Purchasing A Trailer With Bill Of Sale Only

All trailers have a VIN. What if you buy a trailer that is stolen and don't find out till you try to register it?

Hey John it happened to Bob and Cindy. They completely restored it and then found out it was stolen and had to return it to the owner who didn't even say thank you much less reimburse them for their costs... No one ended up in jail but all that work went down the drain.

My trailer didn't have a title. In TX you can apply for a bonded title and after 5 years the State will issue a clear title. Cost me $200 and I will have to get it inspected but no big deal.

I've registered over 100 trailers in the state of California and have been through just about every type of problem with the registration process ever known to man. I thought I would pass along just a little info that may save you some time and possibly money and even keep you out of trouble because you could actually lose your drivers license and be prosecuted as a criminal if you do something wrong.

My greatest gift of information that I could possibly pass on to you is this. Never EVER buy a trailer with only a bill of sale.... UNLESS you can get the seller to go down with you to the DMV and help you go through the process before you pay for the trailer. In California, there is now a new law that adds an automatic $200 to the entire process just because there is no title. Matters not the reason. Also you will have to pay 3 years back fees and penalties which can add up to several hundred dollars all by itself. If you are purchasing a $600 trailer and have to pay $700 just to get it registered, it better damn well be the trailer you want.

The reason to have the seller go with you, and on condition that if the registration process does not succeed that you don't have to buy the trailer is because the trailer may turn up as salvaged or junked beyond repair for the road. It could even come up stolen. All of this has happened to myself and my friends. I just went through that last week and lost about $1000 total plus got threatened by the DMV to take my DL away. I was able to explain that I was the victim and not the perp....

Most of the time a bill of sale transaction can work out just fine. All I'm saying is make the seller responsible for a good legal transaction with licensing guaranteed before final payment. Go to the DMV together with everything you can. Have your license plate already off the trailer so you can carry it into the DMV, have the VIN exposed so it is readable. Do that with a wire wheel brush on a drill motor to clean away rust and paint. Make everything as easy on the DMV inspector as possible. Be friendly and ready to answer any and all questions about how and where you got the trailer and what you paid for it. Get all your stories straight before you go.

There are lots of other horror stories out there and you are all welcome to describe your particular DMV woes here in this thread. All the states differ in policies so this would be a great place to let others know how it works in your particular state.

It's also always good to deal with a seller who knows the  history of a trailer. Original owners, son of original owner, friend of original owner..... The more you know of the history of the trailer the better idea you can get of what it's going to take to fix it up.

So good luck on your hunt and try to come out a winner.