BUYER BEWARE !
It is estimated that every year $1 billion of farm and construction equipment is stolen in the US. Most of this is being sold in the used equipment market at auctions, through classifieds, online; wherever used equipment is sold.
The law is very clear. Unless there are very unusual circumstances, the stolen equipment will be returned to the theft victim. If you paid $10,000 for a machine you may just have lost $10,000! The chances of getting the $10,000 back from the seller may be slim or require thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees.
Off-highway machinery is not titled in the same way as on-road vehicles so you are missing one key element of due diligence when buying a tractor, bulldozer or backhoe.
So what can be done?
