Selling a dead or junk car in Bay City

A dead car on a Bay City street

Section 102-108 gives public safety officers several grounds to remove a car "at the expense of the last-titled owner." Two catch stalled cars most often:

• Storage at the curb. A car parked on a street "for the principal purpose of storage" can go after at least 48 hours' notice is posted on it.
• Street work. A car can go after 24 hours' posted notice to make room for ordinary snow removal, construction, cleanup, tree work or utility work.

Get there before the tow truck drives off, and the code usually says the car gets unhooked. Once it is towed, the department enters it in the Law Enforcement Information Network as abandoned no sooner than 7 days after authorizing removal, and then follows the state abandoned-vehicle steps. Section 102-109 adds a city administrative fee to every impound.

Getting back a car towed in bad weather means showing ID and proof you own it, signing a receipt, and paying for removal and storage, with a fee for each added day in the pound. The towed or impounded guide lists what to bring.

The driveway question

Bay City's zoning chapter describes the off-street parking for a single- or two-family house as "a parking area, driveway, garage, or combination thereof." Section 122-381 separately says the "storage of inoperable or unlicensed vehicles" is "prohibited in off-street parking areas, unless specifically permitted by other provisions of this chapter." Read together, a car with dead plates parked for months on the slab beside the house looks like the storage that section names. We did not find a separate Bay City section on junk cars in yards, so ask the city how it applies these rules to your property.

Recreational vehicles get a short pass: 48 hours before and 48 hours after a trip, anywhere on the premises, for loading and unloading. Mobile homes under 22 feet may sit on a street for no more than 24 hours, hitched to the vehicle that pulls them.

What Michigan law adds

In Bay City, 48 hours is the line. A car left that long on public land counts as abandoned under Michigan law. So does one on private land the owner never agreed to. A property owner can have it towed to a storage lot within 15 miles, and the tow company tells police first. Within 7 days, the Secretary of State shares who owns the Bay City car. Its notice warns of a public sale if no claim or hearing request comes in 20 days. A hearing request goes to court along with a bond of $40.00 plus towing and storage.

Bay County title and plates

Bay County doesn't handle Bay City titles. For Bay City, that's the Michigan Department of State, working through Secretary of State branch offices. A Bay City seller fills in the odometer reading and the seller's part of the title, signs it, and hands the original to the buyer. All listed owners have to sign. The state's instructions for sellers include no notary step.

The record keeps your name until the buyer transfers it. MCL 257.240 lets you either visit a branch with the buyer or hold proof for 18 months or more. Bay City sellers can prove the sale two ways. Photocopy the signed title front and back. Or write the price, date, and buyer's name, address and license number, and get the buyer to sign it. Do neither in Bay City and you face a $15 civil infraction, plus a presumption that towing and storage fall on you if the car is abandoned. When a storm tow can land on a car still listed under your name, that copy matters.

In Bay City, remove the plate when you sell. It stays yours for another car you own or buy. A plate left on the car can make you responsible for the buyer's parking tickets.

Lost titles and old cars

In Bay City, a replacement title is $15 by mail and arrives in about 14 days, or $20 if you get it same day at a branch. If only a duplicate is needed, one owner can apply alone. Form TR-205 lets a Bay City buyer self-certify when the last owner is unreachable, as long as the car came from a Michigan sale, is 10 or more years old and is worth $2,500 or less. See junk car with no title and car sitting for years.

Getting an offer

For a Bay City car, call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Trucks reach driveway slabs, back lots, or the curb on local streets. Saginaw is 12.4 miles away and Midland 17.4 miles; each has its own page. Statewide rules are on Michigan.