What paperwork/legal stuff/registry of motor vehicles stuff do I and the buyer (who is from another state) need to properly sell/buy a horse trailer?
Thanks in advance!
You’ll need to sign over your title, and fill out a bill of sale (one copy for each of you). After that, it’s on the buyer to deal with the DMV and get it titled and registered in their name. Their state may or may not require the trailer to be inspected first. Again, that’s not your problem, it’s theirs.
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What Mango20 said, and remember to take your license plate off before it leaves.
An out of state buyer will definitely want want a title. Hopefully you have one. My state only requires a “Certificate of Origin” when you buy a trailer from a dealer, so many trailers do not have titles. There may also be a requirement that your signature on the title change be notarized. If so, best to take the buyer to your bank, deposit their payment and have the bank notarize the title for you, and then hand title and the trailer over to the buyer.
If your trailer is required to be insured for tag and title purposes you’d be smart to hang onto the insurance coverage long enough to make sure the title has officially changed hands to the new owner in the new state…
As there are 50 states and you are only dealing with 2 of them, check into the state requirements specifically, as the answers here on the forum may be from places with different laws.
Thank you! As it turns out, and as I vaguely recall from when I bought the trailer 11 years ago, my state also does not issue titles for vehicles under 3000 lbs (which my trailer is), nor does the state in which the anticipated buyers live. So, hopefully a Bill of Sale will be sufficient…
My experience and comments come from 2 horse trailer sales, first one SC to GA, and the second one GA to SC. SC is a certificate of origin state, and getting a GA title was a hassle. The GA to SC was easy since I already had a GA title, and even though the SC buyer didn’t even even ask, I gave the title certificate to her…
We have sold 2 and in both cases all that was needed was to sign the title over. No bill of sale as all that is on the back of the title. No insp needed to get plates/ tags. Your state may vary of course.
Interesting about the GA issue with the title. I bought a new custom designed trailer through a TN dealer and it came with a certificate of origin. I didn’t have any major issues when I went in to get the tag and title. It took longer than the usual stuff, but I get that someone coming in with a new out of state horse trailer wasn’t their daily routine, so there was a minor confab with a few managers before they took a very large chunk out of my wallet and gave me the tag and title. Of course they didn’t get it 100 percent right so I had to go back in a few months later when the annual renewal date came up, because nothing quite says happy birthday like a trip to the Fulton co Division of finance said nobody ever.
The bill of sale may not be necessary to get the ownership transfer done with the state, but I like to have it with both parties signing the “as is no warranty” language. If they get halfway home and something breaks, well… they had a chance to inspect it before purchasing.
If both your state and the buyer’s state don’t issue titles for vehicles of that weight, then you should be all sorted with a trailer bill of sale. Just make sure you’ve double-checked the state requirements. I had an experience in which my buyer actually required a Certificate of Origin (which I didn’t have) and it took forever and a day to get the process sorted with the DMV.
Have buyer check with their Licensing Bureau, to know what they need to get trailer licensed. I would certainly give them a bill of sale with price and vehicle number on it. Get buyers name and address, drivers license number, and their signature as buyer, on the bill of sale. Drivers license numbers are national now, not issued just for their state, for better tracking if needed. You then have their information if something comes up later. Keep this, trailers can live forever, who know when you might need it?
Bill of sale copy to buyer covers buyer if their State requires sales Tax when they go in to get a new license. If you have a title or other formal paperwork, hand that to them as well.
Do NOT let them “borrow” your license to get home. If they need a license, have them buy a temporary one at your license bureau. They may seem very nice, but nice folks can lie, or just be lazy. I sold a truck, DRAGGED buyer to the license bureau to transfer the title. Well he had some fees he owed, so not enough money left after paying me, title transfer, to buy a license. Friend of my son, lived 100 miles away. I had my money in cash, so I let him drive off, with promise to return my license plate, which did not happen! After a month I had son go by and remove license from truck, which made “friend” angry, but too bad. Had to go buy a license in his own name then. Son returned my license on his next visit.
Some folks NEVER transfer the title, just license vehicle under the name on title!! Daughter bought a nice work truck, 5yrs old. Seller had never changed owner name from the dealership after his purchase! Just kept it licensed and insured for his business!! That was interesting getting title transferred twice and then licensed to her!!
