21 Feb Bill of Sale

Bill of Sale

A bill of sale is short-form legal contract used to transfer personal property from a seller to a buyer. A bill of sale typically describes the personal property that is the subject of the sale, identifies the purchase price, the buyer, the seller and the location of transfer of the personal property. Several separate pieces of property can be transferred via a single bill of sale, and often the description of transferred property takes the form a schedule attached to the document. Historically, bills of sale were used to transfer ownership of property without physically moving of the property or changing the seller’s stewardship of the property. Therefore the bill of sale itself often served as the only evidence of a transfer of ownership. Bills of sale were common in fraudulent schemes where a seller would purport to sell or grant security interests in sold property that otherwise appeared to be owned and maintained by the seller. To curb fraud, laws were enacted proscribing the forms of bills of sale and requiring, for certain types of property, recording with a governmental authority. In modern practice, bills of sale are common in business asset sales, sales of vehicles, and estate sales.