You have decided that the time has come for you to sell your vessel. You might need the cash quickly to cover a debt, or want to invest in a larger or more useful vessel. Whatever your reasons for selling your vessel, you may need marketing assistance. That’s where you could use the Coast Guard to offer your vessel for sale. This is particularly true when you have previously raised a mortgage on the vessel, and secured it through registration with the Coast Guard. Understanding how you can sell your vessel with assistance from the USCG can ensure that you go through this progress legally.
Registering the vessel and mortgages
When you signed up for a vessel mortgage, you completed paperwork which insisted that you register with the US Coast Guard. In order to obtain the loan, the lender would require that you register the vessel with the USCG so that the vessel could be identified, and any movement of the vessel would be noticed by the Coast Guard. This prevents the illegal hiding of the vessel if you get into financial difficulties, and also means that you cannot sell it without letting your bank know.
Freeing yourself from the lien
The act of completing the registry for your mortgage puts a lien upon the vessel which gives your mortgage provider the rights to compensation if your vessel is sold. In order to remove yourself from this lien, you will need to provide documentary evidence that you have completed repaying the mortgage, and the bank has removed the lien. If you try to sell the vessel without this documentation, you could face hefty fines. Therefore, informing the Coast Guard that you have finished the mortgage is essential.
Completing the paperwork
You need to make sure that you provide the Coast Guard with documentation and evidence that you have finished the mortgage lien, and in order to do this you will need to complete a mortgage lien release application. Once you have this release, you can market, with help from the Coast Guard, your vessel for sale. If you are struggling to finish that paperwork, then you will need assistance from experts in handling Coast Guard documentation, such as Vessel Documentation Online. If you need our assistance with completing your application form, call our team at (866)981-8783 today.