Looking for a Little Advice

I’m looking for a little advice on what to do!

After thinking about buying a boat for over a year I finally bought my first boat last summer. After looking at boats for over a year, I knew exactly what I wanted and waited for the perfect used boat to come along. Finally, after watching daily posts on all the web sites, I found the perfect boat for myself at Frankie’s Marine. Perfect…not only did I find a great boat, but also from a reputable dealer (or so I thought)!

I bought the boat and after several (no A LOT of) issues and promises from Frankie’s I took possession of my boat 4 weeks after I put the down payment on it.

Now, 5 months later, I have the boat, have been making payments on the boat…but have never recieved the title from Frankie’s. I have been told a bunch of different stories from Frankie’s on why I have not recieved the title, none of which I believe anymore…and the latest story I was told today is pretty much laughable!

Does anyone have any advice for me on how to handle this? I’m not sure what to do….

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Now, 5 months later, I have the boat, have been making payments on the boat…but have never recieved the title from Frankie’s.

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If the boat is collateral on the loan. Let the bank deal with it. Their lawyers are pretty good at getting stuff like that done.

Basically tell the bank you have concerns about the title/ownership of the boat and you don’t plan to pay any more money on the loan until this is cleared up.

You should get the title with the bank as the lien holder on it in short order.

-J.

If you bought a used boat at Frankie’s it more then likely was consigned by somebody. Frankie’s apparently is having trouble getting the title from the owner. Which sucks for you and also is very bad for them.

Do as Jon says and get the banks lawyers involved. Amazing what happens when a guy gets a letter from a attorney with deep pockets.

The boat title is going to be held by the bank that has the loan, until it is paid off. Your first call should be to the bank to see if they have it. They track title information and if the transfer of ownership was not done, I would think the bank would have contacted you.
If the boat trailer has a title, that should have come to you with the bank listed on it.

Maybe some banks do it differently. My CU does not hold the title. I have it here. The last 2 loans were the same. The bank is on the title as the lien holder. Once the loan is paid off, they sign off on a card that releases the ownership completely to me. I could not sell the boat without the lien card signed by the bank officer.

Good point. You should have a boat title and a trailer ownership card. You need both to sell the boat.

-J.

I would think your bank should be able to leverage the titles or info on whereabouts from the dealer if you cant.Or if you have hull ID #’s & trailer ID #’s with a copy of bill of sale & sent it in to DNR Registration & Titling I would think you should be able to get new titles.I would see if the bank will handle first as they generally have more interest or $ in the boat when first purchased than you at this time. If they dont follow up,then possibly go for option 2. Didn’t you receive new registration card & stickers with hull ID #s.Would have thought if you did then title should have been sent about same time. Option 2 will get you some kind of results as long as you have a form of Bill of Sale!

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Maybe some banks do it differently. My CU does not hold the title. I have it here. The last 2 loans were the same. The bank is on the title as the lien holder. Once the loan is paid off, they sign off on a card that releases the ownership completely to me. I could not sell the boat without the lien card signed by the bank officer.

Good point. You should have a boat title and a trailer ownership card. You need both to sell the boat.

-J.

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You are correct JJ, it does vary from bank to bank, credit union to credit union. Some will hold the title, some will sent it to the owner.

Call the bank or credit union, they will help you with this

Hopefully they arent in the same situation as a boat dealer out this way was a couple years back.I had the same thing happen .Took over a year to get the title and in the mean time.No legal way to title the boat.On my deal the boat dealer had all his money tied up and if it came off his inventory he didnt have enough credit to cover the bank.The crazy part is that Kansas does not require a title to register a boat like Nebraska did at the time.I would hate to guess how many boats from him ended up in Knsas with no title to use.I finaly gave in and had a lawyer write a letter to him explaining if the title didn’t magically show up very soon that we would proceed with contacting the sherriff with a theft by deception charge.Amazing ,Less than a week later I had a title.

Frankie’s did this? Funny I’m not surprised. I’ll spare you from my nightmare…….

My CU holds the lien release card but the title is sent to my home address. Same for trailer card.

Like others have suggested work with your lien holder and good luck!

Hopefully when spring comes you can get out fishing and put this unncessary frustration behind you by setting the hook on some walleyes……

Thanks everyone for the input! It was great advice. I have called the CU and also the brokerage firm that Frankie’s used (unfortunately I financed through them also) and although nobody has any answers for me yet…except that it SHOULD have been done…finally somebody seems as concerned as I am and is working on it. Hopefully I will have some answers shortly!

I can safely say that when this is taken care of it will be my last frustrations with Frankie’s…as I will not be back there ever again. I am frustrated not only with the lack of customer service throughout my whole boat buying experience but also the blatent lies that have been told to me by both the sales department, the service department, and Frankie himself. I guess when I’m looking for my next Ranger I will start with Rapid!!

Thanks again everyone for the help…I’ll let you know how this all turns out!