Can somebody tell me that? I'm sorry but read on.... I bought a great little 14' boat, 9.5hp motor, and trailer from an elderly lady, Betty, earlier this week. I wanted to fix it and get it out on the water. So it needed to be registered. I have an inherent fear of the DMV from previous visits. So I called them prior to going just to make sure I had everything I needed to licence both the boat and the trailer. I had it all. I walked into the DMV this morning and asked the lady at the info booth if I had everything, just confirming. She looked the stuff over and said I did. With all the paperwork filled out, I proceeded to the checkout/filing window. The lady Betty I bought the boat from was actually selling her husbands boat. The last time it was registered, it was in his name. He is now unfortunately deceased. I thought it might be an issue but I had a copy of his death certificate like they said I needed when I called prior. The all important moment was here. The lady at the counter looked over the paperwork and squinted her eye. I could tell from her look I was screwed. She rambled off a bunch of things. "You need a affidavit signed by a notary that this is in fact the wife of the deceased man who sold you this boat." "We also need to have you fill out this form stating that you paid this amount because it seems extremely low." "Third, you need a rubbing of the registration number off the trailer to confirm this is the trailer you have." "Fourth, fifth, sixth....." She lost me about a third of the way through. I only paid $300 for the whole shebang. It needed a bunch of work like barrings and new lights on the trailer. The boat itself is no prize. It's all dented up. The seats need to be replaced. The motor is nice though. It was probably worth six or eight hundred dollars by itself. But I offered her three for the whole package and she took it. I can't help it if I got lucky. Now I have to basically sign my XXXX away, and pay fees up the wazoo and for what? I just want to know why. That's all, why. Why do we need all this stuff? What possible benefit is there to this stifling bureaucracy? I was getting XXXX in triplicate!!! I'm not licensing some super yacht worth twenty-five million. It's a XXXX 1964 rowboat on a rusty '74 trailer.
If you had talked to one of the other DMV employees, it probably wouldn't have even been an issue.... You probably caught the one nit picky lady who was having a bad day. I HATE going to the DMV, plain and simple. I feel your pain.
Oh my, you sound just like my husband. He got a boat for free from some distant relatives whose father had died. Same thing. I'm gonna be watching this to see what you have to do. My husband has given up all hope of getting on the water.
I inherited a utility trailer with the same problem....ran it sans licensing for 3 years until it broke down. Just made sure the tires and lights were up to standards and ran it anyway! Never got pulled over, but even if I had, I would have probably saved money by just paying the ticket than paying for all the blah, blah, blahs! I say, drive safely, make sure its safe on the roads.....and go fishing! I know, I know, its breaking the law...and I don't normally advocate such things, but, IMO, so is the highway robbery at the DMV!
I would have nicely asked to speak with a supervisor. I would then have asked for them to kindly write down a list of everything that I needed. That way when you go back they won't add somthing else and keep you from registering it again.
Just go to another DMV. Case in point. My had license expired and I went to Turlock get another one. The little sweetie at the desk told me I needed to bring in my birth certificate and someone to drive me and a bunch of other stuff. I said phooey and left. I drove to Los Banos. Got there just before closing. They gave me a written test paper to fill out. Just before I finished it the examiner took it away. I told him I hadn't finished the last few questions. He told me that if I had all those right I didn't have to. I had them all right. He took my picture and sent me out the door with my temporary license. We never go to Turlock DMV. The staff there is rude and if you ask the same question to three different employees you get three different answers. Los Banos is fast efficient and the staff is courteous and knowledgable. I'll bet if you go to another DMV you won't need any of that stuff that clerk asked for. Some people just need to throw their weight around to feel important.
I had a simular problem at the DMV. They even had the nerve to tell me that my birth certificate was expired. How the heck does a birth certificate expire?
Let me first say I know next to nothing about registering boats. But I did give away an unlicensed boat a couple years ago. The people I gave it to said they could license it as salvage or rebuilt. Something like that. I hear they cut off the transom and it is sitting untouched in their yard. Glad it's out of mine. Imp
