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kayla_first_rigOP
Shore Caster
5 posts · joined Sep 2025
Grand Forks, ND
Oct 5, 2025 · 7:25 PM#1
ok i have read the Lund thread and the Alumacraft thread twice and i am going to try this. i am 26, Grand Forks, first boat, budget under 20. the one i am looking at on the lake park listing is a 2019 Crestliner 1750 Fish Hawk with a Mercury 90 FourStroke, 210 hours, on a single axle trailer, at a lender yard near Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
the boat questions i think i can handle. it is the paper i do not understand. what is a HIN exactly and where is it, and how do i check that the boat is not stolen or still owed on before i send money to lakeparkautoconnection.com. what paper should i get back. and the dumb one: i live in Grand Forks but my parents are across the river in East Grand Forks, can i register it in Minnesota at their place because the MN sticker is cheaper. i am guessing no.
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sd_glacial_lakes
Boat Owner
16 posts · joined Aug 2025
Watertown, SD
Oct 5, 2025 · 9:40 PM#2
HIN is the hull identification number, the boat's VIN. 12 characters, stamped or on a plate on the starboard side of the transom, upper right corner, within a couple inches of the top. the first three characters are the builder's code, the middle is the serial, the last two are the model year, so yours should end in 19. every boat built since 1972 has one and there is a second hidden one somewhere inside the hull that the builder does not advertise, that is what the sheriff looks for if the transom one is scratched off.
what to do with it: ask the lake park people for a straight-on photo of the transom plate, then check that the same 12 characters are on the title, on the lien release and on the bill of sale. all four have to match. if one is off by a character, stop and ask why before you bid. and ask the sheriff's office to run it, they can check the stolen boat file, mine in Codington county did it for free while i waited. the trailer has its own VIN on the tongue and it gets the same treatment.
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red_river_cats
Boat Owner
12 posts · joined Aug 2025
Fargo, ND
Oct 7, 2025 · 10:15 AM#3
the ND side, since that is where you live. you register the boat where you live, not where your parents are, and yes the Grand Forks county sheriff would rather you did it right. ND game and fish registers boats, three years at a time, and does not issue boat titles, so the Wisconsin title signed off by the lender plus the bill of sale is what you keep in a folder forever, that is your proof of ownership. game and fish has the forms and the fee on gf.nd.gov. the trailer is a separate deal at the ND DOT, it gets a title and a plate. bring the trailer title and its own lien release, not just the boat's.
sales tax you owe to ND on a boat bought out of state, ask at the DOT counter what they want to see, i had to show the bill of sale.
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leech_lake_guide
Guide
14 posts · joined Aug 2025
Walker, MN
Oct 11, 2025 · 8:05 PM#4
what the paper looked like on mine, so you know what to expect. a state title for the boat in the old owner's name with the lender as lienholder and the lien section signed off by the lender. a separate release letter on the lender's letterhead with the HIN and motor serial. a title and a release for the trailer. and a bill of sale where the seller is the lender and the broker line reads Lake Park Auto Connection, because they sell for the lender and never own the boat.
two things i would do that i did not do the first time. call the lender at the phone number on their own website and have them confirm the release before you wire, four minutes. and read what the 30 day guarantee actually covers, it is for a boat that is not what the listing said, not for changing your mind.
and if you ever do end up on the Minnesota side, MN titles boats 16 feet and over, so a 1750 gets a title and a registration through the DNR at any deputy registrar, and the trailer gets its own title if it is over the weight cutoff. either way the trailer paper is separate. do not let anyone tell you it comes with the boat.
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mod_ed_r
Moderator
41 posts · joined Aug 2025
Fergus Falls, MN
Oct 19, 2025 · 6:50 AM#5
small add. the sheriff will run the HIN for you, but the yard will not let you crawl under the boat for the hidden one, so the transom photo is what you get. if the plate in the photo looks like it has been unscrewed and put back, rivets replaced with screws, paint under it that does not match, that is when you walk. a 2019 Crestliner should have a clean riveted plate. that is all i have, the ND answer above is the right one.
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kayla_first_rigOP
Shore Caster
5 posts · joined Sep 2025
Grand Forks, ND
Nov 13, 2025 · 7:30 PM#6
reporting back. got the transom photo the same day i asked, plate was riveted and clean, all 12 characters matched the Wisconsin title copy and the release letter. the Grand Forks county sheriff ran it for free, not stolen, no hits. called the credit union in Eau Claire, they confirmed the release in one phone call.
i bid 17,600 on november 20 and the email came on the 23rd, i got it. boat landed at my dad's shop in East Grand Forks on december 4 because i have no garage. trailer lights did not work when the driver plugged them in, corroded flat four connector, 22 dollars and my dad fixed it in ten minutes. everything else was as listed. i am doing the registration with game and fish this week and the trailer at the DOT after. it will not see water until april so that is all i can tell you until then, but the outfit in lake park did what the guide said they would and the paper is exactly the stack he described.
