Ive been going through hell on a boat I purchased so I thought I would lend some common sense advice that I didn't follow leading to this.

Short version: Don't EVER buy a boat unless the titles are in the hand of the Registered Owner.

Long Version:

I bought this boat from a guy who was not the registered owner. He said he knew the owner he called "The Old man" and that he was getting replacement titles because he had lost them. He promised that as soon as they arrived the owner would sign them and get them to me ASAP.

This individual took my calls for about 2 weeks, even helped me get the new stickers by getting the owner to sigh the renewal paperwork and send it to me to take in and pay/get stickers.... then he completely shut off on me.

For a long time now I have been dealing with TWPD trying to get a bonded title.

This consist of filling out about a dozen forms, chasing down two old liens that were on the boat by a bank that had gone out of business, sending a registered/certified letter to the registered owner, mailing it all in along with a Bill of sale made out by this individual and a few back and fourths due to me not filling it out completely properly. I am in the evaluation process and once/ IF they approve a bonded title I will have to go get 2 appraises on the boat and pay a 100.00 fee and THEN The boat will be mine.

I am so livid at myself for putting me in this position. The boat is great but this is a nightmare. What really pissed me of is that the NEW lien holder was able to get a hold of the registered owner and talk with him and he wont help AT ALL. though at least he doesn't claim ownership of the boat.

I still have not been able to get a hold of this person, although I did find him on Myspace and sent him an email. I told him that TPWD was about to look at him for Tax evasion, which is true, and that if he wanted to avoid a lot of flak he better call the registered owner and me to get this straightened out... I even offered to pay the transfer taxes so it doesn't cost him any money.


ARGH...

Don't buy a boat unless the registered owner has the titles in hand!

I went thru the same thing, almost exactly same thing. The prev owner had a lien in Oregon and I tried for months to get it straightened out. I finally just sold the boat, BUT I did tell the guy why i was selling and that i did not have a title. I passed all the info I had on to him, and sold it cheap because I was tired of the head ache.

I am also going through this right now, except mine is registered to a company, and has had two owners since that never got it switched. I know how you feel.

Not everyone's a crook.

I'm trying to sell my boat and I don't have the title on it. It is with the finance company. They say that they don't release the title (paperwork) until 10 days after they receive the final payment.

So, don't expect to have the title immediately after payment. I'm not sure what the best way to handle it would be.

Dan

Dan - You should have the title even if there's a lien on the boat. The title would have the lien holder's info. Once final payment is recieved they should issue a lien release so you can get a clear title. If you don't have the title how do you prove that the boat is yours?

I look at a lot of boat adds right now as I am in the market. The ones that say no title I just pass by. A lot of sellers want to tell you how easy it is to get the title but that's a load of carp. If you're going to register a boat, buy one with a title.

So I have a 16' flat bottom boat that my brother and his old fishing buddy used about 25 years ago. I suppose the fishing buddy owned the boat, but he passed away about 17 years ago. I would like for it to be legal to take to the lake and river. What do I do?

camp, you need to go to the TPWD and explain it to them. It seems to me that they have to physically see the boat, but I am not positive on this.

Is there a HID number? IF not you may be able to get a salvage title.

I feel your pain, but thank goodness TPWD is very strict about issuing boat titles. I was a victim of boat theft about 8 years ago. The thieves tried to get various titles, but could not, despite having a state employee try to slide it through channels. I ended up getting most of my boat back in pieces... and I didn't go to jail for shooting those guys. I wrote TPWD a big thank you note for being sticklers for detail.