Free Michigan Bill of Sale Template & Generator

Michigan Bill of Sale Requirements

Additional Forms Required in Michigan

• Form TR-11L (Application for Michigan Vehicle Title) — the buyer's title application
• Odometer Mileage Statement (if the title has no odometer space)

Michigan keeps the private-sale process refreshingly light — no safety inspection, no emissions test — but it centers everything on the buyer's trip to a Secretary of State (SOS) office. The buyer has 15 days from the purchase date to transfer the title, and missing that window adds a $15 late fee on top of the $15 title transfer fee and the 6% tax. A widespread myth says the seller must "report the sale to the SOS within 15 days" — but the 15 days in the Secretary of State's guidance is the buyer's title deadline, and the buyer's form is the TR-11L, the Application for Michigan Vehicle Title.

Michigan is one of the states that now offers a genuine online title transfer. When both the buyer and seller hold a valid Michigan license or ID and the title is a paper (non-electronic) title, they can complete the transfer online, with the Secretary of State approving it within about three days. When online isn't an option, the transfer happens in person, and a buyer who needs the title immediately can pay $20 for an instant title printed on the spot at the counter.

Plates in Michigan belong to the owner, not the vehicle. The seller keeps the plate, and the buyer must not drive away on it. Michigan does give the buyer a short grace period: you may drive a newly purchased vehicle without a plate for 3 days from the date of sale, but only directly to the first place of storage, and only while carrying the assigned title and proof of insurance.

The tax is 6% of the full purchase price or the fair market value, whichever is greater, collected when the buyer titles the vehicle, with a use-tax exemption for transfers between qualifying close family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling, and certain step- and in-law relationships; cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews do not qualify). The Secretary of State's private-sale requirements don't list a notary. The seller completes the assignment on the back of the title, records an accurate odometer reading there (or on an Odometer Mileage Statement if the title has no space), and hands it over. A bill of sale isn't on the SOS document list, but a signed one is still the buyer's cleanest personal proof of price and date.