surety bond for boat trailer

[fishnaddct]

ok so i bought a boat in ND a few weeks back and they do not do titles on boat or boat trailers over there. i completed all the required paperwork and sent it down to dearborn. They sent me back the paperwork for the trailer and a note that says a surety bond is required on the trailer since the value exceeds $500. has anyone ever had to do one of these before? is there somewhere is great falls that does these? i did an internet search and it popped up a few places but when i called them they said they do not do those types of bonds.

[robbi]

My finance' works at Allstate and says she's heard of title bond for vehicles, but not sure about one for a trailer.  She can check tomorrow on it for you if you'd like.  She's at 727-3878 and her name is Julie.  Just explain it all to her and she'll find out what's what for ya..........

[fishnaddct]

ya this has been a mess. i filled out paperwork for bonded/break titles but i guess montana does not do bonded titles on boats or trailers so i will just get a regular title back for both, however if the trailer valuie exceeds $500 you have to include a surety bond with the paper work for the trailer. Surety bonds are not required on boats though. i am going to call the dearborn office back tomorrow morning to see exactly what that means. Thank you for the contact info, i will probably give her a call after i talk to the DMV and see if there is something she can do, or at least point me in the right direction.

[robbi]

Good Deal.........sounds like a headache.  I've never been through anything like that.  I think my trailer woulda become worth $450........LOL   She's gonna make some phone calls in the morning so when you call, she should have some info.

[RAM1961]

I've never heard of needing a bond.  I know a few states around our borders don't require titles on trailers, and from past experience whether it be a boat trailer, atv trailer, etc. that I've bought from out of state - I just need to fill out Montana's application for new title, have local law enforcement come inspect the trailer and verify VIN no. (if it has one - if not, the county will assign you one), and then off you go.  Never have I been asked for a bond, unless some has changed since last out of state trailer purchase two years ago.

[Cornbread]

Man I totally feel your pain! My brother gave me a boat that one of my cousins had sitting in his yard for years that he had taken in payment for a debt. He never used it so my brother asked him if he could bring it from my cousins place in ND to my place in MT so I could use it. There was no chain of ownership etc. and it came from ND where they don't title boats and trailers. It took me months to get everything I needed to get the stupid thing registered in Montana. To include having my brother register the boat in ND and get a ND boat tag for it from their equivalent of FWP so then I could get a bill of sale from him with a copy of that tag documentation showing he owned it and was transferring ownership to me. It ended up costing us several hundred bucks in the end for a "free" boat. I didn't even have the trailer issue you are having but because my trailer is a homemade job for that little boat it has no identifying numbers on it e.g. no serial number or VIN or anything like that. Eventually after jumping through a ton of hoops DMV just told me not to register the trailer because it is so small and cheap. The whole process was so incredibly frustrating I wanted to spit nails the entire time. I wish you the very best of luck, and I hope this goes easier for you than it did for me.

[fishnaddct]

Man I totally feel your pain! My brother gave me a boat that one of my cousins had sitting in his yard for years that he had taken in payment for a debt. He never used it so my brother asked him if he could bring it from my cousins place in ND to my place in MT so I could use it. There was no chain of ownership etc. and it came from ND where they don't title boats and trailers. It took me months to get everything I needed to get the stupid thing registered in Montana. To include having my brother register the boat in ND and get a ND boat tag for it from their equivalent of FWP so then I could get a bill of sale from him with a copy of that tag documentation showing he owned it and was transferring ownership to me. It ended up costing us several hundred bucks in the end for a "free" boat. I didn't even have the trailer issue you are having but because my trailer is a homemade job for that little boat it has no identifying numbers on it e.g. no serial number or VIN or anything like that. Eventually after jumping through a ton of hoops DMV just told me not to register the trailer because it is so small and cheap. The whole process was so incredibly frustrating I wanted to spit nails the entire time. I wish you the very best of luck, and I hope this goes easier for you than it did for me.

Ya i don't know whay they have to make things so difficult. Proabably to deter people from buying out of state, lol. I got a surety bond for the trailer and sent my paper work off (for the third time) this morning. hopefully that was the last issue. I'm ready to get this boat on the water! The only thing worse than not having a boat is having one sitting in your driveway that you can't use!

[stripernut]

A lot of it is about catching stolen boats and trailers... At least in the states I deal with. Good luck!

[fishnaddct]

A lot of it is about catching stolen boats and trailers... At least in the states I deal with. Good luck!

I can understand that, it's just that in my case i have proof of ownership from the previous owner that shows he has owned the boat/motor/trailer from its birth and i still have to jump through all the same hoops as something that would have been bought with NO proof of ownership whatsoever.

[double_a85]

I had to deal with this last year. Bought the boat from a guy in Wyoming that moved there from Minnesota or someplace. It took over a month for him to get his paperwork.. then I had to do VIN inspections on both boat and trailer... Boat VIN number someone reversed numbers along the way, and trailer because there was no title/had never been licensed. Felt like a criminal jumping through all the hoops.

I dont want to get anyone in trouble, but the lady at the courthouse told me the value of a trailer is probably under $500...(basically saying most of the purchase cost was the boat) which made things easier on both of us I think.


Oh--- and it was worth it! Love the boat.

[hardwater]

Good luck man... What a nightmare, I remember this all too well.  While I was stationed in Montana, I bought a boat from my dad, who lived in Iowa, what a nightmare... It took a few months of headaches to get worked out.  I'm sure if my dad wasn't the seller, he'd of told me to get bent I bugged him so much. 

[ManBearPig]

We bought a new boat in North Dakota two years ago and it took a total of 6 months just to legally use it. Same thing as the above posters, no title etc. Ended up having to find and bug the previous owner to get the title. The boat dealer and previous owner were more then happy to do all they could to make the state go away. The DMV refused to honor an inspection because our paperwork was wrong. They accused us of criminal activity between the dealer and us. Then they threatened legal action, investigations, and penalties. We told them to go ahead, as we had gotten to be friends with the previous owner. The dealer has been a family friend since the Vietnam War. Since their intimidation had no effect, they decided to do the inspection and wanted us to haul our boat to them and charge us a fee. We said no way. After way to long, the state sent a cop to record the VIN number AFTER dark. The cop recorded the VIN number wrong and that got them all upset. Made a few phone calls to Helena to find somebody with the authority to straighten this out. Of course nobody knew, but we kept asking, "Who can I talk to that does know?" Eventually got hooked up with the right lady who admitted to having problems with the City of Billings before. She made a phone call and the city had a cop over within that same hour. Unlike the last one, this cop was very polite and respectful. He knew exactly what he was doing and correctly recorded all his information. The boat was legally registered and titled that same day.

A week later we sold an old motorcycle to family in Minnesota and started a whole new legal process.

Register your boat in North Dakota. ****censored word**** on blue state government.

[fishnaddct]

Finally got my titles in the mail today! now just got to run over monday and get it registered. i will be on the water next weekend!