I need to renew a the registration on one of my canoes, and I realized that I never transferred the title....

I can't get a hold of the previous owner, so let's assume that he doesn't have the title.

What do I do in this situation. I can 'produce' a bill of sale is necessary.

The Maple Grove DMV told me I need both the Title & BOS.

now what?

This question has come up before.....

Register a canoe.

In Illinois they are not so much worried about all the rest, but they want their sales tax dollars. That BOS is the important document here.

I have had close to a half dozen canoes, none have had a title, have never had an issue registering them in MN with a simple bill of sale. Go back to the same DMV and get a different person. This all changes if the previously have a title in MN.

I would try this. Go to a different DMV, maybe in a small town and tell them that it has never been titled. You should be able to get a new title and liscense, using the bill of sale.

Or tell them it was given to you by your uncle, has never been titled, and do not even give them a bill of sale.

Maybe I am all wet, and someone feel free to correct me.

I have done this a couple of times in Minnesota. I simply create a bill of sale with the hull number on it and bring it to the license center. I will be doing this again in the next week or so, and it is a very easy process. Then again, I have never been asked for a title. I use the DVM in Apple Valley.

ive only had registration for the canoes ive owned. im not understanding the title references.

After calling the DNR, they told me that canoes don't have titles, and that they would personally tell the lady from the DMV this, if they had to.

They did insist that I have a bill of sale, and whatnot, so I 'produced' that for them.

On a second canoe, that I hadn't transferred ownership on:
The previous owner also did not transfer ownership. So, I had to call Stone Harbor, where he bought it, and have them write up a bill of sale for me, with a signature.

I know that I could have 'produced' this, but I was mainly asking them to do so, to confirm that they had sold the previous owner this boat.

They will be mailing that down to me tomorrow.

Just annoying. thats all for now.

I've bought two canoes from private parties, I've never had a problem getting the registration sticker for them despite the fact I had no BOS or title.

When I registered I just gave them the serial number, the length, and the manufacturer, and that's it. Now I just go to a license station, give them my drivers license, and they know what canoes (and cars for that matter I own) and issue the sticker for the canoe (car) I want.

why do people like to make this so complicated?

Making it easy seldom generates any revenue for the state.

When you buy a car; you pay sales tax.
The license plate for your car cost money, and to keep it renewed cost more money.
To have your car inspected you pay a fee.
You pay personal property tax on the car.
Take your car to a dealership for service; you pay tax.
Buy gas for your car you pay tax.
And that's the short list...........

Ca ching! Show me the money!

BOB

As you already noted, MN doesn't title canoes. The license registration is not a title. I've bought and registered two previously owned canoes in the past five years. In both cases the owner did not give me the registration papers. I used the "Universal registration form" from the DNR web site and went to my local deputy registrar office. If the boat has a current or expired registration you can get that number off the sticker. The only time I needed a bill of sale was when I bought a new canoe from out of state. And the only reason for that is the sales tax. They don't collect sales tax on private party transactions.

Here's the link to the DNR form.
Universal registration form