Another Slippery Documentation Service

[kthoennes]

Just got a letter in the mail from the "Vessel Documentation Portal" at 9480 Main Street #1084 in Fairfax, Virginia (pdf attached). I know we have a hundred prior threads on these "services" that technically may not be a scam because although they charge you a pile more money than the Coast Guard itself, I assume you eventually do get your documentation renewed. They continue to bug me though and I do think at the very least they're slimy. This one charges about triple the Coast Guard fee ($75 for one year, CG charges $26). Yes, if you read the bottom paragraph they do say they're a private, optional service that charges an additional fee, but that street address on the envelope is actually a Staples office supply store in a strip mall in Fairfax, VA -- even though the postmark on the letter shows it was mailed from Santa Ana, California. And why does the (real) NVDC keep giving my boat's name, vessel number, expiration date, name and home address to these services that make themselves look all official at triple the fees? I certainly can't do a search myself anymore on NOAA's or the USCG PSIX search pages to find vessel owner contact information like I could in the old days, so how are these third-party services getting my contact information?

I did do some digging on the letter's statement that only 5-year renewals would be offered in 2022 on recreational vessels. I thought that might be false -- I know the CG has been offering multi-year for some time now but the online payment system would only accommodate one year - for multi-year you had to send a check, which I always avoided because I figured the online system is lightning fast and fully automated, but if a human in Falling Waters, WV has to handle paper, I won't see my renewal for 52 years. But sure enough, the Federal Register does say they're going to five years with a new "shopping" portal in 2022.

https://www.federalregister.gov/doc...tificate-of-documentation-5-year-renewal-fees

...and:

https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Our-Organi...s-DCO-D/National-Vessel-Documentation-Center/

I'm still confused though - the Federal Register says 5-year only, but then the NVDC page still says 1-5. My doc actually expires in March '22, I'll see how the process actually works by then. Sheesh!

 

[Bacchus]

Agree that it may be legal but these services are deceiving owners at the very least.
I am guessing that they may be using old NVDC lists to generate their contact lists. If that's the case they may eventually fade away but I kind of doubt that will happen.
What makes their deceit worse (I believe) is they pay to come up at the top of any Google search re documentation and you really need to dig and be careful to find the real NVDC links.

 

[Chuck34]

The CG no longer gives boat owners’ names and addresses on their website as they did in years past. As mentioned, they are probably only going from an old database. Eventually their list of chumps (clients) will dry up as people sell their boats and/or realize they have been taken for a ride.

 

[warfdog]

This may be incorrect but I read somewhere last year that NVDC filed and won a lawsuit preserving freedom of information access to vessel registration data from the USCG. If true, they can demand access to download or receive live data even if it’s not otherwise publicly available.

Any truth in this?

 

[Porgy]

NVDC is part of the USCG. They wouldn’t sue themselves.

 

[Chuck34]

This may be incorrect but I read somewhere last year that NVDC filed and won a lawsuit preserving freedom of information access to vessel registration data from the USCG. If true, they can demand access to download or receive live data even if it’s not otherwise publicly available.

Any truth in this?

Ok, I’m only guessing here (and yes, NVDC is part of the USCG) scammers can request FOI data on documented boats, but they have to do it on a boat by boat basis, not just “give me the list”. The administrative cost to request boat by boat, would be too high to make this business model profitable.

 

[warfdog]

NVDC is part of the USCG. They wouldn’t sue themselves.

Sorry, should not have said NVDC - Maritime Documentation Center Corp.

this was the case and these same people have been involved in several lawsuits and shady dealings over the last few years.

https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/cacdce/5:2019cv01976/761664

more... U.S. Vessel Documentation, Inc., Maritime Documentation Center Corp., John Soria and Vessel Documentation Online LLC

https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/cacdce/5:2019cv01976/761664

Nothing to learn here except that this is a pretty sleazy business...but then you knew that.

 

[DDW]

I sent the CG a check, you can specify anything from 1 to 5 years. The new reg came back in about 7 weeks.

 

[kthoennes]

Thanks. Well, 7 weeks isn't too bad I guess, but when I do the single year entirely online, I get the renewed doc certificate lightning fast, like three or four days later. Thanks for mentioning that, I've always wondered what the processing time would be if I chose more than one year and sent a paper check instead. I'll probably stick with single year (if that continues to be an option). I actually kind of enjoy the little annual ritual in the dead of winter when the boat is otherwise frozen. Kind of a signal that the thaw and launch is not too far away.