Two titles, one lot: boat title vs trailer title, and registering a repo boat out of state
Started by kat_wants_a_boat on Jul 15, 2025 in Buying and auctions. 6 posts.
my dad and i are buying a fish and ski for Norris and Fort Loudoun. the boat side i'm learning. the paperwork side has me stuck, and two threads here helped (the Targa one and erie's Crestliner) so i want one place for the boring stuff and i'll stop derailing.
where we are: there's a 2020 Lund 1775 Adventure SS with a Mercury 115 on an m&a lot at a lender yard in Ohio, closes in a couple weeks. listing says clear title and that the lender releases every lien before transfer. we're in Tennessee.
questions, in the order my dad asked them. is the trailer always its own title? who in Tennessee actually takes the paper? does Ohio title the motor like Texas does? and if the envelope shows up late like it did for lake_lanier_dad, can we use the boat in the meantime?
from the Texas side. before you bid, email and ask for a photo of the hull number on the transom and the VIN plate on the trailer tongue. the m&a listing had my hull number typed in the description and they still sent the photo within a day. both numbers have to match because that's the first thing every state office checks.
when the envelope comes, open it at the kitchen table and count pieces of paper. boat, trailer, and in some states the motor. every one should carry the bank's signature and either a stamped release or a separate letter saying the loan's paid off. mine came 9 days after the boat. you can't run without numbers, so plan on it sitting a week.
answering your notary question from my thread, no. the michigan title was already signed off by the bank with the lien release printed right on the front. i signed as buyer and that was it. Pennsylvania wanted the title, the bill of sale and their form, and they gave me a temporary to run on until the real one came.
i'd ask which state's paper is coming before you bid. Ohio has its own rules about motors and i don't know them.
Chattanooga, done this twice with boats from out of state. Tennessee doesn't title boats. TWRA registers them and that's it. you take the out of state title, or the registration if it came from a state that doesn't title, plus the bill of sale, and you pay the sales tax there. they give you the numbers and the decal.
the trailer's a county clerk thing, Knox County clerk for you, separate line and separate fee. bring the trailer title with the bank's release on it.
if Ohio sends a motor title, take that to TWRA too. bring every piece of paper in the envelope. easier to carry one they don't need than drive back across town for one they do.
one thing to keep straight since it came up in the mod mailbox. the 30-day money-back on m&a auto sales lots kicks in when the boat itself doesn't match what was described in a material way, say the listing says a 115 and a 90 shows up. it isn't for a state office being slow or wanting a form you didn't have. that part's between you and the state. the six month warranty is mechanical, it doesn't cover paperwork either.
update. we didn't bid on the Lund. asked for the hull number photo like lake_lanier_dad said, and the number on the transom ended in a different letter than the one typed in the listing. they answered the next day, said it was a typo in the description and fixed it, and the photo matched the title. fine. but my dad got spooked, the close came and went while he was deciding, and i let it go.
the good part is i have the list now, taped inside a folder. called TWRA in Knoxville and the lady confirmed all of it: out of state title or registration, bill of sale with the price, hull number has to match, sales tax paid there. Knox County clerk for the trailer. we saved two more lots on the m&a site tonight, both from Kentucky yards, both well under 1,000 miles. hull photos first this time, before dad has a chance to think.
