What's to stop a borrower from taking their boat out the country and defaulting?

[gulfcoastsailor]

It IS cost effective to recover stolen property valued in the hundreds of thousands. Looks like we need a new forum category called "What if?"

[taxwizz]

Originally Posted by Capn Jimbo

Please tell me that I'm not the only one to answer: morality, ethics, truth and honesty. Please...

Unfortunately, these attributes do not apply to everyone.
Otherwise we would not need police, courts, lawyers and prisons.
But....That's life.

[KTP]

At least in the USA there would be some amount of criminal charges brought against you for selling something you don't own, even if another country.

Is your future healthcare and Social Security, valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars really worth never coming back to the USA (and having to face those charges?)

I mean maybe the statute of limitations would apply if you stayed away long enough. In my view it is a win win if we can get those type of people out of the country permanently for just the price of a $300,000 boat.

[wannacat]

A long time ago I found out that banks didn't want to loan out on 2 particular items up here. Boats or guns. Both are sometimes hard to collect on!

[ohdrinkboy]

Most lenders also require the buyer have a significant equity position in the vessel. 50% is pretty common.

[Stingo]

@SirSailz, have all these replies put you off disappearing over the horizon with your boat

[motion30]

A friend of mine was telling me the story of some 20 years ago a guy he knew how to 70 ft Shannon. took off to somewhere in South America and defaulted on the loan. To the owner surprised the boat was found in Brazil and repossessed

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by gulfcoastsailor

It IS cost effective to recover stolen property valued in the hundreds of thousands. Looks like we need a new forum category called "What if?"

Actual case in point: $350K boat with about a 50% mortgage. Owner decided to try and skip out, or at least skip as long as he could, stopped paying the mortgage, sailed several countries away. He got away w this for about a year before the repo crew showed up. Boat was a mess when they found it, but they repaired it enough for the sail back. Boat was cleaned up & put up for sale at near market value. At a 50% LTV ratio it was definitely worthwhile to repo.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by KTP

At least in the USA there would be some amount of criminal charges brought against you for selling something you don't own, even if another country.



Is your future healthcare and Social Security, valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars really worth never coming back to the USA (and having to face those charges?)



I mean maybe the statute of limitations would apply if you stayed away long enough. In my view it is a win win if we can get those type of people out of the country permanently for just the price of a $300,000 boat.

Gonna need a lot of $300K boats...there are loads of people with rather weak moral compasses.

[David M]

What's to stop them? Nothing. What is there to deter them? It is called theft and countries have extradition treaties.

[Chotu]

INTERPOL

[sailorchic34]

When you're talking $300k to $1 million dollar boats or plane even, most folks that buy expensive things, have many other assets. so while this is possible for someone, it's probably less of an issue with someone with Deep Pockets.

Now folks that finance a $50K to $100K boat might be a different story. I can tell you that trying to find somebody that has no fixed address is not so easy a thing. They wouldn't really even need to leave the country. Just moved to a different state and not have any land address.

I have lived for 12 years in California and I never had a physical land address here. I have a PO box. You can't serve a court summons to a PO Box, which would be a fairly easy way to find somebody otherwise. As long as they keep the registration current with a PO Box as their only address, and maybe change the name of the vessel, it can be quite hard to find someone. So yes it could happen. Don't ask me how I know this. BTW I paid cash for my boat.

[a64pilot]

You would be surprised at how many people default on large loans for airplanes and Yachts and do their best to hide them.
I have no idea what their end game is, to possess it for a while longer, or do they really think they can keep it hidden and get away with it?
These people inhabit a parallel universe I figure, its often how they get into such a mess to begin with. Many really do believe that they are something special, the bank wouldn’t dare repossess their assets, do you know who they are?

However for whatever reason it seems Luxury Yachts, expensive aircraft are almost never stolen, I guess cause it’s near to impossible to sell them?
Think about it, how hard would it be to steal a Mega Yacht in Ft Lauderdale and bounce over to the Bahamas?

I’m guessing it’s not done because there isn’t a way to fence a Mega Yacht?

Think about it, you often hear of a dinghy being stolen, but how often do you hear of a cruising boat gone missing?
I know of only one, that was in Panama City and the person who stole its mental health may have been questionable.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

but how often do you hear of a cruising boat gone missing?
I know of only one, that was in Panama City and the person who stole its mental health may have been questionable.

I know of several quite nice large sailboats that were stolen from marinas in the San Francisco Bay Area. One rather expensive one, ended up on a Pacifica Beach some years ago, the drunken/Stoned thieves were caught.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Capn Jimbo

Please tell me that I'm not the only one to answer: morality, ethics, truth and honesty. Please...

If only that were true, we wouldn’t need our criminal justice system.

But, we do.