If you are the owner of a vessel that has been removed from the database of registered vessels maintained by the United States Coast Guard (USCG), then you will be required to provide the USCG with a Certificate of Deletion. This certificate serves as proof that all official documents about your vessel have been completely and utterly purged from the possession of the USCG. Did you realize that even if you sell your vessel, it is your responsibility to delete all the paperwork associated with it? Well, now you do! When sending in your application for a Certificate of Deletion, there are a few things that you really must keep in mind.
Your Application Must Be Notarized
If you are submitting your Certificate of Deletion in person, one of the department personnel will complete this step before filing your document. If you submit your Certificate of Deletion by mail, you are responsible for doing it yourself. Before submitting it to the Department of Natural Resources, you must obtain a public notary if you send it via the United States Postal Service. This task must be notarized before it can be submitted.
The price for this treatment might vary from $25 to $35, but you should expect to pay somewhere in that range on average. If you choose a notary, you must ensure they are legally permitted to stamp official government papers with an official state or federal seal. If this is not the case, the Department of Natural Resources will not recognize the certificate.
The USCG Does Not Accept Faxed or E-Mailed Applications for Certificate of Deletion
Consider a few things to consider if you want to abandon your yacht. To begin, the USCG does not accept electronic or facsimile transmissions of applications. Mailing or hand-delivering the paperwork is the official USCG procedure. If you want to send them in through mail or fax, you’ll need to schedule a submission appointment with your regional Coast Guard office beforehand. Once you obtain your Certificate of Deletion, you should do your bit to safeguard the environment by having all the gasoline in your boat removed in an eco-friendly manner.
There will be a fuel line leading from the boat’s tank to any diesel or gas engines, and that gasoline will need to be drained before the boat can be towed. Make sure you use a powerful enough pump to avoid spilling any of it into the water. Due to the potential for adverse environmental effects, it is therefore important that an expert supervise the work.
You Must Include a Copy Of The Bill Of Sale Or Registration Agreement
The Bill of Sale must be submitted with the Certificate of Deletion if the vessel is to be sold privately. To ensure appropriate processing, please provide the Bill of Sale within one week after completing the original form if you did not have it on hand while filling it out. Include details on any mortgages, liens, or other outstanding debts, whether you want to sell the boat via a broker or agent or if you plan to sell the boat on your own. In the unfortunate but common event that a buyer of your vessel fails to settle any outstanding obligations on it before taking ownership, you will continue to be responsible for them. Suppose this occurs and the outstanding debts are not cleared from the title database beforehand. In that case, the buyer may be unable to take legal ownership of the vessel after registration is transferred to them.
Your Boat’s Hull Number and Name Must Be Removed from All Official Paperwork.
Before the HIN and boat name are removed from the vessel’s paperwork, a Certificate of Deletion cannot be filed. Some exceptions exist, such as when a person has died, or their property has been seized. In each case, you should contact the marina owner to inform them that you will no longer be using their dock space. There are no rules against changing the HIN or boat name if the vessel is not recorded.
You should try to do so if at all feasible, however. In the unfortunate event that your boat is lost, stolen, or abandoned and is never returned to you, having a name for it might be a lifesaver. In the event of a boating accident, this not only facilitates the recovery of the legitimate owner but also streamlines the determination of property ownership. Things may become very confusing, very fast, when no names on boats are involved in an accident. Even if it isn’t your own, having a name on your boat may greatly assist.
Contact Maritime Documentation Center at 800-535-8570 to request a free, no-obligation Certificate of Deletion (COD). Our specialists will gather the necessary information and help you through the process of getting your boat removed from official records. We look forward to helping you with this important task!