Boat without Clear Title
 

This might be a dumb question but has anyone done a private sale without a clear title. I found what looks to be a good deal on a Baja Outlaw. I had everything lined up and was ready to pick the boat up tomorrow and reassured to the seller that the titles were clear. He ended up telling me the titles still had a lien on it although his eBay listing clearly states "titles in hand."

When I confronted him about it, he said all we have to do is go to the bank and wire the money to the lien holder and I would instantly have a clear title. It sounds hokey to me. When I told him I won't do the deal without clear titles, he told me "not everybody can come up with 30k cash like you."

Anybody else have a similar experience buying a boat? I am tempted to go through a broker from now on.

Do it at the the bank, not national marine

If you go to the bank with him (assuming it's local) you can get verification of payoff and stipulate in your purchase agreement that the title must be provided within xx days.
Like he said, if there is a loan on the boat and he doesn't have enough cash to pay it off first, then there really is no other option. I guess it all boils down to whether you feel comfortable with the guy and he seems like a straight shooter. Again, the bank should be able to verify the payoff and that a clear title will be released. Some banks keep the titles on site, and others keep them elsewhere and must be mailed. Just do your due diligence.

i am pretty sure the bank he financed through is not local.

What do you guys recommend if this is the case?

This is often the case with car sales . . .and private transactions, I suggest a visit to the bank with the seller . .. allows you to hold onto your money, ask the sellers bank what they want cashiers or certified check before you go.
This should be a simple process.
Good Luck!
Mario L.

Did you get the pay off from the seller or bank, the debt has to be paid in full before the liens will be released from the titles, make sure he doesn't owe more than he's asking for the boat, good luck

Happens all the time. Hopefully he uses a local bank that you can walk into. If not, then figure out plan B. Maybe make out a check payable only to the bank for the lien amount so only the bank can cash it and release the lein.

RUN FORREST RUN!!!

1. douchbag advertised boat with clean titles in hand on ebay.....that was 100% a lie what more do you need to know....BUT.....if for some reason that was not enough

2. from what I am reading that you are saying he is in fact NOT saying that you can go to the bank that has the lien and the titles in hand and pay off the boat what this lying sack of crap is saying is that you can go to "the bank" (being your bank) and then you can send money to Haiti, Nigeria, Switzerland, Botswana, Mainland China ect and "lien holder" somehow magically produces the titles in your hand instantaneous

Who in TF thinks THAT will happen....perhaps if you could inject something deadly into his neck that will dissolve and kill him in 5 days if the clean and clear titles do not appear (like in Snake Pliskins neck in Escape From New York) and you are ready to take a dead body instead of a boat with clear title I might consider that.....oh wait no I wouldn't because WTF do I want a dead body and a boat I can't title for?

3. what type of an asshat that LIES on ebay about having clean titles in hand and that is selling a PERFORMANCE BOAT makes a comment like "not everyone has $30,000 on hand like you"......oh yea I know what type of asshat makes that type of comment the type of over extended, entitled ass munch that buys a high performance boat that he can't afford and then has to sell it and is bitter about it and so he is going to RIP OFF someone else by putting a BS listing on ebay in hopes that he will find someone that actually buys into the logic of someone with a Baja Outlaw either not being able to come up with $30,000 to clear up the titles for a boat he is trying to sell and that he LISTED ON PURPOSE with CLEAR TITLES even though he has a lien on the boat and furthermore he is too stupid to even figure out a way to get the titles to the local spot so that someone can actually get titles in hand the moment the money changes hands instead of acting like wiring money to Fiji guarantees that "boom!" titles show up clean and clear in a few days with VIN numbers that actually match the hull

4. you need to kick this loser in the nuts and report him to EBAY and move on to one of the other 10,578,053 Baja Outlaws that are for sale in the world even if they are not the "killer" (to your financial soundeness) deal that this boat is

5. he lied about the most important aspect of a major financial transaction.....but yea the boat was serviced with an open check book right

RUN FORREST RUN!!!!!

id like to hear some more input.

I did a search on this guys name and on a previous power boat forum and he was caught in 2009 asking a guy for pictures of his boat and then listing the pictures and a description under his name selling the boat.

I am taking all pre-cautions with this guy and now I am at a road block with his titles not being at a local bank

:bong::bong::bong::bong::bong::bong::bong::bong::b ong::bong::bong::bong::bong:

Someone has been through this before! :popcorn:

In NY my truck for example has a lein on it, but I have the title in my safe. The last truck I sold I had the buyer make the check to the credit union for the payoff, and cash for the balance. I gave the buyer my title, the credit union printed and signed a lien release right there. Wasn't a big deal at all. In Florida I know the lienholder physically has the actual title. Depends on your state.

again read clearly what he is saying

he is not saying "go to the bank, pay off lien and get titles"

WHAT HE IS SAYING is "go to bank, WIRE MONEY TO LIEN HOLDER and then boom like magic get titles"

when you go to a bank that has the lien and signs a lien release or that holds the titles you DO NOT WIRE MONEY TO ANYONE.....YOU ARE AT THE BANK.....you hand them the briefcase of cash, the bag of YaYo, the cashiers check ect and then the TRUSTED FINANCIAL INSTITUTION hands you the titles or releases the lien

when you go to "the bank" being YOUR BANK and wire money to >>>insert third world sithole here or unknown bank account or title loan company<<< what happens is 5 days later when your mail box is empty you start dialing numbers and sending emails and you find dead phone lines and bounced emails and empty apartments of the boat seller or maybe if you are lucky you get a hold of a title loan company that says they never got the money or that they will send the titles as soon as they get the other half of the money

listen brah send me $20,000 and "I'll hannle it fo ya!"

PM me and I will give you my bank routing numbers and account info for my "burner account"

Or you find out the boat was stolen. While its in your possession. And then having to explain that to the cops that take the boat without you getting your money back. Probably not the case but it is possible. I would only consider it if, it's a legit bank that can produce the title that day. No money wiring!!!!

What ????????

You are taking all pre-cautions, you found he is a liar/thief/conman and still interested ?

I'll take some of those bongs 33outlawsst so I can become dumbed down enough to understand this logic.

Wholly crap this has to be a joke right ?

if its not in your home town, PASS,

Texas Vines is right on the money. This screams scam so bad it's making us all deaf. If you are worried about the price, find one with a clear title, add 30k, that's how much this boat will cost you.

Like said, run Forest, ruuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnn.........

If youre still considering this boat at this point you may be interested in the ocean front property I have for sale in Arizona.

Like said before, run Forest, ruuunnnnnnnnnnnnnn......................

A link to my story.




http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/b...appen-you.html

I would find a different boat, but, if you must do this deal,,, you don't pay or deal with the seller,
you get the name of his finance co., call them to get exact payoff info. and instructions,, he should have had you do this from the beginning,

thanks for all the input.

Seller called me an idiot when I told him to take out a temporary loan to pay off the boat so he could free up the titles and make the transaction easier. Sad thing is I went to check out this boat and he told me to look at the titles and it never even dawned on me to check them for liens because I trusted him. A lot of red flags on this deal and I will move on.

For private sales to go through smoothly, do you only need a good survey and clear titles? I am always 100x more worried to do private deals in this scamming world anymore.

and then have them tell you where you can PHYSICALLY SHOW UP AND PICK UP THE TITLES IN PERSON AT THE SAME TIME THE PAYOFF IS HANDED OVER

I mean really how hard is it to get a telephone, website, business license, "company name" and then have your idiot co-conspirators list false boat ads online and people call and you give them info on how to send money off into financial never never land and you wake up one day and you have been screwed

read the stories linked in this thread.....formerly "legitimate" RV dealers that had their floorplan (all their cars, trucks, vans, boats and RVs) locked uo by the bank, but they still took the money and promised the titles

or a boat dealer (told by someone else in that same thread) that was "consigning" a boat and took the cash and did not hand it over to the owner nor did he send the titles to the boat to the person that handed him the cash instead he used it for "winter operations"

in a case like this 99.99999999% of the time the boat is going to belong to the person that holds the title and if you have to go to court you will be suing someone that is worthless and most likely has a dozen other lawsuits against them either pending or already lost and still unsettled and not a pot to piss in.....so you will get nothing for your cash and like it

not able to physically view titles at time of the transaction not handing off money period the end......there are only 200+ stories on this forum alone and about ONE MILLION on the interwebtubes saying the exact same thing over and over and over and they go from one fool that managed to scam another fool to one person that took hundreds for millions.....and still walks the earth today and is still in the boat business no less.....working for a company that looks like they might be having some "issues" here soon if you read other threads

no titles NO MONEY......not in an hour, not in a minute and not in a day or next week and if there are any questions (like the seller already lying in the current ad and being caught selling someone elses boat in the past) then no deal no way no how unless we are at the DMV with titles in hand and the cash changes hands as the DMV issues new titles in my name

too many other Baja Outlaws (going into WINTER NO LESS) for sale on the face of the earth to even consider this deal any longer than thought has already been wasted on it

smoking the bong would have been a 1000% better use of the brain cells, time and money

Even then, any 14 year old with photoshop can make you a nice new clear title...its a scarey world we live in

One side of my brain says this guy is just screwing with you guys to stir the pot , but then every day dozens of people fall for stuff like this , but leinholder info should be easily verified through where the boat was registered ,its a pita to go get the release of lein papers done and usually person named on loan has to be there , gotta know what your doing or you will likely get screwed

Give me $5,000 in cash and let me kick you square in the nuts! It will cost you less and the pain will go away much faster than getting involved in a deal like that. You know the guy did a fake ad and you are still talking to him? Make it $10,000..............

There's about 8 zillion Baja's available and you get caught up on this scam? I purchased my boat with a lien and my bank and the sellers bank made sure the lien was satisfied bank to bank. Luckily I was also dealing with an upstanding honest seller too. This was a scam all the way. I'm currently selling my boat and get scam offers all the time involving buyers who don't even want to see the boat but come up with odd money wiring schemes. C'mon man!

This is pretty normal with my experiences....

I don't know about the instant part....Usually takes some time for the bank to produce the title...

Run away, lots of other boats out there.....

So you have already found out the guys a scammer in the past, yet you want to do money with him.. You realize this is like you putting on bacon earrings and asking Mike Tyson over for dinner????

What I have done in the past is to use a bank if there is a lien on something I'm purchasing. No matter the dollar amount of the loan a bank will see that clear ownership will be had when the transaction is complete. Be sure to go with a loan with no prepayment penalty and pay it off when the dust settles. For example - You find a boat with an iffy title for $30K. Go to your bank and borrow $5K, let the bank do the leg work, bank makes sure clear title is available, let the bank put their lien on it for the $5K, pay off the loan one month later and a clear title will show up in your mail box 4 to 8 weeks later. You will have interest expense for a month or two but banks are very good about securing their position leading to clear title. You do not want to get involved in anything with a dirty title. You will spend may years and $'s trying to straighten it out! Good Luck!

Scam.....finding a BAJA is like finding a Red Solo Cup at a Kegger!