Selling my boat and ran into a snag. I never got the title when I paid it off. Only have the trailer title. Need some help/opinions

[NewBoater]

Guys I’m not sure what to do for a quick transaction? I’ve got someone ready to move forward on my boat. I’m in Virginia he’s in Georgia. Not sure what rules are for each state with titles. Can’t call DMV till Tuesday because of the holiday. The boat has been paid off since new in 2015 but when we got title in mail and wife put it in safe she didn’t even notice it was the trailer title. She never recalls getting another one so that’s all we ever got. Can we do a sale with just me making a bill of sale and maybe notarized with us signing it at the bank where we would do the cashiers check? Any help or info on what’s best route to go here would be great. DMV website says 8-12 weeks for a replacement title and I have no interest in waiting that long as he’s ready to move forward now. Thanks!

 

[tdonoughue]

Can't speak to your state, but...

Usually the DMV/Tax Offices have one of them to which you can go (in person) and can walk out with a duplicate title. Might take you a few hours and the scheme may have changed with COVID and all. But I would look into that.

As to what you need in order to do the transaction, that is really up to the buyer and you. If he/she is comfortable just taking a bill of sale, you can do that. Risk of course is that the state still shows it in your name, so if it turns up run into the middle of a house or something (or has taxes due or a citation), they will come looking for you.

Ultimately you will need to get a duplicate title and sign that over and they will need to record that, of course.

 

[DaytonFlyer1068]

I live in Georgia and bought my boat from North Carolina last October. When I registered here I had to provide the title and bill of sale to register my boat. I have heard that you can get by with just the bill of sale tho since Georgia is an E-title state and will just issue the buyer a new title number. The buyer should be able to call Tuesday morning and ask (I believe tomorrow is a government holiday).

 

[meegwell]

Write up a contract contingent on delivery of the signed-over title. If all is legit this shouldn't be a problem. Order your replacement title then sign and Fedex it when it arrives. I had a somewhat similar situation with a dirt bike recently I didn't realize I did not have the title (Virginia). Got a new one within a week in time for the sale. I think if you lay out all the terms and have signatures/ID phots etc. it should be fine. ...not legal advice

 

[Elliott]

He only needs a Bill of Sale (meeting the requirements listed on the website) to register the boat in Georgia. You can send him the title later, which he might want for other reasons. The website has a hyperlink to an example of a conforming bill of sale.

Boat Registration | Department Of Natural Resources Division

Transaction fees are subject to change and will be adjusted to the following effective August 16, 2022. Online recreational license transaction fee - $3.00, online boat registration transaction fee - $10.00, optional hard card price - $6.00, and state transactional discount for renewing certain...

georgiawildlife.com

 

[PaulyB]

You need to contact the VDGIF and get the title. They are much less busy then the DMV and should be able to help you quickly. Where in VA are you?

 

[rad1026]

That's so funny, the exact same thing happened to me. Must have just thrown the title in the safe when I paid it off not noticing I didn't have the boat title. Luckily I had the original boat title application that my local DMV used to reissue a duplicate title. Only took a few minutes but boy did I feel dumb.

 

[NewBoater]

We ended up just needing a bill of sale and the card from the registration for the boat and he was good for his state