Titles to be required to register new boats, snowmobiles and small utility trailers
by Wyoming Department of Transportation
December 8, 2009
Beginning Jan. 1, motorized watercraft, snowmobiles and small trailers will have to be titled in order to be registered after they are purchased or their ownership is transferred.
The changes are among several revisions to the state’s vehicle titling and registration laws approved by the 2009 Legislature to improve consistency, clarity and accountability. The changes do not apply to vehicles purchased before Jan.1, unless ownership changes.
The new provision concerning motorized boats and personal watercraft requires titling at a county clerk’s office before a previously unregistered craft can get a registration number from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The registration number is required for the craft to be used on Wyoming waters.
Motorized watercraft can be operated temporarily for up to 30 days immediately following the date of purchase or construction by providing any of the following proof-of-ownership documents:
• A bill of sale from a motorized watercraft dealer;
• A notarized bill of sale stating the name of the previous owner, the name of the purchaser, a description of the craft with the correct hull identification number or a copy of a properly transferred title; or
• A copy of a notarized affidavit by the builder of a homemade watercraft, including a description of the watercraft and the date construction was completed.
Homemade watercraft builders can get hull-numbering information from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in Cheyenne by calling (307) 777-4575.
For snowmobiles, titling also occurs at county clerk’s offices. The trails sticker required for riding snowmobiles on public lands is obtained from the State Parks and Cultural Resources Department or their selling agents.
Trailers weighing less than 1,000 pounds, such as small utility trailers and many boat trailers, not previously registered will require a title from a county clerk’s office before they can be registered at the county treasurer’s office.
Exempted from that requirement is mobile machinery, such as an air compressor towed behind a vehicle, which instead requires a mobile machinery sticker available at county treasurer offices or ports of entry.
Homemade utility trailers that don’t have the vehicle identification number required for titling can get a state-assigned VIN through WYDOT’s Motor Vehicle Services Office. Applications are available at many county clerk offices or on WYDOT’s Web site at www.dot.state.wy.us/wydot/titles_plates_registration/vin.
Once a VIN is assigned, an inspection by a law enforcement officer is required to assure it is properly affixed to the vehicle before a title can be issued.
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