Proof Of Ownership?

[Daydream believer]

As a back stop (....) ask the seller to provide a guarantee of ownership including indemnity clauses should ownership be called into question...??

The bloke my friend bought the boat from did a runner abroad & would have written it in blood if asked, but had no intention of paying!

 

[Daydream believer]

Minn's answer makes this one interesting.

Was the boat Part 1 registered? We always hear that mortgage lenders will insist on this, and according to Minn the mortgage charge will be shown on the register. So the most likely situation seems to be that it was a private sale/purchase and he wasn't aware of the need to check the register for charges?

Our boat wasn't registered so there was nothing to check, but each time I've done a property transaction that should have changed the register, I've queried the Land Registry a couple of days later to ensure it's correct. In one case the bloody useless solicitor had forgotten to send the form, so it's lucky I did or I wouldn't own my house...

Pete

No idea how he came to buy it. I just know that his solicitors advised him to pay up & forget it. But try forgetting a £ 30K fraud:ambivalence:

 

[Kukri]

Thanks Minn - always good to have an expert answer

Do you happen to know if brokers providing the transcript of register is standard for yacht sales where the boat's Part 1 registered, or are you talking more about shipping practice?

Pete

I wrote this before I had read John Rodriguez’ excellent answer.

I bought a Part One registered yacht through David East in 1984 and another through the Berthon Boat Company last year (I tend to hang on to boats for a while!) and both provided current transcripts without being asked. My advice would be to ask, if one is not offered.

 

[Kukri]

No idea how he came to buy it. I just know that his solicitors advised him to pay up & forget it. But try forgetting a £ 30K fraud:ambivalence:

An unregistered charge on a vessel on the Part One Register will, under English law, be unenforceable against a bona fide purchaser for value without notice (it's not a maritime lien) so either the mortgage was registered, but a transcript was not obtained, or there was a foreign law element to the transaction.