Tech Forum

Our ward is purchasing a new trailer for our Scout/Youth program. In part of that purchase, we want to trade in our old trailer.

The problem is that the old trailer was purchased many many years ago and I don't know what happened to the Title. I have searched my Ward filing cabinet, but it is not there.

I looked online, and there are processes to replacing a lost title, but they require a "Bill of Sale" and/or some other proof of ownership and the address that is on the title.

I don't know if I have a bill of sale, and the address could have been the ward house, or the bishop that made the purchase....

I am a bit at a loss for this, and thought I would ask if anyone else has had to go through this process. Or if (hopefully) the church has some program setup to help assist with situations like this.

In case it matters, our ward is located in Utah.

I'm sure this is a local government issue, not something the church is likely to be involved in.

If your trailer is like others I've seen in my area, I'd expect it to have a license plate. Tracking down that license should provide some starting point as to the registered owner.

Vaccano wrote:I don't know what happened to the Title.

Someone in your ward does. I would work with the bishop and the other Scouters in the ward to find out who titled the trailer and go from there.

As you work with the bishop, you may also want to remember that you may not need the trailer after 2019. If I were involved in the decision-making process, I would want to have a thorough understanding of the new youth program that will be implemented in 2020 before I had the ward invest in a trailer.

lajackson wrote:Someone in your ward does.

Alas, no. Our ward has a fair amount of moving in and out. We don't know who bought the trailer and if it was even titled when it was bought.

My stake told me that the church does not want trailers titled to it for liability reasons, which I can understand, but it sure does make it hard since people move on in life and are not always findable.

(NOTE: In this case, I think our YM leaders are going to try to sell our old trailer untitled.)

Does the trailer have a VIN stamp or label on the tongue or frame?
If so then try calling DMV and see if they can trace it that way. Though some states purge records if registration is expired for so many years.

Vaccano wrote:Our ward has a fair amount of moving in and out. We don't know who bought the trailer and if it was even titled when it was bought.

You might check out this topic, which is neither conclusive nor official, and is old, but may provide some additional ideas.