On Sat, 05 Apr 2008 02:30:56 GMT, "Greg O"
wrote:
"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:23:06 -0500, Ignoramus20845
wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.com/UTILITY-TRAILER_...QQcmdZViewItem

Very smart concept.

"Bill of sale only" - my translation WARNING: He doesn't have a
title slip, and may not have clear title. Do a little Caveat Emptor
and find out for sure before spending money...

Many states do not require a title for a utility trailer. You state laws may
vary!

You cause the State to generate and issue a Certificate of Title and
a state-assigned VIN when you register a homemade trailer and present
receipts/bills of sale for the axle and other major components.

And you cause the State to generate and issue a Certificate of Title
when you register a factory built trailer and present a receipt or BOS
for the purchase of the trailer, the trailer manufacturer is supposed
to have already assigned a VIN number per Federal MVSS - and judging
from the maker's decals on the tailgate that's a factory made trailer.

This is all spelled out in interstate compacts on motor vehicle
registration and titling, drivers licenses, etc. All states do it
roughly the same way so a drivers license, vehicle registration or
Certificate Of Title from one state can be automatically accepted in
all states. Otherwise the paperwork you'd need to generate when you
make a simple move across state lines would be frightening.

Now if that trailer was operated off-road only and never titled and
registered for the road, or the seller was in a state that didn't
require registration of utility trailers (highly doubtful there are
many left, that's revenue they are throwing away) I can see where it
could be perfectly legit selling it without a proper title. But the
seller would have a BOS from the trailer builder (or sales lot) to
him, and more receipts if he wasn't the original buyer... Just a
single BOS from the 'seller in possession to you would not be enough
IMHO, there is no chain of custody proven.

It's still a big red flag that requires further investigation before
you send them a cashiers check. It's trivial to steal a trailer and
warm up Photoshop to generate a fake bill of sale.

You pay your money for the trailer in good faith and go to register
it, and the VIN number comes up as stolen on the other side of the
country. Say bye-bye to your money, and probably the trailer too.

-- Bruce --