I bought a jon baot for dirt cheap and the man who sold it to me didnt have a title so i traced back to the owner who had it before me and the man has past away. I talked to the wife and she is crazy as hell said she was going to call the police for calling at 7 and said she doesnt know anything about the baot. They told me and parks and wildlife place the list of people who had owned the boat. So how can i go about getting the title into my name so i can register it so i can have a boat to fish out of.

Hey bassfishingboy I'm right there with you. I just got a bayliner but it has no title and I have sent in for the owner of record at TPWD. But then what do I do? I read on TPWD website: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/boat/title.phtml#forms or either someone told me that if that resource is exhausted, then you can put a mechanics lean and get it that way. But I don't know!!! This is a first for me so hopefully someone know a legal-loop-hole way of getting around all the beuracratic bs..
That my input:-)

You can dig up ( ) the last person this boat was tidled to and get thier signiture on the title. A mechanics lien will only work if you have stored it or have a lien against it for work done to it. Basically, you'er screwed
Lesson learned- don't buy a boat without the proper paperwork. I've passed on many "deals" when the seller does the "Uhh,Aahh" when asked about the title. I've heard of people doing illegal things, such as forging a signiture or switching #s off a tidled hull to thiers , but I would NEVER RECOMMEND DOING THIS (on a public forum).

If you can find the last owner or if the last owner has passed away a relative. Have something written up and then have it signed in front of a notery. Then take that paper work with you and the manufacture of the boat with a serial #, model #, length and all the info you can gather. This is what I did for my 14ft vhull. They accepted it and all was well with the world.

Hey FF- were you and I dealing with the same TPWD? When I spoke with the woman at the counter here in Austin on this topic, she expressively told me I needed the last tidleholder signiture. Without that, I was SOL. How would a relative's signiture help unless they where "willed" the boat and IF they were "willed" the boat, wouldn't they have the tidle? How would TPWD KNOW that the owner really sold it. They (TPWD) have thier methods and reasoning. I've yet to find a way around this issue, so its "no tidle? no sale!" Good luck fellas...

Along these same lines, I'm looking into buying a junker, from a dealer, for a restore project. He said he doesn't have a title, but could provide a bill of sale. Wouild this suffice, or would I still need to do the last title search.
Thanks,
Greg

Alloutdoors...a Bill of sale will only work IF the boat has NEVER been titled. Take the #s off the hull(should be stamped into it or on a small, permanantly attached plate on the transom) and submit them to TPWD for a title search. IF it has a title, they will supply you with the last registered owners name, then you would have to contact them somehow(usually a BIG problem, deaths,divorces, address changes, etc.). No #s(or altered #s)= no deal.

If you don't have a title, Don't even mess with it! I have a friend that has no title to a boat he baught from a co worker that was fired. He now has a boat that he can't use!

As I explained the owner had passed away. The boat had never been titled. The owners wife wrote out a little note saying that her husband was the original owner of the boat and that she was giving it to me( The boat sat for a couple of years)she just wanted it gone. We had the note noterized. The boat did belong to my wifes grandmother. I walked it through the TP&W headquarters in Austin. I do not know if my wifes grandmother being the head of the licensing dept. for TP&W when she retired 20yrs ago had anything to do with it. I doubt it. I walked it through and Gerald who was taking all the info and paperwork talked to his supervisor and I recieved my title. This worked for me and I do not know why it would not work for someone else.

BASSFISHINGBOY,
Are you going to put an engine on it? I don't think you have to register the boat if you don't put an engine on it. So what if you don't have the title. Just slap a nice trolling motor on the rig and go fishing.

A trolling MOTOR is considered an engine, hull must be tidled per TPWD. Try it on TX waters without #s and a motor of ANY kind(gas,desil, electric,steam, nuclear, etc)...you'll get the word (and ticket) real fast! Personel experience...

Well, I have a friend that asked a game warden out on Fork and he was told that electric motors are alright. As long as he did not put a gas engine on the 8ft aluminum boat he was in, he was safe. I may be misinformed, but it would be worth calling TPWD to find out.

Taken from TPWD FAQs;
Registration
Do I need to register my boat?

The following vessels (when on Texas public water) are required to have current registration, including when docked, moored, or stored:

All motorized boats, regardless of length;
All sailboats 14 feet in length or longer or any sailboat with an auxiliary engine(s); and
USCG Documented vessels.
Exempted vessels � All (non-motorized) canoes, kayaks, punts, rowboats, or rubber rafts (regardless of length) when paddled, poled, or oared; sailboats under 14 feet in length when windblown; USCG documented commercial vessels used in coastal shipping; and USCG documented vessels exceeding 115 in length.
The key words here are "motorized, paddled,poled or oared". A trolling motor is just that...a motor , therefore...(you get the idea). This is the rule, I'm sure some game wardens don't follow it but the ones I've met sure do! Same goes for the poster stateing how he got a relative to sign off the title. It has been done...but not generally.

All MOTOR BOATS MUST BE TITLED AND REGISTERED THROUGH TPWD..... that includes any kind of motor.... trolling motor.... gas motor.....diesel... steam..... ANY KIND OF MOTOR.
I would highly recommend that if you are shopping for a boat and the person cannot provide you with a title at time of purchase.... regardless of how good the deal is....... dont buy it....
There is a reason someone doesnt have the proper paperwork. If you purchase the boat and it turns out stolen, guess who looses.......you do. The boat is seized and the dirt bag that sold it to you will probably never be prosecuted. Just my .02

HEY SURFERFISHER ITS TITLE NOT TIDLE U A YANKEE OR SOMETHING