Michigan vehicle bill of sale

State form

• The bill of sale the Michigan Department of State publishes, form TR-207, has check boxes for a non-titled trailer, a non-titled watercraft or a snowmobile.⁴
• Michigan Compiled Laws Section 257.240 defines a seller’s record of the sale as a photocopy of the reassigned title, or a document with the buyer’s name, address, driver license number and signature plus the price and date of sale.²
• In a Michigan private sale the seller brings the original title with the seller’s portion filled in: odometer reading, seller’s name, address and signature, and the buyer’s name and address.¹

Signing

• When a Michigan title lists more than one owner, every one of them must sign before the vehicle can be put in the buyer’s name.¹
• The Michigan Department of State warns that altering a title, for example by crossing out a name, invalidates it.¹
• A Michigan owner who cannot sign title papers may name an agent on form TR-128, but one person cannot use it to sign as both seller and buyer of a vehicle that needs an odometer disclosure.⁵
• Michigan sellers certify the actual odometer mileage under the federal Truth in Mileage Act, and the Department of State does not accept estimates.¹

Deadlines

• The Michigan Department of State requires a private buyer to transfer the title within 15 days from the date of sale.¹
• Under Michigan Compiled Laws Section 257.240, a private seller either goes with the buyer to a Secretary of State branch office or keeps a record of the sale for at least 18 months.²
• A Michigan buyer may drive the vehicle home without a plate for three days after the sale, going directly there with the assigned title and proof of insurance.³
• Michigan dealers file the title application for the buyer within 21 days from the delivery date.¹

Where it is filed

• Michigan title transfers are done at a Secretary of State office or online; the Department of State lists mail as unavailable for this transaction.³
• An online Michigan title transfer needs one individual seller and one individual buyer, each with a Michigan driver’s license or ID and an online service account, and a paper Michigan title.³
• Once buyer and seller finish an online transfer, the Michigan Secretary of State can take up to 3 days to approve it.³
• A Michigan seller must take the license plate off before the buyer takes possession, unless the vehicle goes to an immediate family member.¹

Taxes and fees

• Michigan charges a $15 title transfer fee plus 6 percent sales tax on the full purchase price or the fair market value, whichever is greater.¹
• Transferring a Michigan title more than 15 days after the sale adds a $15 late fee.¹
• No Michigan tax is due when the vehicle is bought from or given by an immediate family member, such as a spouse, parent, sibling, child, grandparent or in-law.¹
• If a family tax exemption cannot be supported, the Michigan Department of Treasury can assess up to 175 percent of the tax due.³

Law

• A Michigan seller who neither accompanies the buyer nor keeps the record faces a $15 civil fine and is presumed to be the last titled owner, liable for towing and daily storage fees of an abandoned vehicle.²
• Michigan Compiled Laws Section 257.233 dates a transfer to the day the buyer signs the title application or the assignment on the title.⁶
• On the Michigan title, the owner signs an assignment that carries a warranty of title and states every security interest in the vehicle.⁶

• Vehicle identification number (VIN), year, make, model and plate
• Odometer reading on the day of sale
• Sale price, or the value if it is a gift
• Full legal names and addresses of seller and buyer

It does not replace the title. Ownership moves when the signed title and the state’s title application reach the motor vehicle agency.