Interesting phone call...

[sunnydude2]

Received a phone call from the prior owner of our boat. Never spoken to them as we used their broker down in California.

She received a bill from the LA county tax collector for property tax on the boat for 2008. I was aware that she might call as early in May I originally received the bill. They levy taxes based on ownership as of 12/31. I didn't take possession until 1/15 so they are on the hook. The county used the CG registration when they sent the bill to me. I sent them info from my title company showing when we bought it. Had to tell her sorry, but I am unwilling to pay a tax that isn't my responsibility. :) She doesn't think she should have to pay for 2008 as they only owned it for 15 days in 2008.

I believe the broker gave her my phone number (or it might have been on the sale agreement).

Crazy call, just thought I might share.

[Randygh]

Sean--If I may ask, did the previous owner say how much was the LA county property tax due for the boat in 2008? Don't let the WA legislature know that LA County is charging property tax on boats. I could see light bulbs flash inside some legislator's head--hmmm, a good way to raise some more tax revenue from rich boat owners and we'll use the collected tax to build new county roads or low income housing.

However, I bet our WA boat registration fee is high compared to CA's.

[Nehalennia]

Kind of always weird staying in touch with the PO's.
The PO of Nehalennia II we have been trying to get together with for a cruise, but now he tells me it's in the shop for an "outdrive issue"
They've had it since Aug 1 last season so hopefully it's something simple, but there's pangs of awkwardness.

You shouldn't have to pay the CA tax.

[sunnydude2]

I know the exact amount as I have a copy of the original bill: $750.

I have paid all the sales tax that was due for WA and CA on the deal.

We have been in contact with the new owners of Crimson Pride as they are in Everett. I told them to call me. Only issue they had was a ruptured water pipe in the head after this winter.

[Play N Hookie Admiral]

Makes me want to keep the hookie forever....or sink her when were done... :|

Our first boat we sold to a guy Erik worked with at the time. A few years latter Erik went to renew his drivers license and was told his license was suspended (NOT good for a insurance agent/securities rep) because of a tow bill and impound fees for the boat! Apparently the guys didnt do his part of transfering the title (were talking a 1k boat here) and when he moved it just left it at the house he was renting...the owners had it towed and they "billed" us without ever actualy billing us. After a year or so of fees building up the total bill was around $700. Needless to say we promptly contacted they guy we sold it to and offered him two options 1. pay NOW 2. small claims court, pay then. He choose to pay now, which I think was the wiser of the two, and we got it taken care of...but it was a scary situation. It never occured to me before then that someone else could effect us in such a way. At least we learned about the license issue before he was pulled over! :roll: If/when we do sell the Hookie we will use a broker for sure...its probably the only way to go with these higher priced toys.

I also dont think you should have to pay those taxes...just tell her we voted no. :lol;)

[rodell]

I've had calls on boats, cars, whatever. Like "I drove it another 100,000 miles and the water pump gave up ... were you trying to screw me?" I sold a car to a friend once, and, it developed some computer glitch that was expensive to fix - it was very awkward.

I definitely don't want to cruise with any of the "old" boats ...

[Nehalennia]

Makes me want to keep the hookie forever....or sink her when were done... :|

Our first boat we sold to a guy Erik worked with at the time. A few years latter Erik went to renew his drivers license and was told his license was suspended (NOT good for a insurance agent/securities rep) because of a tow bill and impound fees for the boat! Apparently the guys didnt do his part of transfering the title (were talking a 1k boat here) and when he moved it just left it at the house he was renting...the owners had it towed and they "billed" us without ever actualy billing us. After a year or so of fees building up the total bill was around $700. Needless to say we promptly contacted they guy we sold it to and offered him two options 1. pay NOW 2. small claims court, pay then. He choose to pay now, which I think was the wiser of the two, and we got it taken care of...but it was a scary situation. It never occured to me before then that someone else could effect us in such a way. At least we learned about the license issue before he was pulled over! :roll: If/when we do sell the Hookie we will use a broker for sure...its probably the only way to go with these higher priced toys.

I also dont think you should have to pay those taxes...just tell her we voted no. :lol;)

Kristen,
Selling boats of our size and price range is very easy. You just have to make sure you do all of the paperwork. When we sold Nehalennia II last July I had the following:

I wrote two copies of a "Bill of Sale"
I went to http://dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/transfertitle.html and perform the Online "Report of Sale" (http://dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/transfertitle.html)
Sign the title(unless the bank still has it)
If a Bank's involved, a "release of interest" is needed


The Report of Sale:
"The report of sale does NOT transfer ownership, but will release you from legal liability if you file the report properly. If you do not file a report of sale, you may be held liable for parking tickets, impound fees, and other financial liabilities incurred by the new owner until they transfer the title into their name."

I think on the larger more expensive boats involved in a Private sale, have benefits to being brokered, but even then a high quality survey and due diligence of the paperwork, it can be done.

[Play N Hookie II]

Get this. I did file the report of sale correctly on that deal. What happened was that the state had changed its computer system and the city of Seattle had used the old system when they had looked up the legal owner. The state verified that it had been changed and informed the city of Seattle but it was already sent to the nastiest collection agenchy that existed and they suspended my license. I needed to protect my credit and make sure I had a license so I just had to pay it. I sold the boat for like $900 and the tow bill was $1250 and they had already auctioned the boat off and didn't credit the aucition amount to the bill. The whole thing was an unscrupulous load of **** but I made it go away and the guy who bought the boat of course didn't have that kind of money so he spent like 6 months paying me back. When I did everything right.


Kristen,
Selling boats of our size and price range is very easy. You just have to make sure you do all of the paperwork. When we sold Nehalennia II last July I had the following:

I wrote two copies of a "Bill of Sale"
I went to http://dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/transfertitle.html and perform the Online "Report of Sale" (http://dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/transfertitle.html)
Sign the title(unless the bank still has it)
If a Bank's involved, a "release of interest" is needed


The Report of Sale:
"The report of sale does NOT transfer ownership, but will release you from legal liability if you file the report properly. If you do not file a report of sale, you may be held liable for parking tickets, impound fees, and other financial liabilities incurred by the new owner until they transfer the title into their name."

I think on the larger more expensive boats involved in a Private sale, have benefits to being brokered, but even then a high quality survey and due diligence of the paperwork, it can be done.

[Nehalennia]

Get this. I did file the report of sale correctly on that deal. What happened was that the state had changed its computer system and the city of Seattle had used the old system when they had looked up the legal owner. The state verified that it had been changed and informed the city of Seattle but it was already sent to the nastiest collection agenchy that existed and they suspended my license. I needed to protect my credit and make sure I had a license so I just had to pay it. I sold the boat for like $900 and the tow bill was $1250 and they had already auctioned the boat off and didn't credit the aucition amount to the bill. The whole thing was an unscrupulous load of **** but I made it go away and the guy who bought the boat of course didn't have that kind of money so he spent like 6 months paying me back. When I did everything right.

God Bless America!

that sucks. Glad it's done an over now

[bradvo]

This reminds me of a time I sold our second house, got a phone call from the buyer the day they moved in. Not even sure how he got our number but he wanted the ceiling fan back that was in the dining room. I told him you must be confused with another house, we never had a ceiling fan in any of the rooms in the house. The guy pretty much told me I was full of **** and he wanted it back. The conversation then got ugly , but he never called back. That one really bothered me, I let the agent know, not sure they contacted him or not.

[SomeSailor]

Wow... I'd be speed-dialing my agent. That's crazy him calling you directly.

[bradvo]

I think he got my number from the agent, could not prove it but no more calls.
Only thing I can think of is the new owners got our house that they bought confused with another simliar dining room from another house that had a ceiling fan. goof ball .

[SomeSailor]

No kidding.

We had a last minute bargain happen when we bought ours. It seems there was a small white lilac tree in the side yard that they wanted to dig up as they left. To be honest, we would've never noticed, but when they approached us about it, the only items left in the house were some nice high-back oak bar chairs. We asked that they leave those, and all was good.

Funny how people get all stressed out at the end of these deals. They were probably thinking on a similar place they'd looked at. :)