Buying guide

Buying a pre-owned yacht: Coast Guard documentation, title, liens, and the survey

Updated October 24, 2026 · Written by the Only for the Wealthy editors · General information, not legal or financial advice

There is a particular pleasure in stepping aboard a yacht that is already finished: no build slot, no years of waiting, just a proven hull and a season you can begin this month. The brokerage market currently favors the prepared buyer. Northrop & Johnson reports that 472 pre-owned yachts of 24 meters (78 feet) and up sold worldwide in the first nine months of 2026, close to the 477 of a year earlier, while new central-agency listings rose 5.5% to 1,400 and price reductions rose 7.2% to 1,949 [1]. More choice and more flexible sellers reward the buyer who is ready to act, and they reward even more the buyer whose paperwork is in order. Here is how a discerning buyer reads a U.S. yacht’s title record, closes cleanly, and puts the vessel in their own name, using the Coast Guard’s own rules.

We don’t sell yachts, aircraft, or vehicles. Only for the Wealthy is a publisher. We don’t sell, broker, consign, or arrange the sale of any vessel, aircraft, or vehicle, and we don’t act as an agent for buyers, sellers, brokers, or dealers (see 625 ILCS 5/5-101). This is general information, not legal, tax, or survey advice. A purchase of this size deserves a maritime attorney, a documentation or title professional, and an independent marine surveyor who works for you.

1. Documented or state-titled: know which record you’re reading

Federal documentation. Any vessel of at least five net tons that is wholly owned by U.S. citizens is eligible for a Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation, including vessels used only for recreation [4]. Documentation is required for commercial trade and optional for recreational vessels of five net tons and over [3]. Vessels under five net tons can’t be documented [4].
Outside the state numbering system. The federal vessel-numbering rules that states administer don’t apply to a vessel that has, or is required to have, a valid marine document [14]. Your state may still have its own registration or tax rules for documented yachts kept in its waters, so ask its boating agency before closing.
State-titled yachts. If the yacht is titled by a state rather than documented, the lien search happens in that state’s title records. Federal law can treat a security interest perfected under state law on a state-titled vessel as a preferred mortgage when the state’s titling system is certified to Coast Guard guidelines [6]. Either way, find out which system holds the title before you make an offer.

2. Order the Abstract of Title

Start with the free lookup. NOAA hosts a searchable copy of the Coast Guard’s documented-vessel database, covering vessels of five net tons and over. It shows vessel characteristics but no longer includes owners’ personal information, and it directs title and lien questions to the National Vessel Documentation Center (NVDC) [13]. Confirm the name, official number, hailing port, builder, year, and dimensions match the listing.
Then order the record itself. Anyone may ask the NVDC for a General Index or Abstract of Title (form CG-1332) for a vessel, or a Certificate of Ownership (form CG-1330) [4]. The Coast Guard’s fee table lists $25 for the abstract and $125 for the certificate of ownership [4]. Both can be ordered on the NVDC’s own eStorefront [2].
Why the abstract matters. Federal law requires the Coast Guard to record bills of sale, mortgages, and related instruments for documented vessels in the order they’re filed, and to keep public indexes of them [5]. A bill of sale or mortgage that isn’t filed is valid only against the person who signed it, that person’s heirs, and anyone with actual notice of it [5]. Read every recorded mortgage on the abstract and make its filed release a condition of closing. The NVDC accepts filings of satisfactions and releases of mortgages and liens [2].
Find the number in the hull. A documented vessel’s official number must be marked inside the hull, on a clearly visible structural part, preceded by “NO.” in numerals at least three inches high, and fixed so that removal or alteration would be obvious [4]. A recreational vessel’s name and hailing port must appear together on a clearly visible exterior part of the hull [4]. Ask your surveyor to confirm the marked number matches the abstract, and treat signs of tampering as a reason to stop.

3. The liens the abstract can’t show you

This is where a yacht differs from a car or an aircraft, and where seasoned buyers slow down.

Maritime liens arise without paperwork. Anyone who provides necessaries to a vessel on the order of the owner or someone the owner authorized has a maritime lien on the vessel and may sue the vessel itself to enforce it [8]. “Necessaries” include repairs, supplies, towage, and the use of a dry dock or marine railway [7].
Some rank very high. Federal law defines “preferred maritime liens” to include crew wages, salvage, general average, damage from a maritime tort, and any maritime lien that arose before a preferred mortgage was filed [7]. In a court sale, a preferred mortgage ranks ahead of other claims except court-allowed expenses, fees, and costs and these preferred maritime liens [10].
Recording is optional, and sometimes impossible. A lien claimant may record a notice of claim of lien with the Coast Guard [9]. Under the Coast Guard’s regulations, a notice of claim of lien can be filed only when the vessel is covered by an outstanding preferred mortgage [4]. So a yard bill, unpaid fuel, or unpaid crew can exist with nothing on the abstract.
Only a court sale wipes the slate. When a federal court sells a vessel in an action to enforce a preferred mortgage or maritime lien, every claim existing on the date of sale is terminated and the vessel is sold free of them [10]. A private purchase carries no such guarantee.
What to ask for instead. Ask the seller for recent marina, yard, fuel, and crew-payroll statements, a written warranty that the yacht is free of liens with an indemnity behind it, and, with your attorney, consider holding part of the price in escrow for a period after closing.

4. The bill of sale and the closing

What it must say. To be filed, a bill of sale must identify the vessel, give the name and address of each party, state the seller’s interest and the interest being sold, and be signed and acknowledged [5]. The Coast Guard also requires it to be signed by or on behalf of every seller [4]. “Acknowledged” means notarized, or certified under the Hague apostille convention [7].
File it at once. A bill of sale filed in substantial compliance is valid against everyone from the moment it’s filed [5]. The NVDC records bills of sale only together with an application for initial documentation, a change to the existing certificate, return to documentation, or deletion [4]. The fee table lists $8 per page to file a bill of sale [4].
Pay safely. Send funds only to an escrow or closing agent you verified yourself, by phone, at a number you looked up independently, never from instructions in an email. Our escrow and wire-fraud guide lists the red flags.

5. The certificate doesn’t transfer with the keys

It lapses at the sale. A Certificate of Documentation and its endorsements become invalid immediately when ownership changes in whole or in part, or when the vessel’s name or hailing port changes [4]. The new owner applies for an exchange on form CG-1258 with title evidence, plus the mortgagee’s consent on form CG-4593 where one applies [4]. The fee table lists $84 for a recreational exchange; recreational certificates can run one to five years, at $26 per year on renewal [4]. Application fees aren’t refundable [4].
Settle the owning entity first. A Certificate of Documentation may be issued only to a vessel wholly owned by U.S. citizens [4]. For a recreational endorsement, a corporation qualifies if it’s incorporated in the U.S. or a state, its chief executive and board chair are citizens, and no more of its directors are non-citizens than a minority of a quorum [4]. Decide the owning company or trust with your attorney before the bill of sale is drawn, because the buyer named on it is the owner who must qualify.

6. Deal with the Coast Guard directly

The Coast Guard says the NVDC, in Falling Waters, West Virginia, is the only entity authorized to issue Certificates of Documentation [3]. It warns that commercial companies offering to handle documentation or renewals for a fee aren’t endorsed by the Coast Guard, don’t act on its behalf, and aren’t authorized to issue any document, including “travel letters” or permits to operate a vessel [2][3]. It invites complaints to the FTC [2]. Its 2024 bulletin lists the NVDC’s numbers as (800) 799-8362 and (304) 271-2400 [3]. Compare any fee you’re quoted with the Coast Guard’s own fee table [4].

7. The hull identification number and recalls

Read the HIN. A boat’s hull identification number has twelve characters: the first three are the manufacturer identification code, characters four through eight a serial number, and characters nine and ten the month and year of certification or manufacture [11]. Manufacturers must affix both a primary and a secondary HIN [11]. No one may remove or alter a HIN without Coast Guard authorization [11]. The NVDC asks recreational owners applying for documentation to make sure the HIN is formatted correctly to avoid delays [2].
Check for open recalls. The Coast Guard’s boating-safety site lets you search recalls by manufacturer code (the first three HIN characters), company, model, or year. When we checked, it listed 1,700 recall records, including 2026 campaigns from yacht builders such as Bertram Yachts and MJM [12]. Ask the seller for proof any recall work was completed.

8. The survey and the sea trial

Make any offer subject to an independent survey and a sea trial, and choose a surveyor who works for you rather than for either side of the sale. NAMSGlobal certifies member surveyors, including in a Yachts and Small Craft designation, and publishes a find-a-surveyor directory [15]. Ask whether the yacht will be hauled so the bottom and running gear can be seen, whether the engines and generators warrant a separate specialist, and what your insurer and lender require before they’ll bind coverage or fund.

Close with confidence: a checklist

Find out whether the yacht is documented or state-titled, and search the right record [4][6][13].
Order the Abstract of Title from the NVDC and read every recorded mortgage and notice of lien [2][4][5].
Match the official number in the hull and the HIN on the transom to the abstract and the listing [4][11].
Search the Coast Guard recall database by manufacturer code and model [12].
Get yard, marina, fuel, and crew statements, a lien-free warranty with indemnity, and recorded releases at closing [5][7][8].
Commission an independent survey and sea trial [15].
Confirm the owning entity qualifies and put its exact name on a notarized bill of sale [4][5].
Pay through an escrow you verified yourself; see our escrow guide.
File the bill of sale with the CG-1258 exchange application promptly, directly with the NVDC [3][4][5].

Prefer to cruise without owning? Our yacht charter guide shows how to verify the captain, the vessel, and the contract.