Question on buying a used tractor from private party.

[jcummins]

Since tractors do not have titles, how can you be assured a tractor doesn't have a loan on it?

 

[Sysop]

As far as I know you can't. Best you can do is get a notarized bill of sale to provide you some recourse against the offending party. Someone setup to do credit checks could see if the seller has a loan from one of the typical tractor finance outfits, but that does no good if "Joe Seller" had it financed under his wife's name or some such. I'm always leery of newer used units at good prices for that reason. If it is new enough to still have some warranty, warranties are transferrable and would likely be a means of finding out about an existing unpaid loan. Another thing, an honest tractor owner is going to understand this exact concern and isn't going to have ANY issue at all providing you with proof of his paying the unit in full.

 

[arlen4720]

Since most tractor manufactures offer very good financing terms, there is a good chanced that the unit was financed through the dealer. That's a good place to start. I know JD financial is more than happy to tell you if there is a lien on a piece of John Deere equipment.

 

[smstonypoint]

You could check through your Secretary of State as to whether there is a lien covered by the UCC; e.g., for Illinois see UCC Search

Steve

 

[TomSeller]

, but that does no good if "Joe Seller" had it financed under his wife's name or some such. .

My son Joe got married? I'm always the last to know.

Kubota and Deere can look up who bought the tractor on what date from what dealer. I am sure the big brands such as Kioti, Mahindra, LS, Massey etc can as well. Obviously if it is dealer financed and not paid for they will be very interested.

 

[Sysop]

My son Joe got married? I'm always the last to know.

:laughing: Sorry, hope I didn't get him in too much trouble letting the cat outta the bag!

 

[bigbull338]

most sellers will pay the tractor off when they sell it.

 

[GManBart]

My son Joe got married? I'm always the last to know.

Kids!

 

[Sysop]

I still think if you have a honest seller, they'll have no problems explaining beginning to end, their purchase, reasons for selling, and information relating to any thing about the machine and their time with it. If information is something you need to "fish" for, something is fishy...

 

[Tx Jim]

It doesn't hurt to research the UCC-1 for liens. When I bought my used low houred Kubota M7040 I asked my local dealer to check to see if Kubota had a lien on it. They researched the SN plus after I bought it switched the warranty to me.