Considering my first purchase of a backhoe in the state of Maine. My questions are when it comes to a receipt how does one know if the seller has total rights to sell and there are no leans on the item being sold ? Does a heavy piece of equipment like a 1998 Case 580 SL not have a title ? I know these types of vehicles have a history of theft so this is my worry. Is there a way to run the Serial No. for its history ? Many thanks in advance.
Do a search on UCC filing for your state , that should lead you down a path to check the serial # for liens, you may need some help to search possibly from your bank. UCC stands for Uniform Commercial Code, any lien would show up there. Not sure on the theft, your Case dealer may have a hot list. Good luck
Thanks I have no leans !
http://www.ner.net/solutions/ironcheck/ Checks theft, leins, insurance claims.
All equipment is sold on a bill of sale. No states have a title system for it. If you run across a machine with no serial number there is nowhere to check to see if it is stolen. Even with a serial number there is no central free database to access to see if it has been reported stolen. Several web sites have pages where people have listed their stolen property. The NER or National Equipment Register is a data base where owners pay to list their equipment and if it is stolen it will alert the authorities and maybe it will show up. I've looked up machines that I know were stolen and they didn't show up anywhere. You might talk to your insurance agent and they can check the insurance industry databases. Unless things have changed you won't be able to access that on your own. The industry has always resisted any kind of government oversight on things that do not need a license to be operated.