Split from 1993 Burro 17WB -SOLD-

[Donna D.]

I should be picking this unit up next weekend. Sorry guys. (Ok, I'm not really sorry, I'm glad I snagged it before anyone else!)

Congratulations Michael. Be sure to go to General Chat and brag! We'd love to see some pictures too

[Mike Magee]

Valuable lesson learned: when buying a used trailer, one should ALWAYS check the title's vin against the trailer's vin to make sure they match. I was stupid. I bought this trailer and I didn't check.

Guess what, I'm having one H of a time getting a title!

I took the Iowa title in to our local office and paid the taxes and fees. They took the title to send in to the State of Oklahoma, and gave me a licence plate (although down here they're called "tags"). They said, just bring the trailer by sometime and we'll inspect the vin, it's a $4 fee. Until then the state doesn't issue a title.

It was a while before it became convenient, but I took it in and had the vin inspection done. Only the trailer vin is different, 2 digits different from the vin listed on the title. The local office calls the state about it, and the state says they need a "letter of correction" on official Iowa letterhead.

I call the Iowa motor vehicle division. They refer me to the last 2 counties the trailer was titled in, and say one of those 2 probably made the error and that county will issued the letter. The most recent county says sorry, it came to us with that vin also. The later county says sorry, we only have to keep paper records for 5 years... we show it back as far as 2001 with that vin, and we don't have any way to research it further back.

Now I have a call in again to the Iowa MVD, hoping someone there can suggest something. Otherwise I may be stuck with a trailer I can never sell!

[pjanits]

On the plus side it is a 17' Burro WB!!!! These seem to be getting pretty rare.
Now that I have one ( I had a 13' Burro) I don't see ever selling it.

You could move to Illinois, no one even looked.

[Donna D.]

Now I have a call in again to the Iowa MVD, hoping someone there can suggest something. Otherwise I may be stuck with a trailer I can never sell!

Humm, since Burro also came as a kit and a buyer could put the trailer together themselves, is it possible.. perhaps to have the trailer titled and licensed as a "home built" using the VIN that's stamped on the frame? Maybe all you'd need to start that process is a Bill of Sale from the individual you purchased it from?

Just thinking out loud here.....

[Mike Magee]

Humm, since Burro also came as a kit and a buyer could put the trailer together themselves, is it possible.. perhaps to have the trailer titled and licensed as a "home built" using the VIN that's stamped on the frame? Maybe all you'd need to start that process is a Bill of Sale from the individual you purchased it from?

Just thinking out loud here.....

That's an interesting idea, although I don't know if Okla would swallow that when they already have a title (albeit incorrect) on file. Something to keep in mind if all else fails, I guess. The other thing is, I suppose I could sell with bill of sale only to some future buyer (if the title is a lost cause, it's as if the title was lost).

No word back from Iowa MVD after 2 days. I don't think they want to deal with it.

I think I wll always carefully read the VIN in any future transactions!!! And I hope all of you do the same.

[Mike Magee]

There's one more lesson, at least for me, in this whole mess. The seller was from Illinois but he handed me an Iowa title. He explained that in IL it was legal to hold an "open title". So he saved himself some expense and trouble by never registering it in his home state while he worked on and refurbished it for resale.

I can't help feeling that if he had registered it, my dilemma may have been eliminated (if IL did a decent job and caught the error and it got fixed) or at least reduced (if I could have gone back to IL the records would at least be fresh enough that they couldn't cop out by saying too many years had gone by to retrieve the records, as Iowa is doing).

My thought is, if anyone offers you a title that doesn't have their name as the owner of record.... RUN! I am currently wishing that I had done so.

[Roger C H]

When we moved to Washington state from Wisconsin, we brought our boat and boat trailer along. Wisconsin didn't require a title for boat trailers but Washington does. What Washinton did, was to give me a grace period. That is they issued a license plate without a title and then in a couple years, if the trailer didn't show up on any stolen list, they issued a title.
Maybe Oklahoma has some sort of similar program.

[Mike Magee]

When we moved to Washington state from Wisconsin, we brought our boat and boat trailer along. Wisconsin didn't require a title for boat trailers but Washington does. What Washinton did, was to give me a grace period. That is they issued a license plate without a title and then in a couple years, if the trailer didn't show up on any stolen list, they issued a title.
Maybe Oklahoma has some sort of similar program.

I don't believe so. I just got done talking to the state office of tags, licenses & titles and OK doesn't even have a "lost title" or "bonded title" provision.

However, there is a glimmer of hope. They said if Iowa would produce a letter with both VINs on it stating that they researched it and their records don't go back far enough to verify anything, OK would evaluate that letter when received and might issue a new title. No guarantees. So I called the appropriate county office back again and the lady there said she would make up a letter stating such.

The Iowa people think OK govt is anal, and the OK people think the Iowa govt is careless. All I can say is, "our tax dollars are at work." At least I have a chance.

About the only other thing left would be to someday sell it on a bill of sale and let some other poor sap be stuck with the ordeal, maybe in a state that doesn't make it quite such a pain.

BTW, I asked the OK state guy, if I can't get any letter at all, can I at least get my Iowa title back? Nope, he replied, when you turn in a title it becomes the property of the State of Oklahoma, and they image it and shred it.

Anybody here from Alaska? I'm wondering if it's still "land of the free" up there, or if the bureaucrats have taken over the last frontier too...

[Lizbeth]

The VIN was wrong on the Oregon title we got on the Bigfoot. It was only off by one digit, the title had had an "8" and it should have been a "B". The California DMV lady just went out and verified it and said it happens all the time. The new California title and reg has the corrected VIN on it. We went to a tiny little office in a small town on the way home from Oregon. It might have been a nightmare if we had gone to a bigger office. I would suggest you take the problem to a small office if you have been going to the big DMV in Tulsa.

I'd also talk to those people in Iowa again. Keep talking to different people till someone gives you a "Yes I can help." It only takes one!

[Lizbeth]

Wait.....so at this point you have tags and a registration but no title? If so you can use it till you get this straightened out. Believe me you just need one person to say "Yes"

Don't give up at least you didn't find out that it was registered to an insurance company like I found out when I went to register the Boler.

What if the VIN was missing? Would they issue you a new one?

[Mike Magee]

Wait.....so at this point you have tags and a registration but no title? If so you can use it till you get this straightened out. Believe me you just need one person to say "Yes"

Don't give up at least you didn't find out that it was registered to an insurance company like I found out when I went to register the Boler.

What if the VIN was missing? Would they issue you a new one?

Oh, yes, I can use it. It has a tag... they were glad to take my fee payment for that and to take my excise tax payment on the purchase price. I have camped in it and will continue to do so. I actually tried 2 different tag agencies, one large and one small, for the inspection... same result both places (paid the $4 fee twice).

What in the world did you do on the Boler? How did you get it sorted out?

What if the VIN were missing... I really don't know. Maybe I should pry the plate off and see!

[Roger H]

Talk to the County Treasurer him/herself in the first county in Iowa in which it was titled. More than likely, particularly if it's one of the more rural counties, you'll likely get some assistance. What counties are you dealing with here? Because of the way Iowa's motor vehicle registration system is set up, they're usually pretty helpful.

Roger

oh... and in most states, possessing a vehicle with a missing or removed VIN plate is a felony... you're better of just to get this straightened out. and you're right... the previous owner lied... there is no "open title". when you buy a vehicle you have to register it in your name before you can re-sell it... otherwise the state loses out on its sales tax! That's why the guy didn't register it... he didn't want to pay the fees!

[Mike Magee]

Some really great news... I finally received my title this week from the state!

It came down to this: I called Okla. City and talked to the right governmental department. They said if I could not get a letter of correction at all from Iowa, then if I could get an Iowa letter stating what Iowa had told me over the phone (that they had searched but could not verify the VIN because their records didn't go back that far), I could turn in that letter instead and Okla. would examine it and "maybe" release the title if they were satisfied with it. So I again called the nice lady in Iowa at the Union County Treasurer's Office and asked her if she could type up such a letter; and she did, luckily. And Oklahoma luckily accepted it and gave me a new title.

==whew!== What a relief.

[Donna D.]

Oh happy day! What great news for you.

[Don N]

It pays off to keep trying. ... That will be a 6 month period that you don't want to have to go thru again.. Congrats