Buying a boat 'without papers'

[smallcal]

I am cheap, lets get that out of the way. 

 

Have looked at a few low priced boats (aluminum 14-17 foot) for use on the Finger Lakes and Oneida.  A few of them are very interesting to me from a value standpoint but the current owner does not have the transferable registration.  Trailer paperwork is a hassle but can be obtained, but the sellers bought the boats, did not register them, and now cannot find the paperwork.

 

In New York, how would I go about obtaining ownership papers to get it in my name?  Do I need to got to the last owner DMV has record of?  Will a bill of sale be enough?  Could not find info on the DMV site and thought others here may have already gone through this.

 

Thanks in advance.

[rolmops]

A boat without an engine does not need registration papers. (row boat) In the case of a 14 to 17 foot boat ,that is not so far fetched specially if it is pre 1976. All you need is the id of the boat.and often not even that. You will need a bill of sale. If the boat does have registration numbers on it, the dmv can tell you whom it was last registered to. Some boat are stolen or abandoned and that may be more of a problem.

Edited November 9, 2020 by rolmops

[guffins fisherman]

I reg'd a 14' tinnie without papers. I had to get as close as I could to make, model and year and have a sheriff come out and sign an affidavit stating it was accurate. He basically was uninterested and just signed the thing and left. This one was made way before HINs were a thing. I then had to have the DMV assign me an original reg number and reg it that way. If I remember correctly, I had to have the gentleman that gave it to me sign a form stating he did so. He was old and didn't really understand all the fuss but did it for me anyway. Kindo a pain, but worth it in the end. It an old Sea King and built like a tank.

Sent from my moto z3 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[regulator]

My Brother and I did that years ago on an old 12' Montgomery Ward Sea KIng that was on his Wife's family private camp all it's life, never registered. Took a pencil rubbing of the HIN and a pencil whipped bill of sale to the DMV and got it registered. Turned out the boat was made by Smokercraft.

[bottom-feeder]

on my 22' crestliner....after owning it for a year from date of purchase all i needed was a hull vin #