Surfhunter

The tax bill has been cleared! I confirmed with NC that the title was released to them from SC with no liens. This gave me the confidence to call the local SC tax auditor and present my case. 2 days later and the bill is cleared... I got lucky that the boat left the state and the tax auditor was in a good mood, technicaly the bill was mine and there is no statue of limitations for the tax man. If it had gone to court I could have suied the prior owner for court fees and 3 times the tax bill.

No Liens are listed on the NC Title that I was provided. It seems SC should not have released the title to NC if they had a lien. In fact, I'm not sure if they technicaly have a lien, but this is all a learning process. I still have not folow-ed up with the SC Tax auditor - don't want to kick a honets nest before I know what I am getting into. R/John

The boat was registered in NC, and has a clean title from NC. Problem came when I went to register it in SC and they traced the title back a few steps to a dead beat who never paid his taxes in SC. Not sure if a title search would catch this or not. I bet I could register the boat in any other state without a problem. The chances of me paying the tax bill are 0%. They want 5K which is about half of what I paid for the boat. I'm a bit nervous to push the issue any further with the tax auditor, because they are just going to come after me now. - John

What type of lawyer is best suited to deal with this sort of thing? Anyone know of anyone good in Charleston? Thanks, John

I bought boat from an honest guy in NC, It has a free and clear NC title. When I went to SC to register, DNR said a prior owner (not the guy I bought it from) had not paid taxed from 2000- 2008. Now they will not give me a registration and say that the $5,000 tax bill is mine. Any Advice?