Folks,
I need help from someone knowing Arkansas title laws. We are looking at a trailer and the owner says they only have a "certificate of origin" from the manufacturer. They state that in Arkansas horse trailers do not have to be titled.

Any ideas?

A certificate of origin is what you get from the manufacturer when new... the owners have never had this trailer titled, ... when you do, the state keeps the cert. of origin and issues a title.  If there is a license plate on that trailer, and they still have the cert. of origin, then the license plate is not legal for that trailer........there should be a registration certificate that has the VIN # of the trailer and a sticker on it that matches the license plate.  It is possible that the trailer has yet to have a title issued, and there has never been a license plate issued that matches that trailer.  People will do that to avoid paying sales tax on the new trailer.... the person who titles it the first time pays the new cost sales tax on the trailer, if you are not paying them what it cost new, then you could be paying more than your share of sales tax... call your local AR revenue office tomorrow and give them the VIN# or license plate # and ask them to verify... better yet, tell your prospective seller you wish to do this and see how they respond....BTW, trailers have to have a license plate, which requires a title.. if the trailer is homemade, the revenue office issues a homemade Title for same, in order to provide you with a license plate.  Also, the trailer is listed on the tax assessment of the owner.  That is easily verified at the tax assessor's office.   To say that AR does not require a title is an invalid statement.  Don't take their word for this, or mine, for that matter.  A call to the tax assessor and revenue office can provide you with precise data.  We have 7 trailers licensed and titled in Arkansas at the moment...BTW.

Ask the WI Motor vehicle dept.

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/

The title applications refer to a certificate of origin at the top.

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/forms/mv1.pdf

I had a Certificate of Origin for different vehicles in Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina over the years.  Was easy to title each time.  The dealers do it every day, and charge a "$250 document fee" for my 15 minutes standing in line.

Flying H is right. If the trailer gets AR highway use, then it MUST have a tag on it. It doesn't have to be a AR tag, but there has to be a tag on it. You are allowed 30 days to get your title & tag work done, then after that , you can get in trouble. If the owner only has a MSO, and has owned the trailer for more than 30 days, he may be a dealer or have a farm  in another state. We have one trailer that is registered in another state, where our other place is.  According to our DMV, that trailer is perfectly legal in AR.

We had the trailer tag stolen off the boat trailer twice in one month! Guess the law must have been checking for trailers with no tags!

Both of these girls are right,however,my local revenue office has always told me that: it is vehicles you have 30 days to tag,trailers are supposed to be tagged if you are using them.They don't mean the day you bring it home,naturally,but,if you start using the trailer,they expect you to have it tagged.

Lots of folks probably don't license them or take an old license plate to avoid paying the sales tax (in AR anything over $1800 I believe,is taxed no matter the age of it) or they don't want to declare it on their property tax assessment.That's OK unless you want to insure it or something happens to it and you try reporting it as stolen,ect.

We buy permanent tags for our trailers here in Ark.Swapping out trailers every year,can get a little pricey as it is higher than renewal every year,but a lot less hassle.I don't know who told you that you don't have to have a title in Arkansas,and don't know if they meant when youwant to tag it or what ?  But,to me,if I don't have a title,I don't own it,someone else does!!!

Maybe the seller has a valid  reason for still having only the MSO. I bought a trailer about 25 years ago, and thought the tag transfered over just like a car. I never looked at the paperwork again until a few years later, when it was time to sell and realized I didn't have a title, just the original MSO. Thank goodness I was living in a state that didn't require horse trailers to be registered. But, I did travel out of state all that time with a tag that was still registered to a previous trailer! It sure could have been bad!

I recently looked at a very large LQ trailer that the buyer never used or titled. It was delivered to their farm and they are so imtimidated by it that they still have not moved it from the spot the transport company dropped it.

I also wanted to add.............Alot of car dealers buy trailers and use them with their "dealer" tags. Even if they buy them new then use them, they could still have the MSO and be perfectly legal. However, they are NOT legal if they put a "dealer" tag on a trailer that is not owned by their dealership. I have friends that call me whenever they see a nice trailer offered up at the car auctions as they prefer to have a place to go with it since they have a car lot and not a trailer lot. I gladly pass the info around to all my buddies that I know are trailer shopping.

That's because you had a bill of sale from the trailer manufacturer  and the trailer had no record of ever having been titled to anyone.It was "new out from dealer" on the title/registration more than likely.

People go around all the time here with swapped out tags,trailers in other people's names,ect.And like I said,it's fine unless you have it insured and something happens to it and you try to collect,or,it gets stolen and you report it as such.Or you are in an accident with it.I know a lot of folks that get by with doing that kind of thing here,so they don't pay property taxes on it yearly.But I'd get caught first time I tried anything like that.So I don't.

As has been previously stated, you should contact your state agency to see what the laws concerning tagging & titling of trailers are in your state.  Just for future reference, currently in OK, trailers are not required to be tagged or titled unless they are commercial trailers.  In some cases, depending on which tag agency you go to, it is almost impossible to get a horse trailer tagged.  I have always recommended to my customers that they tag & title their trailers if they travel out of state so that they are in compliance with the laws in other states.  This just saves them trouble when hauling out of state.  Trailers in OK can be bought & sold on a Bill of Sale.  These can then be used to get a title.  If the previous owner has not titled the trailer, they can sell it on a Bill of Sale and give that along with the original MSO or MCO, (if they still have it) to the new owner.  If titling trailers is not a law in AR, possibly the trailer owner is planning to do this when they sell the trailer, as they cannot re-assign a MSO or MCO unless they are a dealer.

Tagging trailers is the law in AR.  The purpose is probably multi-fold.  To collect sales tax, and personal property tax, also should you be involved in a highway incident, the LE will verify the trailer tag matches the trailer.  Tagging in AR also provides a title to the owner as proof of ownership.  Good luck with your transaction..

They sold you a trailer that wasn't titled because: a trailer manufacturer or dealer doesn't title a trailer that is new to begin with.YOU were the one to have the original title issued by the state as the first owner of the trailer.Your bill of sale was your certificate of origin from Ponderosa.

The "connection" that you refer to that we're making with titles,paying taxes,and tagging them isn't notions or flights of fancy that we are dreaming up.We live in Arkansas,all 3 of us myself,flying farm,and brushycreekranch,have bought,sold,titled,insured,tagged and paid taxes on multiple trailers.It is the LAW that we're talking about,not what somebody feels like doing or doesn't.

Since you live in MS,do you yourself proclaim to know the laws of Arkansas better than we do? Sounds like it.

Hi,

I was wondering how to get a title for  a used horse trailer? I bought the horse trailer in Alabama and there you didn't need titles and the owner who sold it to me lost it, so I really didn't worry about it.  It's an old WW like 1982, and I was wondering maybe if I can go online to WW website to get one or not?