Who to use for title search?

[TakeFive]

Could someone recommend a company that can do a title search for a boat purchase? I am in the Philadelphia area.

[Chuteman]

No personal experience or affiliation - Broker mentioned them a while back

http://www.yachtworld.com/leaving_yw...ryourboat.com/

[FSMike]

What do you mean by "title search"? Buying a boat is more like buying a car than a piece of real estate.

[Ulladh]

The previous owner should provide an original state issued boat title. The owner will sign-off in the presence of a notary just like for car title transfer.

If a title exists there is no need to look any further.

If no title was issue by a state, not that unusual, then PA will require proof of ownership by the previous owner, which may include original prior state registration and original prior notorized bill of sale.

You may need to transferr the title first in NJ and pay NJ tax, then use that title for your proof of your ownership for PA title. PA will credit the NJ tax to PA taxes due.

Title and transfer in NJ is at the DMV, title and transferr in pA is at a Tag Shop with Fish and Boat endorsment.

Hope everthing works out for the trip down the Delware on the 26th.

[TakeFive]

According to what I have been told: Like real estate or a car, a boat can have liens placed against its title (or USCG documentation) by unpaid lenders, marinas, repairmen, govt entities, etc. A title search helps determine that the title is clean. The boat that I am buying is both titled and documented (not totally legit to do that), so I have double potential for trouble, and need to confirm that the owner has deleted the USCG doc per my request.

My broker uses a 3rd party doc service that handles escrow and title search. I called them today with a question and do not like the way I was treated, so I'm looking for someone else to use instead.

FYI, the boat is already titled in PA, I live in PA and plan to keep it in PA for at least the next year, so I plan to pay sales tax to PA and transfer the current title to me. No need to get NJ involved at all (unless they have a lien against the boat ;-( ).

Just curious - it sounds like most of you bought your boats without a title search? Is this step not necessary in your opinion? Or is it possible to just call the state and/or USCG and find out for myself?

[sailingdog]

If the boat is documented, the liens should be on the USCG documentation. That is one major reason banks like documented boats. BTW, your P&S agreement should have some wording in it saying that the boat is being sold free of all encumbrances or something to that effect.

BoatUS has a settlement service for people buying boats. It costs about $550 or so, but includes a good title search and transferring the USCG documentation...

[SVCarolena]

Originally Posted by RhythmDoctor

need to confirm that the owner has deleted the USCG doc per my request.

Why would you want to delete the USCG documentation? As the Dog noted, it is prefered by banks. It is also good if you ever plan to take the boat out of US waters, and will make possilble resale down the road that much easier. Several people at my marina have said that they wish they documented at the time of sale rather than going with state registration. Just curious.

[sailingdog]

BTW, the link to the BoatUS settlement service is: BoatU.S. Settlement Service

[Allanbc]

You can also deal directly with the Coast Guard to obtain your abstract of title. Their website is USCG National Vessel Documentation Center, Home Page and the fee is $25. You can also call them and they can answer any of your questions.

[Ulladh]

PA boat title lein information request;

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/p...ms/pfbc_t9.pdf

Only for leins recorded against the PA title.