of sale
2) Get previous owner to sign it
3) Take to registration (not sure what it is down there)
4) ???
5) Profit.

Edit - I mis-read the part about the paperwork. If I'm reading it correct, it's already been registered once. If that's the case, the registering dept would have to have paperwork on it somewhere in their system. That'd be the first place I'd look - then use whatever they could give me to contact those in charge of titles to start getting that swapped around.

Then the whole ???? and Profit.

Regestering a boat in Tennessee is about as easy as it gets, atleast it was 3 years ago.

I got a boat that had sat for atleast 12 years in a yard. No old reg stickers or anything. Wrote a bill of sale with our full names, date, and hin number. Took longer waiting in line at the tag place than it took for them to take my money and give me the papers

Hope its still that easy over there

Loggerhead Mike said:

Regestering a boat in Tennessee is about as easy as it gets, atleast it was 3 years ago.

I got a boat that had sat for atleast 12 years in a yard. No old reg stickers or anything. Wrote a bill of sale with our full names, date, and hin number. Took longer waiting in line at the tag place than it took for them to take my money and give me the papers

Hope its still that easy over there

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Thanks for the info! Very encouraging to say the least. I'm going to try and get in touch with the previous owner today.

Worst case I would imagine you could register it as a homeade boat if all else fails. Not 100% about that though.

You can get an abandoned boat title in MD for situations just like this.

In Alabama it's easier to register an abandoned boat if it doesn't have any numbers.

If it has a Hull ID, contact DMV/Marine Police and see if it's been registered. If not, get a bill of sale from property owners, and go get it registered.

If it does not have a hull ID, contact Marine police, Issue new Hull ID, Get Bill of sale from property owners, and go get it registered.

If it has numbers, or Hull ID came back to an owner you must have bill of sale from last registered owner. Or even worse a title in some states.. If it's been 10-15years since last registration, usually tag office will let you slide... Still need a Bill of sale so they know how much to tax you.

It is a felony to forge signatures on official documents, so it wouldn't be worth creating a song and dance. You could ask permission and usually previous owner will submit to prevent a hassle. If there aren't any numbers on that boat, of if there is and they don't come back to previous property owner contacting him would be a waste of time. Pre-72'? Boats were not required by law to have HIN so if it's older don't be surprised not to find one.

Boats only require registration if they are powered by a motor in public water. Bill of sale for boats in my state require HIN,Reg#,Owners Name and sometimes address where it was last registered, amount and date it was sold, also two witnesses.

Think I've gotten at least 5 or 6 boats through the process that were lost in translation or never registered. It's not a difficult process surprisingly in this state though I wound not spend a dime on it until legally its your property.

Make a phone call to the registering authority in the state and ask them what you need to do. Boat looks like it would be worth a little of your time to make it yours.

Loggerhead Mike said:

Regestering a boat in Tennessee is about as easy as it gets

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I agree. My first boat, an old 1960's 12' SeaKing, was no problem. Make sure your hull doesn't have a HIN (pre 1973'ish) and claim your boat as abandoned. They will make a new title for you.

*Update* After talking to employees at both the Tennessee wildlife resources agency and the Alabama marine police, I think it's going to be easier than expected As long as there is no HIN on the boat anywhere [-o< , I can just get my father in law to give me a bill of sale like he is selling me the boat. Then, I can submit a new HIN request to the wildlife agency and register the boat with the new number. As recommended by the Alabama marine police, I'll just make sure that the old registration decals on the boat from 1997 disappear :lol: I was shocked how friendly and helpful the employees at both agencies were. Let the mods begin :wink: