titling an untitled trailer... with a twist

PA is notoriously crappy for getting an untitled trailer legal.  As far as I can tell, you either have to apply for a salvage title, then rebuild, then get enhanced inspection, then more paperwork, then sell your grandmother... or you can go through the old-school way of posting an ad in the legal section of the paper, contacting the last three owners via certified mail, waiting forever, then getting a court order.... and that's only if you have a VIN.

I've done the latter before with an old IH Scout and once with a boat.  The boat was easy, the scout... not so much.

So let's see if you pick up what I'm putting down.

Back in 2003 I bought a 1992 travel trailer.  I used it and abused it until last year, then bought a replacement RV and traded the old one to a buddy for some firewood.  He didn't want the title since he was just putting it on his hunting camp as an extra bedroom.

So... I'm shopping for a trailer.  I have a title to a trailer that doesn't exist anymore.  There are tons of untitled trailers on the market.  Hmmmm......

Whatever you do I couldn't possibly recommend stamping the number off the title on the tongue.  Nope.  Couldn't recommend that.  
 

titles for trailers is stupid.  

If the plate is damaged to to weathering I think it would be allowed to create an replacement.

Or you could do what the rest of the Eastern Seaboard does and register it in Maine and then send them $20 every year.

But I see your point - you have an opportunity here.

Dang.  Virginia DMV must be pretty easy to get along with.  I know the title to my boat trailer says "homemade trailer."  My neighbor welded it up, using a decrepit one as a model, IIRC.  I don't know what he had to do to get a valid title, but when I titled it, they issued new title and tags no questions asked.

Where there is a will, there is a way.  Not like they're going to look all that hard at a trailer.

I sold a homemade trailer to a guy in FL here on GRM. Gave him the title and to the best of my knowledge he transferred it and registered it in his name. 

Every year the state sends me a card with all my registrations listed on it and I can just mail it back and get the plates or decals mailed to me.  

To the best of my knowledge for @$14 I get a new plate every year for a homemade trailer that I sold 12 years ago that I can put on pretty much anything and no one is ever going to check. 

my last trailer, it came with a notarized PA title. I had to supply 5 photographs, one of each side and the VIN, and it still took several tries to get the DMV to acknowledge it existed. I have an untitled trailer at home that came with a bill of sale and a very clear VIN, the DMV won't touch it because the vin is not in their computer system.

1988RedT2 said:

Dang.  Virginia DMV must be pretty easy to get along with.

I literally can't even.

I had a title for a trailer I bought and got a permanent, never expires tag in NC. I have to pay them a little bit of property tax every year, but that's alright.

I'm about to see what getting a title for a manufactured trailer with no title entails. I'm hoping it's easier than what was posted here.

Harbor Freight will sell you a trailer with a VIN, title, etc. for a couple hundred bucks.  The vin is a plate that it comes with.  I think you pop rivet it on, or it is pop riveted on already.  I'm sure that if you rebuilt the rest of the trailer using parts of your old one, well, we wouldn't encourage that.

I wouldn't recommend falsifying a VIN, however if you get an untitled trailer I can get aper on it.

The only thing I need is a weigh ticket verifying it doesn't weigh more than 1,000 lbs.  You get a Homemade Trailer Registration.

I'd say this is prime time to rebuild that trailer you have a title to.  You may want to buy an untitled trailer off of craigslist to get parts to rebuild it. 

Duke said:

Or you could do what the rest of the Eastern Seaboard does and register it in Maine and then send them $20 every year.

But I see your point - you have an opportunity here.

 

This is exactly what I did with my old car hauler in IL. The person who bought it just took the ME registration into the DMV & IL issued a title when they registered it. 

Duke said:

Or you could do what the rest of the Eastern Seaboard does and register it in Maine and then send them $20 every year.

But I see your point - you have an opportunity here.

 

I don't know if it's enforced, but in PA you have to have a title even if it's registered in another state.

914Driver said:

I wouldn't recommend falsifying a VIN, however if you get an untitled trailer I can get aper on it.

The only thing I need is a weigh ticket verifying it doesn't weigh more than 1,000 lbs.  You get a Homemade Trailer Registration.

 

Pretty sure it will weigh more than 1000.  I'm looking in the 26-30' range.

Basically I need a trailer for the theater.  It will never haul a whole lot of weight... foam and 1x4 lumber turned into set pieces, but it needs lots of space.  For instance, the last show had a two-story choir loft made with 2x4s, 2x6s, and foam facing.  The whole thing probably weighed 800 lbs, but it was 8' x 4' x 14'.  I put it on dad's car hauler.

I think the perfect application for this is a naked travel trailer.  An RV that has had the box ripped off.  They tend to be a bit flimsy without the box on it, but they are relatively lightweight.  If a person were to buy a purpose-built deckover trailer in 24', chances are it is a tri-axle beavertail with a 24,000 GVWR and weighs 3500 lbs by itself.  I need a big deckover, let's say 8' x 26' that will only ever carry 3000 lbs despite having an 8000 lb GVWR on the title.

914Driver said:

I wouldn't recommend falsifying a VIN, however if you get an untitled trailer I can get aper on it.

The only thing I need is a weigh ticket verifying it doesn't weigh more than 1,000 lbs.  You get a Homemade Trailer Registration.

 

Yes, you can get paper, but it's either VERY involved (takes up to 6 months and a court order), or you have to jump through ridiculous hoops by declaring it a salvage vehicle and then "rebuilding" it along with lots of scrutiny... both of which require a vin... and the vin is almost always on a sticker on the RV box which goes away before I buy the frame.

mtn said:

I'd say this is prime time to rebuild that trailer you have a title to.  You may want to buy an untitled trailer off of craigslist to get parts to rebuild it. 

Actually the trailer that belongs to my title was traded away as a whole unit, so I don't have it.  I traded it for firewood and he put it on his hunting camp property.

Curtis73 said:

Duke said:

Or you could do what the rest of the Eastern Seaboard does and register it in Maine and then send them $20 every year.

But I see your point - you have an opportunity here.

 

I don't know if it's enforced, but in PA you have to have a title even if it's registered in another state.

IF you decide to transfer the registration from Maine to PA, which I don't recommend on price alone, they'll issue a title for it. Almost a loophole.

- I am in PA. I titled and registered my previously un-titled  car trailer at my local notary a few years ago. She just asked what it weighed, and did not require any verification from a scale. I said it was under 1000 lbs and she accepted my statement. She handed me my metal plate and a temp registration.  Permanent paper came a week later. I am a little too far from you to recommend my notary

Does ME not title trailers?

I would assume PA would require an out of state title

TurnerX19 said:

 I am in PA. I titled and registered my car trailer at my local notary a few years ago. She just asked what it weighed, and did not require any verification from a scale. I said it was under 1000 lbs and she accepted my statement. She handed me my metal plate and a temp registration.  Permanent paper came a week later. I am a little too far from you to recommend my notary

The secret there I think is "under 1000"

Hard to pass off a 30' trailer as under 1000

Curtis73 said:

Does ME not title trailers?

I would assume PA would require an out of state title

They're flexible with titles. 

: Do I need to have my trailer titled in Maine if I have my trailer registered there?

A: If your trailer is 1994 or older, and the unloaded weight is 3,000 lbs or less, it is title exempt in Maine. If your trailer is 1995 or newer and the unloaded weight is 3,001 lbs or more, you may apply for a Maine title.

• If you are registering your trailer and it is already titled in your name in another state, it does not need to be re-titled. We will need a copy of the front and back of the title in order to register it.
• If you want to register your trailer (and the unloaded weight is 3,001 lbs or more), and it is not titled in your name in another state, Maine requires that you get a Maine title.
• Although not required, you may apply for a title on a trailer older than model year 1995 with an unladen weight of over 3,000 lbs. The application for title must be accompanied by an existing title from Maine or another state. Any application submitted without the supporting title documents will be withdrawn and returned to the applicant. Applications for duplicate title for trailers older than model year 1995 will be processed for existing Maine titles upon submission of the required application and fee.

Excellent.  Thank you.

1988RedT2 said:

Dang.  Virginia DMV must be pretty easy to get along with.

After being tortured by dmv in VA for 26 years before I left, that is a sentence I have NEVER heard!

however, a homemade utility trailer, you go to the State Police for your vin, and then dmv can only be their normal buracratic a-holes

mtn said:

I'd say this is prime time to rebuild that “trailer” you have a title to.  You may want to buy an untitled trailer off of craigslist to get parts to rebuild it. (Even though you would “never” just use the whole trailer, and “pretend” you just used parts. )

Actually the trailer that belongs to my title was traded away as a whole unit, so I don't have it.  I traded it for firewood and he put it on his hunting camp property.

you didn’t read between his lines. Cause none of us would do things like that