How to Replace a Lost Boat Title in Oregon: Forms, Fees, and Filing

To replace a lost boat title in Oregon, mail the Oregon State Marine Board (OSMB) a completed Lost or Replacement Boat Title Application with verified signatures and a check for $25, or $75 if you’re also changing ownership or lender information. Processing runs about four weeks, stretching to eight during peak boating season.¹ The form is a downloadable PDF from the OSMB forms library.²

What To Put on the Application

Before you sit down with the form, pull together:

Your boat’s 12-character Hull Identification Number (HIN)
The Oregon registration number (the OR number on the bow)
Make, model year, and total length of the vessel
Your full legal name and current residential address, matching what OSMB has on file

If you’re buying a boat and don’t know who the current recorded owner is, OSMB has a separate Boat Ownership Request Form you can use to look that up before going any further.

The Lienholder Signature Rule

Every person listed on the front of the original title must sign the replacement application confirming the title is lost, and that includes any lienholder.³ This is where applications most often stall. If you paid off the loan years ago, get a lien release. If your lender was acquired by another bank, track down the successor institution. Skipping this step means the form comes back and you start the clock over.

Signature Verification: Notary or Photo ID

Every signature on the application needs to be verified one of two ways. You can sign in front of a notary public, or you can sign the form and attach a legible copy of a valid photo ID, front and back.¹ The photo ID option exists so you don’t have to find a notary if that’s inconvenient.

If you do use a notary, Oregon caps the fee at $10 per notarial act in person and $25 for remote online notarization.⁴ Banks, UPS stores, and some county offices offer notary services. The same verification requirement applies to every signer, so if a co-owner or lienholder is signing, they need their own notary act or photo ID copy.

What It Costs

Straightforward lost title replacement, no other changes: $25
Replacement combined with an ownership transfer or lender change: $75

These amounts are set by statute⁵ and match the OSMB fee schedule.⁶ If you’re also transferring the title more than 30 days after the previous owner signed it over, add a $25 late transfer penalty. Make checks or money orders payable to the Oregon State Marine Board. Fees are non-refundable once processing begins.

Where To Send It

Mail the completed application, signature verification (notary or ID copy), any required lienholder signatures, and your payment to:

Oregon State Marine Board
P.O. Box 14145
Salem, OR 97309

The physical office is at 435 Commercial St. NE, Suite 400, Salem, OR 97301, open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check every field twice before mailing. An incomplete application gets returned and you lose weeks.

How Long It Takes and What Arrives

Standard processing is about one month. During peak season, roughly late spring through summer, it can run up to eight weeks.¹ Submitting in winter or early spring usually means a faster turnaround.

OSMB mails the new certificate to the address on your application. When it arrives, check that the vessel information, ownership, and any lien data are printed correctly. The replacement voids all previously issued copies, so if the original surfaces in a drawer later, shred it. Using an old voided title in a sale can create real legal problems.

Finding Your Hull Identification Number

You can’t complete the form without the HIN, and it’s the one piece of information you can’t pull from memory. Federal rules require two identical HINs on every boat. The primary one is on the starboard (right) side of the transom, within two inches of the top. On boats without a transom, it’s on the starboard side of the hull near the stern. A duplicate is hidden in an unexposed interior location or under a piece of hardware.⁷

Each character is at least a quarter inch tall and is permanently carved, stamped, embossed, or molded into the hull. If paint, marine growth, or a mounting bracket is covering it, check the hidden duplicate inside the boat. If you truly can’t find it at either location, call OSMB before submitting the application. They may be able to look it up from your registration number or advise on a physical inspection.

When the Lost Title Isn’t Yours To Replace

The steps above assume you’re the titled owner replacing your own document. A few nearby situations work differently.

Buying an Oregon Boat With a Lost Title

The seller, as owner of record, has to complete the lost title application and get the required signatures. You can help by requesting a Boat Ownership Request Form from OSMB to confirm who’s on record. Once the seller receives the replacement, they sign it over to you in a normal transfer.³

Boats Titled in Another State

Work with the original title state first. Get a printout of all owners of record from that state’s agency, complete that state’s lost title or release form with signatures from all recorded owners, then submit it along with an Oregon Application for Boat Title/Registration and the fees to OSMB.³

Boats That Were Never Titled

Some older or homemade boats were never titled anywhere. Oregon accepts proof of ownership such as a bill of sale, a completed Application for Boat Title/Registration, and a detailed boat history form, submitted together with fees.³ Expect closer scrutiny; the history form exists so the agency can verify no one else has a valid ownership claim.

Federally Documented Vessels

If your boat carries a U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation instead of an Oregon title, the replacement doesn’t go through OSMB at all. Contact the Coast Guard’s National Vessel Documentation Center.⁸

1
Oregon Secretary of State. Boat Title and Certificate of Number
2
Oregon State Marine Board. Oregon Lost or Replacement Boat Title Application
3
Oregon State Marine Board. Title and Registration FAQs
4
Oregon Secretary of State. Notary Public Fee Schedule
5
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 830 – Small Watercraft
6
Oregon State Marine Board. Agency Fees
7
eCFR. 33 CFR 181.29 – Hull Identification Number Display
8
United States Coast Guard. The Requirement of a Certificate of Documentation