36Tango

motuman

TheBigD

I bought a Donzi from a Canadian that was registered in Canada. The seller brought the boat into the U.S, we signed the bill of sale and got it notarized, then he towed the boat to the nearest boarder crossing and we went into the customs office together. The Bill of Sale included language that the Seller was responsible for any fees associated with the boat entering the U.S. and that he would cooperate in executing all the necessary documentation required by customs. We went into customs with the registration, Bill of Sale and Certificate of Origins (for both the boat and trailer) and I filled out Form 7501 and Form 3299 and the seller filled out a form (I don't recall which one). We walked out and I hooked the trailer up to my truck and was on my way.

The only problem I had registering the boat in Florida was the sellers registration (equivalent to the title in Canada) was in French, so one tag agency said I needed a translator, but I just went to another agency and it was no problem. Hope this helps. Good luck!

motuman

Great info thanks! Sounds like you had a cooperative seller.
Not sure my guy would go for signing a document that states "the Seller was responsible for any fees associated with the boat entering the U.S", we will see.
Did you (or your seller) end up paying the 1.5% import duty...reading mixed info on that, if the boat was originally produced in the US may not have to pay?
Also sounds lucky you were able to get the Certificate of Origin. Did the seller have the COO or did you obtain have to obtain one from Donzi using the HIN?

Thanks again for the detailed reply...hope you are enjoying the Donz!

Ritt

Hey motuman

I went through this last summer. I purchased a boat that was registered in Canada. The situation was a bit unique. The seller came down to the us every weekend to boat on the lake. He also left the boat at a camp ground during the week so he didn’t have it bring it across the border every weekend.

Canadian boats and trailers do not have titles. The dvm from my state required original copy’s of the trailer registration and the boat registration. They also required original copy’s of the bill of sales. They needed the bill of sales to list out the trailer purchase price and boat purchase price separately. It took 2 trips to the DVM to get this all squared away. I have read that some states have no process to deal with vehicles that don’t have a title or are from another country. I would definitely check with the dvm on this.

Where I ran into trouble was with financing. It turned into a 2 month ordeal to get the loan processed. I had two banks back out on the closing day on the loan even know they said they would do the loan on a Canadian registered boat. (Essex and South east financial) Both approved the loan initially and all of the paper work. (BTW these guys take forever to process a lone) on the 11 hour both backed out because it was a Canadian boat. Both said they were more than happy to do the loan if it was a us registered boat.

In the end I went down to the local credit union. They were more than happy to do the loan. They transferred all of the money directly to me then I wired the money to the seller. The entire process with the credit union was 48 hours. Luckily the seller was very patient through all this. I didn’t have to pay any import duties or anything. Just paid sales tax when I registered.

36Tango

motuman

OK thanks, good to hear paperwork was fine with bill of sale. Seem like experiences vary widely (from other outside this board) so I guess a lot depends on the seller and state where you register.