Register Abandoned Trailer
 

Hopefully someone here has been down this road before.. So I bought a house last July (2017) from my brother-in-law. He had been living there for about 3 years. The homeowner before him had left a smallish HD utility trailer tucked in the corner behind a horse barn and moved out of state. The trailer has been sitting for probably close to 4 years now. Being that I don't have a pickup, it would be nice to use when picking up bulky items.

How can I register and legally own/use this trailer? Although it wasn't specifically stated in my closing documents, I kind of assume it's mine now?

It's not a homemade job, it has a plate riveted on with manufacture info. It also has a license plate on it, too. However, it will need some work to be road worthy (tires, jack, lights, etc).

Any advice/input is greatly appreciated, thanks!

You probably need to talk with the DMV since it's plated.

Does the manufacturing info have a serial number or other unique identifier?

Yes there are serial and model numbers, made by Tarrant Manufacturing, although the date of manufacture is blank. The plate has a sticker from March 2011.

Just trying to get a heads up so I give the right info when I inquire and avoid any headaches if possible (like a letter signed stating it has been abandoned by the owner)

Eliminate all signs of serial numbers and register as home made?

That's about your only option without getting in contact with the previous owner.
You could buy a cheap junky trailer from harbor freight and use that registration on this one. But that's not exactly legal either, but just saying...'

Here's the legal stuff...
Must post/sell at auction etc, 16 pages of forms...
http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/vehicletopics/abandoned.htm

apparently harbor freight stopped selling trailers, lol.
http://www.rubbernews.com/article/20...-trailer-tires

LOL that was actually going to be my first post, but I was thinking he might want to be legal about it.

Worst case I will have to. Maybe buy some parts and say the bed/axle came from a farm ?

Yeah, came across that idea several times, seems like a terrible idea lol but the 'legal' process is lengthy, especially for something seemingly so simple (to me at least). I stopped by a local DMV just to inquire and was basically told I need a notarized bill of sale. When pressed further with the circumstances, I was given a phone number and told to call Trenton and let them deal with it. Not exactly very helpful (as expected, of course).

You're overthinking this. They don't scrutinize trailers like cars.

Remove all factory tags, do repairs, register as home built. Nice and easy, no headaches.

Homemade you need plans, materials list, and receipts for materials. Possibly build photos too. Thats what I was told when trying to register my last trailer when I tried going that route. Lucky for me I was still in touch with the seller and able to get a notorized bill of sale in the actual registered owners name(not the seller).

That's really odd, as I registered a trailer as homebuilt without all that stuff some years ago.

Key word.

My family's boat has a unregistered trailer cause the DMV won't allow home built tags anymore.

I have the same issue. Two trailers on the property that my parents bought. No serial numbers or markings. Was going to register as homemade and then sell, but too lazy.