Muskegon, Michigan: junk vehicles, running or not

What the city calls junk, and where it cannot stay

The definition in Section 92-53 is about as broad as these get. It covers cars, trucks, trailers and mobile homes, and lists "wrecked, damaged, junked, dismantled, partially dismantled, inoperable, abandoned, unlicensed, registered or discarded vehicles." A vehicle also counts if it is "not operable or usable for their original purpose without major repair."

Section 92-55 then says no one may "park, store, leave, or permit the parking, storing or leaving of any junk vehicle upon any public or private property within the city." The car, or even its parts, is "a public nuisance." Only three cases are exempt:

• a vehicle "enclosed within a legally erected storage building in which they fit completely and are fully enclosed on private property"
• an operative vehicle on a licensed dealer's sales lot
• a vehicle "temporarily kept on the premises of a licensed auto repair shop for the purpose of repairing the vehicle," if its spot does not break the zoning ordinance

A carport, a tarp or a fence is not on that list.

Section 92-54 says where the car has to end up: "All junk vehicles shall be removed and disposed of at a legally established disposal site." The code defines that as impound lots, junkyards, public storage lots or garages, and similar places. See junkyard or scrap yard for how those differ.

Six hours after a snow emergency

Section 92-72 is the rule that catches a dead car parked at the curb. "Within six hours of the declaration of the snow emergency, any motor vehicle or trailer on any street, road or avenue within the city shall be removed." After that the city can tow it to an impound facility it picks. Towing, storage and impound fees go to the owner, and the registered owner or driver can be ticketed on top.

The ban lifts block by block. With no official end to the emergency, parking returns on a stretch once the city has plowed it "from curb to curb" between two intersections and the snow or sleet has stopped.

Section 92-71 adds two winter details. From December 1 through March 1, streets that allow parking on one side only permit parking on the terrace, though not on its paved part. And on those one-side streets outside the downtown areas, cars may not park in the small hours between 2 and 6 in the morning.

If the car is impounded

A car seized under a city ordinance does not sit at the lot forever. Section 46-33 lets the police department sell it "after one month from date of seizure," at private or public sale to the highest bidder, once the owner shown on Secretary of State records has had written notice of the seizure and proposed sale.

A car hauled off private land under state law runs on MCL 257.252a instead. Once that notice goes out, a Muskegon owner gets 20 days to reclaim the car or ask for a hearing before it may be sold. To dispute it, a Muskegon owner files a court petition, posts a $40.00 bond, and pays the towing and storage due. More in towed or impounded.

Title and plates in Michigan

Titles come from the state, at Department of State (SOS) branch offices, not from Muskegon County. In Muskegon, you note the mileage, fill out the seller's section, sign, and hand the buyer the original title. If a spouse or partner is on the title, they sign too. The SOS seller instructions carry no notary step.

Your name stays on the state's title record until the buyer transfers it. That is why SOS suggests a joint trip to a branch. Otherwise, MCL 257.240 has you keep proof for 18 months. For proof, a Muskegon seller may keep a photocopy of the title after it's reassigned, or a page the buyer signs that lists their name, address and driver's license number with the sale price and date. Without it the law sets a $15 civil infraction.

Take the plate off and keep it for your next vehicle. SOS warns that a plate left on can bring the buyer's parking tickets back to you.

A car that will only ever be scrap can carry a scrap certificate of title, a $15 application under MCL 257.217c. The holder may transport such a car but never drive it, and Michigan will not title it again. An owner can call a car scrap or salvage without first working out its value.

Getting an offer

Reach us through the form or at (877) 421-6008. Share what the car is, the mileage, if it will crank, and the title's condition. A tow truck can load it from a yard near the lake, a driveway on a one-side parking street, or the bay of a shop holding it. Norton Shores is 4.1 miles away, Holland 32.7. For statewide rules, see Michigan.