Vehicle history

Record information is available to individuals, commercial customers, and government agencies.

You must meet the requirements under the Driver Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) and have a valid, permissible purpose to request vehicle record information.

If you don’t have permission to access personal information in a record, that information will be redacted or concealed in any records you do request, or your request will be denied.

You may request current ownership, a complete history, or a partial history for specified dates.

You may also request records for all assets registered or titled through the Michigan Department of State for individuals or companies. However, precise information is required because information is retrieved based on an exact name and address match.

Care must be taken in how the information for these requests are submitted because the records are retrieved by exactly matching the names and addresses as they were provided.

Vehicle history requests can cost significantly more than a single record request because the search may involve multiple records.

The Driver Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) is a federal law designed to protect the personal information of licensed drivers from improper use or disclosure.

Under DPPA, all states are required to safeguard personal information in driving and vehicle records.

DPPA also makes it illegal to obtain record information for unlawful purposes or to make false representations to obtain such information.

The release of personal information (as defined in Section 208 of the Michigan Vehicle Code, MCL 257.208) is allowed when obtaining records and information for the following permissible purposes:

a. For use by a federal, state, or local governmental agency, including a court or law enforcement agency, in carrying out the agency’s functions, or by a private person or entity acting on behalf of a government agency in carrying out the agency’s functions.

b. For use in connection with matters of motor vehicle, watercraft, snowmobile, or off-road recreational vehicle (ORV) and driver or operator safety or auto, watercraft, snowmobile, or ORV theft; motor vehicle, watercraft, snowmobile, or ORV emissions; motor vehicle, watercraft, snowmobile, or ORV product alterations, recalls, or advisories; performance monitoring of motor vehicles, watercraft, snowmobiles, or ORVs; motor vehicle, watercraft, snowmobile, or ORV market research activities, including survey research; and the removal of nonowner records from the original records of motor vehicle, watercraft, snowmobile, or ORV manufacturers.

c. For use in the normal course of business by a legitimate business, including the agents, employees, and contractors of the business, but only to verify the accuracy of personal information submitted by an individual to the business or its agents, employees, contractors, and if the information as so submitted is no longer correct, to obtain the correct information, for the sole purpose of preventing fraud by pursuing legal remedies against, or recovering a debt against, the individual.

d. For use in connection with a civil, criminal, administrative, or arbitration proceeding in a federal, state, or local court or governmental agency or before a self-regulatory body, including use for service of process, investigation in anticipation of litigation, and the execution of enforcement of judgments and orders, or pursuant to an order of a federal, state, or local court, an administrative agency, or a self-regulatory body.

e. For use in legitimate research activities and in preparing statistical reports for commercial, scholarly, or academic purposes by a bona fide research organization, if the personal information isn’t published, re-disclosed, or used to contact individuals.

f. For use by an insurer or insurance support organization, or by a self-insured entity, or its agents, employees, or contractors, in connection with claims investigating activity, antifraud activity, rating, or underwriting.

g. For use in providing notice to the owner of an abandoned, towed, or impounded vehicle, watercraft, snowmobile, or ORV.

h. For use either by a private detective or private investigator licensed under the Private Detective License Act of 1965, as amended (1965 PA 285; MCL 338.821 to 338.851), or by a private security guard agency or alarm system contractor licensed under the Private Security Guard Act of 1968, as amended (1968 PA 330; MCL 338.1051 to 338.1085), only for another permissible purpose listed here.

i. For use by an employer, or the employer’s agent or insurer, to obtain or verify information relating either to the holder of a commercial driver’s license that is required under federal law or to the holder of a chauffeur’s license that is required under Chapter 3 of the Michigan Vehicle Code.

j. For use by a watercraft, snowmobile, ORV, or car rental business, or its employees, agents, contractors, or service firms, for the purpose of making rental decisions.

k. For use in connection with the operation of private toll transportation facilities.

l. For use by a news medium in the preparation and dissemination of a report related in part or in whole to the operation of a motor vehicle or public safety.

m. For any use by an individual requesting information pertaining to themselves or requesting in writing that the Secretary of State provide information pertaining to the individual by a selected designee. A request for disclosure to a designee, however, may be submitted only by the individual.

$11 for each record. Add $1 per record when requesting a certified record.

If no record is found, you will be charged with any lookup fees associated with your request.

If you are ordering bulk records, the fee will depend upon the number of records requested.

Our department is required to maintain vehicle records for:

• 15 years – title record histories
• 4 years – registration record histories