Abandoned Vehicle
Overview
What is an Abandoned Vehicle?
 There were
significant changes to the abandoned vehicle law that took effect on
October 1, 2005. Many of these changes directly affect vehicle
and property owners in Niles.
An abandoned vehicle is a vehicle
that remains on private property without the property owner's
consent. An abandoned vehicle is also a vehicle that remains
on public property for 48 hours or on a state trunk line for 18
hours after a Police Department has affixed an Abandoned Vehicle Tag
to the vehicle.
There are also abandoned scrap
vehicles. Abandoned scrap vehicles meet all the definitions in
the previous paragraph and are 7 or more years old and are
apparently inoperable or extensively damaged to the extent that the
cost of repair exceeds the value of the vehicle. The picture on the
right
shows an attempt to “hide” an abandoned vehicle with trash cans and
other items. The picture below shows what is considered an
abandoned scrap vehicle.
If you are a
property owner of a single family or dual family residence you may
have an abandoned or scrap abandoned vehicle removed, simply by
called the towing service of your choice. Abandoned vehicles
are removed by towing services at no cost to the property owner.
If you are a property owner or lessor of property that is not a
single family or dual family residence you must have an abandoned
vehicle notice posted which meets the following criteria prior to
removing an abandoned vehicle.
-
The notice shall be prominently
displayed at a point of entry for vehicular access to the
property. If the property lacks curbs or access barriers,
not less than 1 notice shall be posted for each 100 feet of road
frontage.
-
The notice clearly indicates in
letters not less than 2 inches high on a contrasting background
that unauthorized vehicles will be towed at the owner's expense.
-
The notice provides the name and
telephone number of the towing service responsible for towing or
removing vehicles from that property.
-
The notice is permanently
installed with the bottom of the notice located not less than 4
feet from the ground, and is continuously maintained on the
property for not less than 24 hours before the vehicle is towed or
removed.
If you are the owner of an abandoned vehicle which
has been removed from a property you can secure release by paying
the towing service, the accrued charges and a $40.00 abandoned
vehicle fee. There is also an appeal process if the owner
feels their vehicle should not have been removed from the property.
The State of Michigan also has a new web site for
locating lost and found vehicles. You can go to
http://services.sos.state.mi.us/autolostandfound/ for the
disposition of vehicles reported as abandoned.
|
