Selling a dead or junk car in Southfield

What counts under Section 5.27

The section defines an "unlicensed motor vehicle" as one "not displaying a proper current license plate or proof of registration" under the Michigan Vehicle Code. So a lapsed registration starts the seven days just as a dead engine does. A disabled car is covered on its own, current registration or not. On a home lot, the code's way out is to keep the car "entirely within a building."

Moving it to the curb does not solve it

Section 10.1006 bans parking on any public street from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. The chief of police or a designee can grant up to seven days of permission for a social function, construction blocking a driveway or garage, or another special occasion. A dead car left at the curb breaks that rule every night it stays.

Four inches of snow

Section 4.45 puts a parking ban in force automatically between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. on any stretch of city street where "snow or ice has accumulated to a depth of four (4) inches or more". It starts one hour after that depth is reached. The director can also declare one ahead of a forecast. If a car becomes disabled on a street while the prohibition is on, the driver "shall take immediate action to have the vehicle towed or pushed off the roadway."

Police may remove and impound cars in violation under state procedures, billing the owner for the tow and any storage. That statute has the Secretary of State identify the owner within 7 days. Southfield owners then have 20 days to reclaim the car or seek a hearing before a sale can happen. See towed or impounded.

Michigan title and plates from Southfield

Oakland County does not do titles. In Michigan the state handles them at Secretary of State branches. A Southfield seller signs the original title over, fills in the mileage and the seller's portion, and any co-owner signs as well. There's no notary in the SOS seller steps.

Pull the plate at the sale; it moves with you to your next car. Because the state offers no release form to file, MCL 257.240 is what protects you from whatever a buyer does later. A Southfield seller can either visit a branch alongside the buyer or hold on to sale records for 18 months or more. Doing neither is a $15 civil infraction. Missing the title? Selling with no title covers duplicates, court orders and bonds.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Southfield? Call (877) 421-6008 or use our form. Pickup works from an apartment lot, a home driveway or an office garage near Town Center. Nearby pages: Oak Park, Farmington Hills and Birmingham; state rules are on Michigan.