Free Louisiana Trailer Bill of Sale
Louisiana sorts trailers by weight and use before deciding how much paper they carry. Utility trailers over 2,000 pounds are titled through the OMV — with the state's notarized Act of Sale tradition applying to the transaction — while boat trailers get their own scheme: under 1,000 pounds they skip the title and ride on a TRANSFERABLE registration certificate instead. Registration is famously cheap and billed in four-year increments: $10 a year for standard trailers, just $3 a year for light, farm, and boat trailers. The tax is Louisiana's usual 4.45% plus the parish add-on, and the buyer has 40 days.
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Louisiana Trailer Bill of Sale — What You Need to Know
Sales Tax Details
Same 4.45% + parish tax applies to trailers.
Louisiana Trailer Sale — Step-by-Step Checklist
- Classify the trailer first: utility over 2,000 lbs = titled; boat trailer under 1,000 lbs = transferable registration certificate, no title.
- Verify the VIN or serial plate against whatever ownership document the class carries.
- Prepare the Act of Sale with VIN/serial, type, weight, sale price, date — and sign it before a NOTARY, per Louisiana custom.
- Seller signs over the title (titled classes) or the transferable registration certificate (light boat trailers).
- Buyer files at the OMV — or, for boat trailers, at the LDWF headquarters counter where OMV representatives handle boats and trailers together — within 40 days.
- Buyer pays 4.45% state tax plus the parish rate, and the bargain registration: $10/year standard or $3/year light-farm-boat, billed four years at a time.
- Out-of-state trailer from a titling state? Its title must be surrendered before Louisiana issues its own.
Common Pitfalls
- Hunting for a title on a light boat trailer — under 1,000 pounds Louisiana issues a transferable registration certificate instead, and that's the document to collect at the sale.
- Skipping the notary — Louisiana's notarized-transaction tradition covers trailer sales, and the OMV expects it.
- Forgetting the parish tax — the 4.45% is only the state's share.
- Buying an out-of-state trailer without its home-state paperwork — Louisiana won't title it until the prior title or registration is surrendered.
Pro Tip
Louisiana trailers: notarized Act of Sale as always, titles above 2,000 utility pounds, transferable registration under 1,000 boat-trailer pounds — and four years of registration for the price of lunch.