All of us is smarter than one of us

[mrfixitchapman]

I need to ask members of my tribe to help me with a Florida problem. Last May we rescued a Hurricane Wilma survivor. She's a Newport 30 Mk II sailboat. We expect to have the boat on the (cold) water at Bayfield WI by August of this year. She has some fiberglass repair work coming and lots of bumps and bruises to tend to. Here's my problem - The seller signed the wrong line on the Florida boat title. He now seems to have left the country, literally, and I need to find the Florida Department Of Screwed-Up Boat Titles. Our local county recorder's office cannot find their way through the maze. Iowa won't let me transfer without some corrective measure. I have the boat in my yard. I have the title in my hand. It's just signed in the wrong place. And I thought hauling a oversize sailboat half-way across the continent was going to be my biggest problem....
Anyway, If y'all got ideas that might help a brother out post up here or PM me.

 

[427Dave]

Here is a start. Try this website. http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/

It does have in the index Vessel Registrations, but I didn't see any Department Of Screwed-Up Boat Titles so guess you can search.

Hope that helps, good luck. I will not even go into how they can really get screwed up on tag renewals.

Dave

 

[Tom Winters]

I know that you don't want to just duplicate the seller's signature on the correct line since that would be illegal, and if you were going to do it, you just would have done it long ago and rendered this post moot.
Easiest way is to put the vessel in your name in Florida through
http://www.dmv.org/fl-florida/boat-registration.php. This sounds too impossibly easy so after that, you will most likely need to find a title attorney in Florida who is conversant with the nuances of Florida marine vessel licensing.
Although he probably won't say it out loud, he will be thinking: "Why didn't this guy just copy the owner's signature onto the correct line even though it's illegal and he could have avoided paying me a nice retainer?"
The state of Iowa just wants a signature on the correct line on the title.
How hard do you want to make this?

 

[DebbyDiver]

Maybe someone at the Marine Industries Association of South Florida can help you. They are really nice folks.

Marine Industries Assoc. of South Florida
2312 South Andrews Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33316

Phone: (954) 524-2733
Toll Free: 1-888-MIASF-GO
Fax: (954) 524-0633
admin@miasf.org

 

[Speargirl]

How did you pay for the boat cash, check and did you get a receipt showing that said boat was sold buy him to you and signed by him. If you have something other than just a title signed you should have no problems going thru the Florida DMV boat registration.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Could you sell the boat to someone for $10, then buy it back from them for $10?

 

[Scuba_Dad]

We do have a member called "BoatLawyer"... You might check with her...

 

[mrfixitchapman]

I have copy of the cashier's check, the bill of sale and the title. It's just that the title is signed in the wrong place and nobody at any of the offices in Iowa county recorder's office or Department Of Natural Resources can get anybody at any office in Florida to help unscrew this thing. The seller is no longer in this country. I am not inclined to do this any way but correctly. Seems like a small problem, but, still, here I am......
I have gotten a few leads to follow. so thanks for the help so far.

 

[Scuba_Dad]

I have copy of the cashier's check, the bill of sale and the title. It's just that the title is signed in the wrong place and nobody at any of the offices in Iowa county recorder's office or Department Of Natural Resources can get anybody at any office in Florida to help unscrew this thing. The seller is no longer in this country. I am not inclined to do this any way but correctly. Seems like a small problem, but, still, here I am......
I have gotten a few leads to follow. so thanks for the help so far.

How high up the chain of command did you go? I'd keep asking to see someone's boss until I found the person who's willing to help. You might have to hit up one of your county commissioners (or whatever you have) or above to fix it.

Al

 

[Boatlawyer]

You should be able to use the Bill of Sale to transfer title. What would happen if you walked into Iowa Registration Department without the title and only the Bill of Sale? They can check Florida Motor Vehicles who will tell them that the record owner is the guy who sold it to you. And Voila! Chain of title. No forgery, No straw man sales, No explanations necessary.

Same thing if you did it here in Florida. Hope that helps.