A marina's lien sale is not a marshal's sale: what a boat buyer takes in the US

Boats reach auction in the United States through two very different doors, and from the bidder's side they can look identical.

The marshal's sale

When a vessel is arrested in a federal admiralty case and sold by the U.S. Marshal, the sale is in rem — against the vessel itself. By statute, a judicial sale of that kind extinguishes the claims against the vessel, which move to the sale proceeds (46 U.S.C. § 31326). The buyer takes the vessel clean.

The marina or storage lien sale

Several states let a marina or boatyard sell a boat for unpaid charges without going to court. Florida is the best-known example (Fla. Stat. § 328.17). These sales transfer title, but they do not have the power of an admiralty sale: under Florida's statute the buyer takes subject to prior liens perfected under state or federal law, which can include a recorded preferred ship mortgage. Federal maritime liens — crew wages, salvage, necessaries — follow the vessel into a buyer's hands unless an admiralty court sells it.

Many of those maritime liens never appear on any public record, which is what makes the difference matter.

Before bidding

Ask which kind of sale it is. For a documented vessel, order the Coast Guard abstract of title. For a lien sale, price in the risk of claims the record will not show.