Massapequa Boater on People's Court today

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AF

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OK, so I have a rare day off and I tune into the Peoples Court this morning.

The first case involved a home owner who was suing his neighbor because during hurricane Irene his neighbors boat and boat hoist broke free from the bulkhead and floated onto their bulk head and docks and caused $6500 worth of damage.

The boat owner had no boat insurance and his home owners insurance would not cover the damage.

The home owner's home insurance would not cover the damage because the bulkhead and docks are not covered in his policy.

So, how would you rule?

Judge Milian said the case rested on whether the defendant had secured his boat to his dock in preparation of the impending hurricane. If so, the damage would be considered an "act of god". The boat owner said he had photo's of his boat and boat hoist tied and chained to his bulkhead. But the pictures did not show any extra lines or chains.

So Judge Milian ruled in favor of the home owner because the boat owner was negligant since he failed to adequitly secure his boat.

BTW, they showed a You Tube video of the boat and boat hoist floating across the bay.
 
Another good reason to make sure that any boat that ties up at your dock is insured. It should be a law here in New York State. Just like cars, no proof of insurance, no registration. Insurance lapses or is cancelled, company obligated to notify DMV and registration revoked.

Two seasons ago a big old wooden boat sunk on my canal. The property belonged to the house across the street and the owner of the house rented it along with the property to the owner of this old piece of crap. Town went after the owner of the property, who utimately had to go through the trouble and expense to have it raised, cut up, and removed.
I doubt that he got anything out of his tenant because by the look of things the tenant was of little means.
 
John......I guess that is one of the untold problems of renting out your waterfront property........that really sucks !
 
"So, how would you rule?"

Girl with the biggest breasts, this must be a trick question :)
 
quote:
Originally posted by Double D

John......I guess that is one of the untold problems of renting out your waterfront property........that really sucks !

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Not sure how it all worked out financially, but I do know that the town put it out for bids and somehow the property owner came in at the eleventh hour with people he hired himself and removed it.
I was away when they did it, but my Uncle watched them working on it.
The debris was still floating around in the canal when I got back almost a week later.
While it was partially submerged, someone nailed a sign to it saying something like "if you want this thing removed, call the town at this number and complain".
Whoever did that saved the day. The town really stepped it up after they got enough calls on it.
I think if the town does it, they put a tax lien on the property for the amount it cost them.
 
Indirectly related...
If you sell a boat, don't just sign the title and hand it over. GO TO the DMV and see to it that the buyer applies for a title transfer. In many states, the plates come off of a sold motor vehicle and stay with the seller. Boat numbers and the current registration sticker stay with a sold boat. Buyer can operate "your" boat till the sticker expires.
WORSE! If they sink/abandon it, or Heaven Forbid cause a spill from it, Seller is still Owner.
 
When I purchased a used boat privately once the seller gave me a bill of sale and also had me sign a bill of sale stating that I bought the boat from him. This way he said he was protected in case I didn't register it.
 
quote:
Originally posted by walterv

Boats in NY have no titles

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Maybe not documented boats, or something like that, but I have a title for my boat and have seen dozens of other boat titles over the years.
 
quote:
Originally posted by BJL

When I purchased a used boat privately once the seller gave me a bill of sale and also had me sign a bill of sale stating that I bought the boat from him. This way he said he was protected in case I didn't register it.

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That's all you need to do in New York State. Very important to get ID from the buyer and make sure he/she signs the bill of sale that is properly dated. Save a copy for your records.
Knowing who I sold a car to and when I sold it to him saved me a lot of grief back in the mid 80's. Long story for another time.

Another thing to keep in mind for your boat and car insurance is to make sure you have enough "uninsured/underinsured" coverage on your policy. Mine matches my liability amount on my cars and boat policies. I figure that if someone hits me I want to know that I am covered at least as well as I would be if I hit someone else. It is very cheap, often overlooked or neglected, but will kick in if you get hit by some hoople with no coverage or the bare minimum.

I do some work for a few personal injury lawyers and have seen just how important this is.
 
quote:
Originally posted by walterv

Boats in NY have no titles

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I had a title for my cruisers.
I think boats over 14' powered and not documented get titles.
 
I do remember having to sign a title over when we sold our Cobia last year.
 
Boats from model year 1987 and 14' and up are titled in New York. Prior to that bill of sale and sign over the registration.
 
quote:
Originally posted by j-d

Indirectly related...
If you sell a boat, don't just sign the title and hand it over. GO TO the DMV and see to it that the buyer applies for a title transfer. In many states, the plates come off of a sold motor vehicle and stay with the seller. Boat numbers and the current registration sticker stay with a sold boat. Buyer can operate "your" boat till the sticker expires.
WORSE! If they sink/abandon it, or Heaven Forbid cause a spill from it, Seller is still Owner.

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How would you 'see to it' that the buyer transfers the title right away, unless the buyer feels like tranferring the title right away.

I ran into this situation when I sold my old outboard a few years ago. When I turned the trailer plate in, I asked the clerk how to legally 'dis-own' the boat as that was sold, too. The answer was that I couldn't. Her advice was to hang on to my copy of the bill of sale (pretty much indefintely) so I could prove I'd transferred physical possession of the boat.

BTW, I had purchased that boat in the Fall, worked on it in the Spring, and didn't transfer ownership to myself for a good six months after the purchase (in retrospect, I probably should have gone to DMV right away just to make sure everything was kosher).

My .02
 
FL titles have a tear off sheet on top with buyer's name address etc for the seller to keep.

And yes, keep your tag/plate. My dad in the 70's sold a mcy to a guy from NYC. He asked to keep the plate for the ride home and never sent it back. A few months later he gets a letter from a lawyer that he still owned the bike and the buyer got killed on it on the Belt pkwy and the GF passenger was hospitalized & suing him. Lost about $8k back then after a few years in courts but also lost a bit of his soul also.
 
Similar thing happened to a friend of mine, moved down to Florida and then ended up selling his boat a couple years later. Buyer took the boat on the trailer and drove off with it. Ended up having an accident on the way home, the boat was so badly damaged that he just abandoned it on the side of the road and left. They ended up tracing it back to my friend and saying he was responsible for removing it since the registration had never been officially transferred.
 
Not sure when NY became a title state......but I learned the hard way about a vehicle title & registrations.

Quick story...:

When I was in my late teens ....I purchased a used 1970 Caddy thru an add in the news paper....I went to the guys house and purchased the car with CASH....he signed the reggie over....I drove the car home with a buddy. The next day I registered and insured the vehicle......about a week later the car went missing from my drive way.....I notified the police ...they told me the car was reposessed with all the paper work at the precinct. REPOSESSED ??? I paid CASH ???? I called the company that repo'd the car.....They have been looking for the car for some time....It was used as colateral on a loan that defaulted and after I registered it......they knew exactly where it was. If I wanted the car back....I could come pay off the loan for $1250.00.....or forfit the car....... I went and got my car back......and a buddy and I drove back to the sellers house.....and the house was EMPTY......

That Caddy was a bit expensive.......but I loved it for years............
 
quote:
Originally posted by walterv

Just sold my 34C, no title???????

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Was it a documented boat?
If not; maybe you misplaced the title during the time you owned it. If so, you can request a duplicate online from NYS DMV. They will mail it to the address listed on the title. It comes pretty quick.
If the boat isn't documented, there is a good chance that the new owner will come back looking for the title when he finds out he can't register it at DMV without one.
If there is a "Lien Holder" listed on the title then you will need a release letter from the bank too.
Most people don't bother to change the title to one with no Lien Holder on it after they pay off a loan because they either forget about it and just put the release letter away somewhere, or they don't want to pay the fee the DMV charges to re-issue the title.
 
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