So I bought a boat from a guy that was used only for human power and was never registered. I plan on putting a motor on it I live in Alabama and haven't encountered this problem yet but when I called the dmv they told me that the original owner has to register it... I have no clue who the original owner is so they pretty much told me that I can't register it. Has anyone else had this problem?
Just go to their web site and print a bill of sale, that's all you need, his info, your info the boat info and a price. Don't volunteer any other info, just roll with it.
I purchased a boat in FL from a guy that bought it from someone else. Long story short, the man I bought it from never transferred ownership and the DMV would not register it in my name because the middle guy never paid the taxes on it and did not have the right to transfer a boat to me that he never officially owned. I had to call the DMV and find out who last owned the boat and through some detective work of my own I found the guy and contacted him and he signed a power of attorney over the boat to get it transferred to me. That was a huge headache that lasted for about a year. I'll never buy another un-registered boat again. Perhaps there is an easier way, but in my many months of asking and researching I could not find one.
Ouch. That's basically what I'm expecting to happen. But the only thing giving me a glimpse of hope is that it's a zodiac (small human powered emergency boat) so I'm hoping they'll wave all that junk and give me some numbers for it... if not then I'll have another one that already has numbers that I'll have to register. Why do boat have to be such a pain???