Your minimum bid price should be enough to cover all the fees, including the $40 abandoned vehicle fee and any fees that may be required by the municipality.  Whenever a vehicle is redeemed or sold, $25 must be paid to the Michigan Department of State and $15 must go to the towing agency.

If the purchase price of an abandoned vehicle sold at public auction is less than all applicable fees (i.e., towing and storage, police agency or custodian expenses and the $40 abandoned vehicle fee), you are not required to remit the $25 fee.  When reporting the disposition of such an abandoned vehicle online, please select "transferred to custodian" and not "sold."  A disposition of "sold" should only be used when the purchase price of the abandoned vehicle covers all applicable fees.

If you receive more than enough to cover the towing, storage and abandoned vehicle fees, the money must be applied in the following order of priority:

(a) Towing and storage charges.
(b) Expenses incurred by the police agency or the custodian of the vehicle.
(c) Payment of the $40 abandoned vehicle fee ($25 to the Michigan Department of State and $15 to the towing agency.
(d) Send any extra money to the Department of Treasury's Unclaimed Property Division, which will pay the amount of any debt on the vehicle to any secured party and attempt to send the balance to the owner.

Back To Abandoned Vehicle FAQ's
Additional Abandoned Vehicle Related Information

If you did not find the information you need, enter a descriptive word or phrase in the Search field located in the upper right corner or send us an e-mail and we will help you get the information you need.