More than 13,000 Iowa boat owners will be receiving a letter soon alerting them that their boat hull identification number (HIN) does not comply with U.S. Coast Guard regulations and they have to verify their HIN with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in order to register their boat.
“This is no fault of the boat owner; they purchased a craft that had an incorrect HIN issued by the manufacturer. We want to help them resolve this before their registration expires on April 30, 2016,” said Susan Stocker, boating law administrator for the Iowa DNR.
Stocker said the process is fairly simple; they need to either trace the HIN with a pencil or take a photo of it and email it to HIN@dnr.iowa.gov, fax to 515-725-8201 Attn: HIN Verification or mail to Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Attn: HIN Verification, 502 East Ninth Street, Des Moines, IA 50319-0034. Boat owners will need to verify the HIN prior to April 30, 2016, in order to renew their boat registration.
“If they no longer own the boat in question, we would like to know that too,” Stocker said. Stocker said they should call 515-725-8200 to have their record corrected.
Part of the verification process includes boat owners signing an affidavit included in the mailing that confirms they will permanently attach the new HIN to the boat (if provided) to comply with US Coast Guard regulations.
If boat owners have questions they should contact the Iowa DNR at HIN@dnr.iowa.gov or 515-725-8200.