If I pay the lien wouldn't the titles go straight to me? What could go wrong?

No, they will go to the owner of record.

If you do it at his bank that can be set up. If you let the owner take care of it you basically just pay his boat off and he still has the titles.

I thought someone said that if I paid the lien myself through my bank the title would go to my bank

The way it should play out is you drive to Dallas to look at boat take test drive get mechanic to check it out. Then you 2 will ride in his car to bank. He goes to counter gets pay-off you pay pay-off , titles in his name after bank signs off and mails them to him. Then you and him can work on transferring the title to you TPWD for boat & motor, your county tax collector for trailer . You will be paying title transfer fees & taxes 6.25% if you think about an under value sale for tax purposes TPWD has a anti-theft unit.

Unless I get the title in hand right after purchase I am not going to do it. The seller want's the money first and then is going to pay off the title he owes the bank (bank has title not seller) before giving me the title. This means he would have to get the title and during that time I have nothing. For me that is to much of a risk especially if I do not know the person.

Good luck. The titles will have his name on them until it is transferred to you by Texas Parks and Wildlife.

You guys act like you’re just handing him the money and walking away. Do the proper paperwork, do to the bank together, get a copy of his id, signature, witness signature, notary if it makes you feel comfortable. It’s really easy.

But.... to the op I don’t think you should go forward with it. You don’t seem comfortable or experienced in this kind of thing.

Will his bank send a “draft” to your bank with the titles enclosed. It his basically how every car is sold.

Thanks for the input guys, I am going to be patient and look elsewhere. If anyone knows someone needing to sell an 2016-2019 fiberglass or aluminum 17-19 foot boat from 15k to 22k feel free to let me know. Thanks!

US Bank as lien holder would have the titles. They won’t be at a branch for a big bank.You would have to do a bill of sale and the loan get paid off and the bank releases the lien on the title. Have them transferred.

This can all get sticky if it’s a scam. No way would I pay him cash. Cashiers check. If it’s not on the up and up then it gets to really be a legal PIA.

If you go to the bank with him they know how to do the deal correctly.

I had a dealer sell a boat for me. He did it quick but the $11,000 check he wrote to the Credit Union bounced. He delivered my boat to the guy he sold it to. At one point I had no boat and owed the credit union $10,000. I thought I might be screwed and just have to continue paying. However the DA’s office doesn’t take writing a $10,000 bad check lightly. I told him he had 24 hours to show with the cash or at his bank with a check I could cash.. He showed. I paid off the boat and everything ended ok.

your bank can set up a wire transfer to pay off the loan, his bank sends your bank the titles with his signature release of lien. he has to sign the titles and tell his bank what is going on and set up his end, usually just a person your bank has to call/email.

plan b. is you both go to his bank, he signs off to you and you pay his bank on the spot, they give you a release of lien and you go to tpwd for transfer.

either way you set it up at the bank/banks first so they are ready to transfer things. even with no lien I went to sellers bank when I bought in mo. and had them notarize all 3 titles and bills of sale. always cya

people make this a lot harder than it has to be.

This guy knows.

Every boat I have ever bought, I got the title along with the boat and keys....before I drove away. Period.

Its just how person to person is done. Just sold mine, we wired part of it to me, his bank paid off the remainder. My banks waits for payment and several business days later send the bank the titles. A signed bill of sale is very powerful.