Michigan vehicle bill of sale

Fill in the free Michigan bill of sale on this page and print it.

We found no bill of sale requirement for a private sale in the Michigan Vehicle Code. The seller transfers ownership by assigning the title. To avoid liability for the buyer's later use of the vehicle, the seller must either go with the buyer to a Secretary of State office or keep a record of the sale for at least 18 months (MCL 257.240). That record can be a photocopy of the reassigned title or a document with the contents listed below.

Michigan lists these items:

• Buyer's name
• Buyer's address
• Buyer's driver license number
• Buyer's signature
• Purchase price
• Date of sale

1. Fill in the assignment of title on your Michigan title. It includes a warranty of title and a statement of any liens, and any lien shown on the title must be shown as paid or satisfied.
2. Complete the odometer disclosure on the title: the reading without tenths, the date of transfer, and your and the buyer's names and addresses. Sign and print your name, and have the buyer sign and print theirs.
3. Give the buyer the signed title when you deliver the vehicle.
4. Remove your license plates. Keep them for another vehicle, or transfer them to the buyer only if the buyer is your spouse, parent, brother, sister or child.
5. Go with the buyer to a Secretary of State office, or keep a record of the sale for at least 18 months.

The assignment of title with warranty of title printed on the Michigan certificate of title (MCL 257.233). The title's odometer section records the odometer reading, the date of transfer, the seller's and buyer's names and addresses, and the signatures and printed names of both (MCL 257.233a). The Secretary of State's own description of the title sections could not be checked. The title signature does not need a notary in Michigan.

Michigan doesn't require you to report the sale to the state. Under MCL 257.240, a seller who has delivered the vehicle and the endorsed title is not liable for the buyer's later use of it if the seller either goes with the buyer to a Secretary of State office or keeps a record of the sale for at least 18 months. Doing neither is a civil infraction with a $15 fine.

Michigan law requires the plates to be removed when the vehicle is sold. The seller keeps them to transfer to another vehicle, which takes an application and fees, including a $10 transfer of registration fee (MCL 257.809). If the buyer is the seller's spouse, mother, father, sister, brother or child, the plates may be transferred to that buyer (MCL 257.233).

Inspection. We found none tied to the sale in the Michigan Vehicle Code sections reviewed.

Odometer disclosure. Before delivering the vehicle, the seller gives the buyer a written odometer disclosure on the title, or on a separate signed statement if the title has no space for it. It includes the reading without tenths, the date of transfer, both parties' names and addresses, the vehicle description and VIN, and whether the reading is actual, exceeds the odometer's mechanical limits, or is not the actual mileage. Exempt: vehicles over 16,000 pounds GVWR, vehicles that are not self-propelled, model year 2010 or older vehicles transferred at least 10 years after their model year, and model year 2011 or newer vehicles transferred at least 20 years after their model year (MCL 257.233a).

Sales tax. The buyer pays Michigan's 6% use tax on the price. The Secretary of State collects it before transferring the vehicle's registration (MCL 205.93). Transfers to a spouse, mother, father, brother, sister, child, stepparent, stepchild, stepbrother, stepsister, grandparent, grandchild, legal ward or legally appointed guardian are exempt.

The buyer has 15 days to apply for a new title. They present the signed title to the Secretary of State, which collects Michigan's 6% use tax on the price before it transfers the registration (MCL 205.93).

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules and fees change, so check with the Michigan Department of State if anything about your sale is unusual.

Listing it first? Good photos sell cars faster: see how to take pictures of a car to sell, and read the full guide to selling a car. Buying or selling in another state? Pick it on the bill of sale page.