Unregistered Trailer not in my name.

Ask your local registry office?

They set the rules and they can tell you what they actually need, which can vary depending on which state you are in and what state it was last registered in.

I am a little worried by the statement: "It was registered in a name that my old neighbour doesn't even know."

Phil

I tried to get a trailer registered in NSW and the owner was in jail, the girl behind the counter said I need a receipt, to which I said he is in jail and don't know where he is.... The girl said I just need a receipt (wink wink) she gave me a blank piece of paper and a pen... I wrote it myself in front of her and she said thanks.... trailer now registered.....

I would simply ask the old bloke for a letter saying it was a gift, should there be any problems later from the tenant you should be covered.
If the tenant gets stroppy you might be charged with stealing or receipt of stolen goods if you don't have some paperwork.

It's simple. You need to create a paper trail to ensure you have proof of ownership.

If that proof of ownership cannot be provided with a signed receipt, you need to acquire a statutory declaration from the person you acquired it from, to provide an ownership trail.

If the landlord acquired the trailer via abandoned goods from a tenancy, he needs to have gone through the local process for seizing those goods.
In many jurisdictions, that requires the owner of the property to advertise that the goods are being claimed as abandoned - and after a stated statutory period has passed, if no-one steps forward to claim them, they will be seized and sold to defray costs incurred by the property owner.

W.A. has a fairly good arrangement if you present a vehicle for registration with no proof of purchase.
You have to fill in a very comprehensive stat dec that covers every detail of how you came to acquire said vehicle - including where you saw it advertised, where you found it located, sale contact phone numbers and addresses, and every related detail, except for your shoe size.

It's all about keeping the rego database accurate and uncorrupted, as inaccuracies and corruption lead to huge problems whenever investigations and inquiries are launched.

You could imagine your problem if someone has reported a major theft, and the rego of the trailer you have acquired, is on the police files as being sighted carrying away the stolen items.

The rego database info used to be deleted after 3 years or 5 years. Now, the authorities are realising that keeping the information on record for much longer periods is of great value - and with the low cost of online storage, it's also cheap.
The long-term storage of rego records assists the police and other authorities to solve cold-case crimes and track crims movements.

I have found previously-owned vehicles appearing on my rego file that date back 20 years or more.

Cheers, Ron.

or, you could just forge the signature of the persons "name that my old neighbour doesn't even know" :-)

Hi there
I think you should carefully consider the possibility that you are really in possession of stolen goods. cheers Margaret