How do you tranfer ownership?

Nowwwww wwww as far as evidence and your protection and the states requirements for documenting legal possession and any licensing or registration issues, that depends on the states statutes. That being said, good evidence of ownership and for your protection, a standard Bill of Sale is probably the best place to start for evidencing ownership of untitled personal property. It should have at a minimum a description of the property including any serial numbers or frame numbers or lengths or number of axles etc etc,,,,, a sales price, the date and signature of the seller etc. If the trailer already has a states certificate of title (its a titled vehicle) they usually have a place to enter such information such as the price and buyer etc.

In Indiana if you buy an untitled trailer and want to license it for road use, you take a Bill of Sale along with a Police Officers inspection report (includes any frame numbers or other stanped ID) to the license branch with a photo. If it has no frame numbers they may assign a number for you to stamp to the frame. Then you can be issued a Certificate of Title and a license etc and then you have a method to more easily transfer title to future owners.

BOTTOM LINE If its a previously untitled or home made trailer get a Bill of Sale and then take possession of it off the sellers property and then follow your states requirements for licensing and title etc.

POSSESSION IS NINE TENTHS OF THE LAW is a good old proverb concerning private property. I enjoyed the lesson wayyyyy back in law school of how if you stole something and are now a peaceful possessor (i.e. no ones chasing you down trying to get it back lol) no one else has the right to take it from you just cuz you stole it yourself. Your right of title and claim of ownership (youre the current peaceful possessor) is superior to all in the world EXCEPT FOR the lawful owner. Its no defense in court for the thief to claim its not his he stole it, youre still the current peaceful possessor and ONLY the lawful owner has a claim superior to yours.

TRESSPASS is an unlawful interference with one's person, property, or rights. If you enter the lands of another you are technically tresspassing. There are certain Notice Requirements that come into play as far as penalties are concerned which is how n why the posting signs (NO Tresspassing) better protect the land owner. The notice negates the tresspassers claim of "he wasnt aware this was private land" if intent were an element of a trespass offense. I believe in Indiana if the property is posted it increases the penalties available to the land owner, but I cant guarantee that I havent checked the statute in years.

Get a signed Bill of sale,,,,, ,check with the BMV as far as their requirements which likely includes a police check,,,,, ,,take possession of the property from the owner to yourself.

Best wishes n God Bless

John T Retired Electrical Engineer and Country Lawyer

For a large amount of money, a bill of sale is fine. For an old Farmall, I just write the serial number on the memo field of my check, or if there is no serial number I write "old M" or whatever else is appropriate. It takes no time and is not offensive to anyone. If someone takes you to court you have your check with the sellers name (maybe not the owner, but how do you know?) description and amount. If the seller wants cash only I want another tractor or a bill of sale. I've probably bought 50 tractors and never had a problem although I had one heir get mad at his dad. When I offered to sell it to him for the same price with no charge for hauling his tone changed, seems all he wanted was his dad's money. If he really wanted his dad's tractor I would have made sure he got it. It turns out he thought it would bring more as junk and was mad over maybe $100.

This was in Nova Scotia, Canada. In the early days it was an annual registration, we cursed the very being of that registration. Then they changed it to "no expiry", and from that day it was just a transfer whenever a tractor changed hands. I will admit the no expiry was a big improvment and quite easy to live with. We still called it a nuisance, however one knew exactly who the owner was when buying a tractor. If he couldn't produce a registration cretificate, you didn't touch it.

I always though this system was rather cumbersome, however we had very few incidents of stolen farm, forestry and construction equipment. I know one can insure against this, however with insurance the victim still pays. I find it unbelieveable the numbers of stolen equipment one hears about just by word of mouth, here in southern Ontario.

Farmers are kinda funny about that sort of thing.

Allan

Basically, I can walk on anyone's property and enter, without force, his out-buildings without legal consequence if there has been no notification. I believe this is a 50 state custom. Breaking and entering, stealing, malicious damage, and peeping toms are illegal, of course.

In law, trespass can be:

1. the criminal act of going into somebody else's land or property without permission of the owner or lessee; 2. it is also a civil law tort that may be a valid cause of action to seek judicial relief and possibly damages through a lawsuit - see trespass to land.

In some jurisdictions trespassing is an offense or misdemeanor covered by a criminal code. In other jurisdictions, it is not considered a crime or penal in nature, property is protected from trespass under civil law and privacy acts. In England and Wales, despite the prevalence of notices asserting that "trespassers will be prosecuted", unless the trespass is aggravated in some way, it will only be a civil wrong.

Although criminal and civil trespass laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, most have the following facets in common:

* Property owners and their agents (for example, security guards) may only use reasonable force to protect their property. For example, setting booby traps on a property to hurt trespassers or shooting at trespassers are usually strictly forbidden except in extreme circumstances. A notable exception is the U.S. state of Texas, where it is legal to use deadly force against trespassers after dark (Penal Code § 9.42). * Not all persons seeking access to property are trespassers. The law recognizes the rights of persons given express permission to be on the property ("licensees") and persons who have a legal right to be on the property ("invitees") not to be treated as trespassers. For example, a meter reader on the property to read the meter is an invitee, as would be a door-to-door salesman or missionary (a Jehovah's Witness or Mormon for example), or a police officer seeking to execute a warrant. * Most jurisdictions do not allow "self-help" to remove trespassers. The usual procedure is to ask the trespassing person to leave, then to call law enforcement officials if they do not. As long as the trespasser is not posing an immediate threat, they cannot be removed by force. It is usually illegal to arrest a trespasser and hold them on the property until law enforcement arrives as this defeats the purpose of allowing them to cure the trespass by leaving. * Marking property as private property can be done in a variety of ways. The most obvious way is to put up a sign saying "No Trespassing" or "Private Property". However, a continuous fence has the same effect in most places. Many jurisdictions allow the use of markers when fencing would be impractical or expensive. For example, Ontario, Canada allows the use of red paint on landmarks such as trees to mark the boundaries of private property. * Property owners may allow some trespasses while excluding others. For example a sign saying just "No Hunting" could conceivably allow hiking, snowmobiling, or bird-watching, but would give notice to hunters that they would be trespassing if they entered onto the property. * Trespass is not limited to human beings. For example, the owner of cattle or dogs may be responsible for an animal's trespass in some jurisdictions.

I don't tresspass to look at tractors. So before anyone else jumps to that conclusion based on an off-handed remark, lets just get that straight and drop it.

sheesh

That isn't what you said. You stated that you "found" two old tractors out setting in a field that you drive by every day.

I just wanted you to be aware of the fact that most folks don't take kindly to others nosin' around uninvited.

I know we live in two different worlds, but out here, if an item is setting in a field without a "FOR SALE" sign on it, then it just plain isn't for sale and don't even ask.

Allan