Equipment/bobcat ownership?

[badluck]

When you buy a used piece of equipment, is there any registration on it? Is there a title? Recently I was asked if a piece of equipment was in my name and I could not remember there being any title for it.

 

[NicPaus]

I got the original sales contract when I bought my skidsteer and certificate of origin from CAT. Never heard of having to register it.

 

[dread Pirate]

No titles with any of mine. Bill of sale from when I bought them only unless it has license plates.

 

[badluck]

So a sales receipt is the only real way to prove ownership.

 

[dread Pirate]

So a sales receipt is the only real way to prove ownership.

Kinda wild considering what we spend on equipment.

 

[HBCraig]

When you buy a used piece of equipment, is there any registration on it? Is there a title? Recently I was asked if a piece of equipment was in my name and I could not remember there being any title for it.

No registration. Get the bill of sale and COI if they have it.

 

[CSmith]

Depending on the state you are in. For me, operating equipment in CA I have to report my equipment to CARB (CA Air Resource Board) they track the owner and who it is registered to and the company. Every year I have to fill out a form with how many hours I've put on my machine, each machine has a red sticker with numbers, etc. Has all the serial numbers from the chassis, to motor, and so on. So by that you can look up the info on the equipment and see who is the "owner" since there is no registration like a vehicle per say.

 

[C_J_J_C]

About two years ago I found a deal I thought was too good to be true so I smapped a picture of the Bobcat Serial Number plate

I called the local bobcat dealer who looked it up in their system (Clear) and the bobcat dealer also advised to call the local PD and ask them to run the product ID as a vin number and serial number (Clear). They said there is no title and only do a bill of sale.

So, no titles but can be listed as stolen in multile places.

 

[Your ad here]

As far as I know there is no titling of equipment. Maybe street legal equipment can get a title? All of my equipment I just have a purchase receipt with the VIN# or a bill of sale.

 

[F.U.IRS]

I had a customer tell me years ago a couple of the things that ever truly own outright are your tools and equipment. Everything else is taxed or you pay title and registration on.

 

[Bajastu]

I’ve bought and sold well over a few 100M in equipment. There is no title or registration on a tractor. New and used tractors that are financed have a UCC filed against them. Once paid off, the UCC will be void. But then again this UCC is sometimes serial number pacific, tied to a single company, or it could be wrapped up in a blanket lean. You can check this info through your state.

Used tractors that are not financed are always a gamble. If it’s a CAT, have a dealership run the serial number. Same for a John Deere, Bobcat, etc. They can tell if it was reported stolen. But that’s only if the client reported it to the dealer / manufacturer as stolen. Unfortunately even if a tractor was stolen and reported to the sheriff, that still doesn’t clear ownership due to most sheriff and police departments not sharing data and being confused with the serial number vs vin ID. Most equipment these days are issued a 17 digit serial number that is tied to the trans and engine serial number.

A bill of sale or invoice is your only true saving grace. Hopefully it’s from a dealer. Even this doesn’t always protect you but it does help.

The CA DOORS “EIN” emissions identification number will not show ownership if you try to look it up. The state will not divulge this info. Good luck on the state giving out the old owners info. You can only check to see if it is currently registered or not. In fact, you can just re-register it, and the system will spit out another number. Lots of old owners don’t release the EIN in the system and the state will not help you out on reaching the old owner. They only care about current registrations, tier levels accompanied by fleet size, and non registrations that end up with a fine.

 

[WTR&PWR]

Shhh don’t tell California they’ll want a cut.

 

[Bajastu]

Shhh don’t tell California they’ll want a cut.

There’s lots of ways around the sales tax. Dealerships and auctions are usually the only taxing companies for tractors sales. At the current moment the state is not keen on how to track private equipment sales. But I’m sure some asshole in Sacramento has already came up with an idea on how to tax or double tax based upon equipment registrations in the DOORs program and record equipment values. The problem is that all tractor sales prices are subjective to the seller vs purchaser and the condition on the components vs hour meter readings.