certificate of origin????

[chanchsirk]

Hello again all!
I was wondering if anyone had any advice on getting the original paperwork for campers? I have a 1980 15sc. The camper was originally purchased in CT (van's leisure living) and although they are still in business they obviously dont keep records that far back and the original owner never registered it so there is no actual title or paperwork for this tt right now. NJ dmv is being VERY difficult about giving me a title - I don't know if anyone else has had this problem but any help would be appreciated!

[Honda03842]

I had a similar lack of paperwork. I did get a bill of sale for our 1982 and that was good enough in NH. They didn't even ask me for the id number. Diving it's age they taked me minimally;

[frank]

I've dealt with the NJ DMV on 4 trailers, so I feel your pain. The last time I walked into an NJ DMV office with a Certificate of Origin, the clerk looked at me and said "Just what do you expect me to do with this?" (ugh)

The key as to how easy this will be is going to depend on the weight of your 15SC. NJ will not issue a title for any trailer with a unladen (dry) weight of 2500 lbs or less. If the dry weight is 2501lb or greater, only then is it titled.

If your 15SC has a dry weight of 2500 lbs or less, then this is cake - you want to contact the person you bought it from and have them give you a **notarized** bill of sale with the following information:

Year, make and serial (vin) number of the trailer
Name of buyer and purchase price
Date and sellers signature

If the trailer was previously registered ANYWHERE, the name on the bill of sale must EXACTLY match the name it was registered in. The purchasers name must also exactly match whatever is on their NJ drivers license. The bill of sale must be one page and *that page* must be notarized. Notarized cover sheets are NOT acceptable (been there, done that).

The bill of sale does not need to be fancy. It can be handwritten or typed, doesn't matter. Something like the following is simple and 100% acceptable by NJ:

Bill of Sale

1980 Sunline 15SC Trailer
Seller: John Doe
Buyer: Mike Smith
Purchase Price: $1000.00
Date: June 23, 2010

(signature) (notary stamp & signature)

The above is all you need. Take that into the DMV office and bring your checkbook. You will be paying for the registration fee plus NJ state sales tax on the purchase price. You will not get a title, but it will be legally yours in the eyes of the state of NJ and you will receive a plate and registration card.


If the weight exceeds 2500 lbs and you don't have a title, this is going to become much more difficult. You will still want to obtain the same notarized bill of sale. You may also want to obtain a notarized letter/statement from the seller indicating that they never registered it since they bought it. If this is the case, you may want to sit down and spend 2 hours on hold and talk to somebody in the trenton "special titles" office - they're miserable to get a hold of, but they know how to help.


- Frank

[Honda03842]

New Hampshire is the "Live Free or Die" state and life is not nearly as complex (or highly taxed) as NJ. Here you don't even go to the MVD, you simply go to your town hall where people are elected to their positions and tend to care a little more about providing a service. Somthing I hadn't considered until this thread.

[chanchsirk]

Frank,
Thanks so much for the info.
The trailer was originally purchased in CT and was there until I purchased it and brought it to NJ. I have contacted the DMV there and they have no record of it being registered. I am the 3rd owner (second owner only had it for 2 weeks) and when I purchased it we used the typed/handwritten bill of sale that the orginal owner used to sell it so all 3 owners are on the 1 bill of sale. After a bit of round and round with NJDMV (trenton)they told me that if I had the bill of sale notarized they would accept it. So off to a notary I went (thats a whole other story) and after a few phone calls and faxes I got the bill of sale notarized. So back to my local DMV office I went. After all that the clerk tells me that they cant issue me a registration in NJ without having a prior registration from somewhere else! I asked her how that was possible since I owned it now and she just shrugged her shoulders and called the next person in line....
I'm glad your dealings with trenton's special title division were more pleasant than mine - they have 12 step process that is ridiculous and not to mention expensive!

I am very frustrated at this point - I had a similar situation (no paperwork)when I went to register my 73 apache popup a few years back but it was not nearly as difficult as this!!