AAArgh!
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<br>I am trying to get a trailer for my Hobie 16 registered in NY. The person I am purchasing the trailer from got it from a guy in Connecticut a few years ago. The current owner never registered the trailer because he lives on a beach. The Connecticut owner had CT license plates on the trailer but the current owner no longer has the plates. There is a VIN number on the trailer but the NY DMV shows no history of the trailer. Since the vehicle has no history I have to go to a weighing station to have the trailer weighed.
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<br>Has this happened to anyone else? Am I the only person who isn't using bogus plates on their trailer? Is there any way out of getting it weighed? Any advice or sympathy?!?
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<br>Thanks!
<br>Hiya<br><br>

If the person you are purchasing the trailer from has the bill of sale and/or title (if the trailer is titled in your area) you should be able to bring that along with an affadavit stating why the trailer was not titled by the prior owner. The affadavit should state that the trailer was used on private property and not on public roads. Each state is different and you may or may not have to pay taxes on the prior sale. Make sure that you purchase it for the least amount possible to minimize the tax liability if that is the case. I just had a similiar problem selling a boat into another state which had different licensing requirements. Its a PITB. If the prior owner does not have any proof of ownership you might have a little more trouble.
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<br>I hope this helps.
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<br>Clayton
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<br>Disclaimer: I am not a tax advisor nor am I a licensing expert, and this info may or may not be of any help, blah, blah, blah you know the drill. But I am Notory and this worked for me.<br><br>

When I got my first boat, a Hobie 16, it had a trailer that hadn't been registered for several years. We were faced with paying several years of back taxes, because the owner wasn't immediately accessible, as I purchased it off a consignment lot. We could have had him sign an affidavit that he hadn't used it on public roads, but that would have added a couple more weeks to being able to legally drive the darn thing! The loophole we found was to declare it a "home made" trailer. In our case, the licensing folks were nice enough to let us do this, even though suppose it's not the completely honest way of doing it.
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<br>Sometimes you have to do what you have to do!
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<br>Fair winds,
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<br>Tim J.<br><br>Hobie 20 #541
<br>Bald Eagle Yacht Club, Fleet 52
<br>White Bear Lake, MN

When I bought my 18 the trailer came with the latest registration and a bill of sale, but no title. The only way I could get a new title (and thus registration) was to have the old owners apply for a new one and transfer it. Well, it was a mother selling the boat for her son, and she told me once the boat was out of the yard that was it. So, back to the DMV, who told me I could take my stuff and try to petition the court and have a judge award me ownership. I ended up just buying a new stripper trailer and putting the hardware from the old one on it. Getting weighed doesn't sound too bad to me...<br><br>Keith Chapman, Annapolis, Md.
<br>H-18
<br>Northstar 500 (monoslug)
<br>WRCRA - www.wrcra.org

Based on my experience in titleing trailers, there are only two catamaran trailer tags, mine and the one everyone else takes turns sharing.
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<br> My last attempt was so complicated, the clerk decided that it would be best for all if I called it a homebuilt trailer.<br><br>

CT doesn't issue titles for class I or class II trailers. you would not believe how much legwork it took me to discover that fact a few years ago. consequently, they do not rigorously maintain vehicle history records.
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<br>I've registered 4 trailers in the past few years, and it turned out to be easier to declare 3 of them to be homebuilt, and just go through the inspection process.
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<br>just go get the thing weighed. it's no big deal. you'll feel silly in line with all the tractor-trailers, but if you keep the radio turned up you won't hear ALL the comments being made.
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<br>another thing I learned the hard way: leave the boat out of the equation. don't have the boat on the trailer during weighing or inspection. don't tell them what kind of boat it's for. don't tell them it's for a boat. this is too much info, and it opens a huge can of worms in terms of "properly secured load" and "allowable vehicle overhangs" which as far as I can tell, NO catamaran trailer rig will ever pass.<br><br>