Your Boat’s Title Is Lost. What Now?

One of the worst feelings in the world is looking through all of your records for an important piece of paperwork, to find out that it is missing and you have no idea where it is. It’s even worse when that important piece of paperwork is a title for your vehicle, and you need it for XYZ reasons. 

Thankfully, you aren’t alone. Dirt Legal has helped thousands of people just like you with all kinds of titling and registration issues, and saved enormous amounts of money along the way by saving on sales taxes. But what about missing boat titles? What are you supposed to do when a boat title goes missing, or you see a great deal on a boat for sale but it’s missing the title? 

Read on. 

Why Is a Boat Title Important?

A title is important no matter what kind of vehicle we are talking about. The title is the legal instrument that proves ownership of a vehicle, and it is also a good segue for an important distinction.

Titles and registration are not synonymous. We say them together a lot out of habit more than anything, but a title is a completely different thing than registration. The thing that people get hung up on about registration is that you must have a valid title to get your vehicle registered, and our titling packages include registration for the vehicle in question as part of the package deal. 

But what about a boat? Why do they need a title if they aren’t being registered for the road? 

First and foremost, not every boat needs to have a title. That little John boat you picked up on the Marketplace? Yeah, it probably doesn’t need one. Boats and vessel titling regulations vary from state to state, so you need to consult your own state’s rules to see (odds are if you are reading this, you already know that your state requires a title, though). 

Every state is different about their titling requirements for boats, so there is no cookie cutter answer for this. But if your state requires one to register it, or you are looking at one for sale in a state that requires titles and it doesn’t have one, you are in a bind. 

Common Reasons for Losing a Boat Title

The common reasons for losing a boat title are about the same as with any other vehicle. Almost always, it has to do with the title being lost for the same reasons: it was lost in a move, it was lost just because it got lost from sitting around the house or shop for years, or it was destroyed somehow. The reason for the destruction of the title isn’t really important. 

Steps to Take When You Lose a Boat Title

First, for the sake of clarification, this isn’t just about if you lost a boat title. If you did lose it, the easiest way to replace one is to go through your home state (or through whatever state it is titled in, in your name) and see if you can get a replacement. You really don’t need to go through the bonded title process for a boat or vessel that you know for sure you legally own. 

Bonded titles exist to ease liabilities on the DMV (or applicable organization, since boats aren’t already titled through the DMV) when someone comes in and says that they are the owner of the boat. If you know for a fact that you own the boat (i.e., you bought it new, or you held the title at one point in time), there are better instruments to do this. Of course, if your state doesn’t offer a replacement or refuses to issue one, then you might not have any other choice. If you run into that problem, Dirt Legal’s boat and vessel titling service is your best bet to get a title and registration for your boat. 

How to Get a Bonded Title for Your Lost Boat Title

Once you have determined that you do, in fact, need a title bonded, there are some steps along the way that you must follow to guarantee it all works smoothly. 

We use Montana as the ideal launching pad for a title recovery (by the way: a title bond or bonded title is a title recovery method). 

You’ll Need a Hull Identification Number Inspection

About a year ago or so, I wrote a case study on how a VIN check saved me from buying a headache truck. The VIN check is a great tool to use before you buy a vehicle and especially before you go to your local police department and have them run a VIN inspection on your vehicle. You really don’t want to find out it was stolen or has title issues at the police station. 

Well, there is a parallel inspection for boats called the Hull Identification Number inspection, which does the same thing. When you buy our boat and vessel title service, you’ll get a form for your local police to fill out. Once you have that done, you can proceed with the service request. 

Necessary Documentation for a Bonded Title

The paperwork to do a bonded title is really not that bad at all. All you need to start the process is provide:

• Photo ID or passport

• Montana HIN inspection completed by a police officer in your state

• Photo of the badge or business card of the police officer that inspected your HIN

• Photo of the HIN

Once you have those items and send them to us, we will handle the rest of the process! It really is that easy for you. 

Pros and Cons of Using a Bonded Title for a Lost Boat Title

Here is a quick rundown on the pros and cons of using a bonded title to recover the title for your boat or vessel. 

On the bright side, a bonded title might be the only instrument you can use to prove ownership and obtain a valid title for your boat. 

The downside is that it is a bond, kind of like a bail bond. The bond company will pay out the value of the bond to a person that can prove ownership of the vessel, then the bond company turns to our customer to pay them back for the value of the bond (we’ve never seen it happen, but it is something that could happen). 

Bond values are based on either the purchased price or the NADA clean retail value, whichever one is higher of the two. 

How Dirt Legal Can Help with Your Bonded Title Needs

Dirt Legal is your partner in the bonded title process (not just boats, either). We will be there cradle to grave throughout the process, and we let you know exactly where your application is in the process so you are never left wondering. 

Oh, and after three years of no challenges on the title, the “bonded” brand is dropped from the title and it is a clean title in your name. 

One last thing: we cannot process title recovery requests for boats that are financed; you need to own the vessel outright for us to complete the process, which puts it in a Montana LLC in your name. 

Parting Thoughts

When you end up with a boat or any other vehicle with title issues or a missing title, it can feel a little hopeless. But that’s okay: Dirt Legal’s title recovery processes have helped thousands of people get a clean title in their name, and get fresh registration on their vehicles. And this goes for boats, too, along with standard passenger vehicles, RVs, surplus military vehicles, and OHVs. Whatever you need to obtain a title for, odds are good that we have done it and we can help.