Yesterday, during Easter dinner at my place, my wife's uncle sked if I wanted a 14ft-16ft aluminum boat (he wasn't sure of the size).  His next door neighbor picked up and moved to Florida, and told him to take it, which he did.  But the guy who moved doesn't want to be hassled with anything to do with it, so I believe titling the thing might be tough (and no, its not hot).  Don't even think he knows where the guy moved to.  I don't have a need for it, and don't even know if it can be retitled without the original owner here in PA, or what one has to go through to do it.  So it looks like the wife's uncle will be taking it to the scrap yard where he thinks he can get about $175 for it by weight.  What a waste!    

Heard a similar story like that this past weekend. A guy bought a jon boat at a scrap yard. All he needed was a bill of sale from the scrap yard to show proof of ownership to get it titled. So advise him to sell it for scrap and buy it back.

download this form http://www.fish.state.pa.us/boatreg.pdf call the PFBC 866-262-8734 Tell them the boat has been in your family for years. You got from your uncle and want to register so you can put a motor on it and use it. They will tell you how to fill out the form and how much $ you need to send. In two weeks you will have registration. Boats older than 1999 do not need a title.

download this form http://www.fish.state.pa.us/boatreg.pdf call the PFBC 866-262-8734 Tell them the boat has been in your family for years. You got from your uncle and want to register so you can put a motor on it and use it. They will tell you how to fill out the form and how much $ you need to send. In two weeks you will have registration. Boats older than 1999 do not need a title.

Unless previously titled, once they are titled they have to remain titled and you can have a major pain if you dont have the guy around and its titled.... trust me!

Unless previously titled, once they are titled they have to remain titled and you can have a major pain if you dont have the guy around and its titled.... trust me!

True, it can be. I doubt that boat is titled. I would doubt it is even registered. if it is it is probably out of date.

Technically the scrap yard should ask for some kind of proof of ownership before it is scrapped. Just because some has a bill of sale does not mean the person who gave it to him owned it to sell.

I wonder if you can file an "abandoned vehicle" claim on a boat like you can on a car/truck/motorcycle? In many states it's as easy as filing a form at the court house, listing the vehicle in a local paper for X number of days for the owner to come forward and claim it, and if/when they don't come forward you hold a public auction (to recover your "storage fees" ) with a notice stating "seller has the right to refuse any and all bids". When the auction is done you legally own the vehicle.

It's pretty common in the vintage motorcycle community, where bikes are often found behind barns/sheds without titles.

yes here is the PA form

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/pages/forms/pfbc_r3.pdf

If the boat is very old, it's not going to have a vin number so there is no whay it can be traced to see if it has ever been registered.  Unless you just want to scrap it, it most likely can be titled by doing as mentioned above.  Even if wanting to get rid of it, you will get a whole lot more for it as a titled boat than scrap metal.  Last time I saw a price for scarp aluminum it was 50 cents a pound.  Even if it weighs 150 pounds, that's only $75.

Thanks for the info guys.  I'll look over the forms, and take a look at the boat to see what shape its in and see if it's worth putting the effort into it.  I guess if there's no VIN number, the process might be easier.  The uncle told me he thinks the weight of the boat is 300 400 pounds, that's where he got the $175 scrap yard estimate.  

Our family has a place on what was a private lake.  The old lake/resort owner breached the dam over fear from the state due to the shape it was in, and the state never did anything to him (breaching the lake the way he did was illegal).  Now 13 years later the owners association has taken over the lake and is fixing up the dam, but wants around $10,000 from each lot owner to utilize the lake.  The private lake would have been the perfect situation for the boat, but at that price, it ain't gonna happen.

here are a few other forms you may need.

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/forms_boatreg.htm