SO here the deal/problem...
I just sold my snowmobiles and trailer to a guy who drove down from Northern Canada to pick them up and drive them back. Before he left he asked if they had clear titles and I said they did since they've never been involved in any accidents or been stolen, etc...! I ended up taking $200 off the price after he had already paid me because he found something wrong that I didn't even myself know about even though I had said "Sold in As-is" condition.
So he comes down here and he gives me the money and I give him all the paperwork I own on the vehicles which is the Proof of Registration for the Trailer, and the MSO's for each snowmobiles and write him a Bill of sale. We go to the bank to make sure the money clears which it didn't and we spent 3 hours trying to get the money into my bank account.
He takes off for Canada and get's stopped at the border, they won't let him cross because he doesn't have any Titles for the trailer or the snowmobiles.
I call the DMV and ask him if the Proof of registration isn't enough to complete a sale and they tell me that it is. The trailer is a registered as PTI (Permanent Trailer Identification). Which means it only needs to be registered every 5 years and titles aren't issued under regular circumstances. All that is necessary is the Proof of Registration and a Bill of sale and the ownership can be transfered.
As far as the snowmobiles are concerned they've never been registered. I bought them from a family friend who owns a snowmobile racing team who is sponsored by Artic cat which gave him the snowmobiles for $1 each. During that transaction they gave him the MSO (Manufarcturer Statement of Origin) which is what dealers usually have you sign when you buy a vehicle at which point the dealership sends the MSO to the DMV and a title is produced for that vehicle, and if the vehicle is financed the title is sent to the lender.
When I bought them from my family friend I just assumed the MSO's for myself and in California (and assume elsewhere) you don't have to register an off-terrain vehicle, just buy tags every year.
I talked to the DMV again about the MSO's and they said you have to submit them to them as proof of sale and the titles are made and sent out in 4-6 weeks.
So I don't know what I'm supposed to do! Am I responsible for his problems at the border? I gave him all the paperwork he needs in order to transfer ownership to himself but feel I'm responsible because I didn't give him titles...which I legally didn't need to own or sell them in the US. Is this his problem or mine? As of now I told him to send me the MSO's and I'll register them under me and pay for titles as well as pay to get a title for the trailer even though they aren't required or necessary. I even offered to give him his money back but I'm not sure how the heck I would get the snowmobiles back from the Canadian border??
I feel somewhere that this is his problem that he should of known what was needed before buying the vehicles and taking them across a border.
Any help or advice would be appreciated!!
Thanks
PS sorry for the length of this novel!!

 

I remeber having a similar problem when I was bringing a boat into Windsor Canada and they made me turn around.

 

Were you just visiting with the boat? My buddy who I bought the snowmobiles from said he's raced in Canada before and all they need is proof of ownership which the MSO more than covers!

 

Paid you in cash? Tell him that is all the paperwork you have and to work it out at the border.
I will tell you this, if you were rolling around with a non MSO'd vehicle and the cops caught you the snowmobiles would be theirs. The DMV (government) wants their tax on everything.
To answer the original question, Yes you should have gone to the DMV and recorded the MSO with them, you would have then received identification numbers for the OHV along with a "California" Title.

 

Yes he did pay me in cash.
Also brian I'm not understanding what you mean by a Non-MSO'd vehicle. From what I was told as long as it's a off-terrain vehicle it doesn't need to be registered but then again that doesn't make much sense to me either. I would think that the government wants their hands on their money...as always.
I assume the MSO is how a dealerships are able to drive vehicles on public highways without titles?

 

Visiting yes, making a delivery for my boss, towing it behind his Caddy. I had no paperwork at all.

 

Nope. A dealership uses "dealer plates" like the ones I have for my dealership. What you sold is an "un registered vehicle" and "technically" does not have any papers. Funny, they can stop THAT from going over the border

 

maybe they aught to stop bugging stuff like that and pay a little more attention in other areas

 

there are plenty of places along the canadian border to cross where there is no patrol.

 

Sounds like it's his problem, especially after you knocked money off and everything. He's bringing merchandise across the border, not you, so it's his responsibility to know ahead of time what kind of paperwork etc. is necessary for that circumstance. If I were you, i'd wish him luck.