My boat held captive by the housing crisis!!! - Page 5

AlanBrown · #41 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008

Six,

Have you thought about contacting a lawyer? Your boat is tied up in a financial/legal mess and it is entirely possible that it could be seized by a creditor as part of a foreclosure action. Even if you can prove ownership, it could take months for a court to return possession to you.

It's long past time to get seriously worried about this and fully investigate your legal options.

Good luck!

sailingdog · #42 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008

Don't damage the lift... cutting cables or hydraulic lines is likely to get you into a lot of trouble. While you have the right to get your property back...you don't have the right to destroy his.

SEMIJim · #43 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanBrown

Six,

Have you thought about contacting a lawyer? Your boat is tied up in a financial/legal mess and it is entirely possible that it could be seized by a creditor as part of a foreclosure action. Even if you can prove ownership, it could take months for a court to return possession to you.

It's long past time to get seriously worried about this and fully investigate your legal options.

Good luck!

Agree 100%.

You don't know the status of this property. It's possible it's not even owned by the guy anymore. It may be a bank's, other creditor's or somebody elses property by now. I doubt the sheriff's dept. is going to be willing to go onto the property with you and may tell you not to.

If there's no foreclosure notice on the propertty and the neighbours know who you are, it's probably pretty safe to go get your boat. Otherwise I think you need a lawyer to at least find out the status of the property before doing anything.

I would also agree that you don't want to do anything to damage the lift.

Jim

Slayer · #44 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingdog

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As a legal tenant of the slip, he probably has the legal right to access the property, especially if he is trying to recover his own property from it when the owner of the lot is MIA.

I agree. I wouldn't call a lawyer and I am a lawyer. Keep this simple, just go get your boat. Do it in the middle of the day and you won't even be noticed. Doing it in the middle of the night will draw suspicion. And don't call the sheriff, they will tell you not to do it. And they definately won't come down there for you and sit and watch you do it. They don't want to get in the middle of some questionable legal mess.

Get someone who knows what they are doing to come down with a generator and help you out. Its your boat, you have right of access per your agreement with the property owner. And you probably have implied, if not express, permission to use the lift.

camaraderie · #45 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008

I'm thinking black rubber dinghies and night vision glasses and an 0-dark 5:00 insertion.

Really...just go get your boat and have the necessary paperwork on you. The cops have better things to do than to mess with legitimate property owners getting their own property. Rent a Honda generator and let the cables down.

brak · #46 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008

I would second the "middle of the day" approach. No one cares and noone will notice. Just don't make it look like a huge operation, even if generators are required - come, install, connect, use. Don't rush and don't hide - be nice to people around if anyone comes by or asks, though chances are if you do it on a weekday - no one will give a damn.

I also don't see how the boat would come up in any legal dispute. It is your boat, you have the legal title and landlord does not. Moreover, bank that now owns (or soon will own) the house does not have any info on your boat so unless they find it there and put a seal on it or something - what they don't know they can't take.

painkiller · #47 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008

Sounds like a good excuse to get a nice, shiny new boat. Your wife will understand. What could you do? You HAD to.

Brezzin · #48 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Don't damage the lift... cutting cables or hydraulic lines is likely to get you into a lot of trouble. While you have the right to get your property back...you don't have the right to destroy his.

bet ya that the property is probably the banks now and not the original owners. I would do whatever your gonna do and do it quick.

Edit : already said by Brak

hellosailor · #49 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008

" You aren't doing anything illegal since it's your boat."
Well, from this layman's point of view? Bringing a floating crane alongside to lift the boat off, would be legal. TOUCHING THAT LIFT, especially in any way that damages it or leaves parts submerged or unsecured, might be ILLEGAL. Necessary, but illegal.
I'd side with practical caution: Carry the papers with you (lease & title) but first contact the lift maker, or a local distributor (I'll bet there is one) and find out what has to be done to drop that boat back into the water. Then just do it--with the minimum of damage or invasion to the lift itself. Take a friend--so one can drive the car away after re-raising the lift, while the other takes the boat away. Promptly.

If the homeowner fled town, or was hit by a bus and is lying in a coma someplace...it doesn't matter why he's not there, sending legal letters won't liberate the boat. Suing may only turn up the fact that he's judgement-proof.

Best and fastest, is to contact the local distributor and the lift maker, and liberate the boat, quickly and quietly. If anybody asks? You've got the right papers, the lift is stuck, you're just fixing it so you can go sailing.

BTW, generators can be RENTED from a tool or construction rent-all place. You may need a trailer hitch to tow it--but they're readily available.

merc2dogs · #50 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008

I'm with the stay away from the police crowd. Not anti-police, just know they have a way of turning simple operations into complicated issues.
I've had a car and motorcycle stolen at seperate times, both of them I found on my own, the car I tried to do it right and went to the police with the info, had to follow all the legal steps, prove it was my car (how many pearl blue 1964 fairlane 500 sport coupes set up like a thunderbolt with racing stripes and '#27 bonner racing' painted on the side are there?), get a warrent etc. Took three months before I got just the shell back, then had to pay the state for two months storage. With the bike I just walked up with a buddy and took it back, all I got from the police was a lecture that I should 'follow legal procedure'

It's your boat, you have an agreement to use the property/lift do what you need to do to get it out.

Check specs on the lift, I did a quick check and most I found state 220v and 20 to 40 amps, well within the range of larger 'home owner' class generators. Find the breaker box and tap in after the lift breakers, turn them off to avoid backfeeding, otherwise you may start running everything in the house.

Ken