Michigan Compiled Laws
300-1949-II - Chapter II Administration, Registration, Certificate of Title and Anti-Theft (257.201...257.259)
Section 257.216 - Vehicles Subject to Registration and Certificate of Title Provisions; Pandemic Expiration Extension.

Sec. 216.
(1) Every motor vehicle, recreational vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole trailer, when driven or moved on a street or highway, is subject to the registration and certificate of title provisions of this act except the following:
(a) A vehicle driven or moved on a street or highway in conformance with the provisions of this act relating to manufacturers, transporters, dealers, or nonresidents.
(b) A vehicle that is driven or moved on a street or highway only for the purpose of crossing that street or highway from 1 property to another.
(c) An implement of husbandry.
(d) Special mobile equipment. The secretary of state may issue a special registration to an individual, partnership, corporation, or association not licensed as a dealer that pays the required fee, to identify special mobile equipment that is driven or moved on a street or highway.
(e) A vehicle that is propelled exclusively by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires though not operated on rails.
(f) Any vehicle subject to registration, but owned by the government of the United States.
(g) A certificate of title is not required for a trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer that weighs less than 2,500 pounds.
(h) A vehicle driven or moved on a street or highway, by the most direct route, only for the purpose of securing a scale weight receipt from a weighmaster for purposes of section 801 or obtaining a vehicle inspection by a law enforcement agency before titling or registration of that vehicle.
(i) A certificate of title is not required for a vehicle owned by a manufacturer or dealer and held for sale or lease, even though incidentally moved on a street or highway or used for purposes of testing or demonstration.
(j) A bus or a school bus that is not self-propelled and is used exclusively as a construction shanty.
(k) A certificate of title is not required for a moped.
(l) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3), for 3 days immediately following the date of a properly assigned title or signed lease agreement from any person other than a dealer, a registration is not required for a vehicle driven or moved on a street or highway for the sole purpose of transporting the vehicle by the most direct route from the place of purchase or lease to a place of storage if the driver has in his or her possession the assigned title showing the date of sale or a lease agreement showing the date of the lease.
(m) A certificate of registration is not required for a pickup camper, but a certificate of title is required.
(n) A new motor vehicle driven or moved on a street or highway only for the purpose of moving the vehicle from an accident site to a storage location if the vehicle was being transported on a railroad car or semitrailer that was involved in a disabling accident.
(o) A boat lift used for transporting vessels between a marina or a body of water and a place of inland storage.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a registration issued to a motor vehicle, recreational vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer, when driven or moved on a street or highway, that expires on or after March 1, 2020 is valid until March 31, 2021. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a registration issued to a motor vehicle, recreational vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer, when driven or moved on a street or highway, that expires after March 31, 2021 but before August 1, 2021, is valid until 120 days after the date of the expiration. If the registration issued to a motor vehicle, recreational vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer, when driven or moved on a street or highway, that is used for commercial purposes expires on or after March 1, 2020, the registration is valid until March 31, 2021. If the registration issued to a motor vehicle, recreational vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer, when driven or moved on a street or highway, that is used for commercial purposes expires after March 31, 2021 but before August 1, 2021, the registration is valid until 120 days after the date of the expiration.
(3) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, until March 31, 2021, a properly assigned title or signed lease agreement from any person other than a dealer is considered proof of registration of the vehicle.
History: 1949, Act 300, Eff. Sept. 23, 1949 ;-- Am. 1951, Act 69, Eff. Sept. 28, 1951 ;-- Am. 1953, Act 110, Eff. Oct. 2, 1953 ;-- Am. 1957, Act 110, Imd. Eff. May 24, 1957 ;-- Am. 1959, Act 155, Eff. Mar. 19, 1960 ;-- Am. 1964, Act 248, Eff. Jan. 1, 1965 ;-- Am. 1968, Act 139, Imd. Eff. June 11, 1968 ;-- Am. 1974, Act 70, Eff. Apr. 1, 1975 ;-- Am. 1976, Act 74, Imd. Eff. Apr. 11, 1976 ;-- Am. 1976, Act 439, Imd. Eff. Jan. 13, 1977 ;-- Am. 1981, Act 75, Imd. Eff. June 30, 1981 ;-- Am. 1983, Act 186, Imd. Eff. Oct. 25, 1983 ;-- Am. 1985, Act 32, Imd. Eff. June 13, 1985 ;-- Am. 1988, Act 214, Imd. Eff. June 30, 1988 ;-- Am. 1989, Act 286, Imd. Eff. Dec. 26, 1989 ;-- Am. 1990, Act 98, Eff. Jan. 1, 1991 ;-- Am. 1992, Act 102, Imd. Eff. June 25, 1992 ;-- Am. 1996, Act 141, Imd. Eff. Mar. 25, 1996 ;-- Am. 2002, Act 642, Eff. Jan. 1, 2003 ;-- Am. 2008, Act 539, Imd. Eff. Jan. 13, 2009 ;-- Am. 2009, Act 32, Eff. Dec. 1, 2009 ;-- Am. 2020, Act 127, Imd. Eff. July 1, 2020 ;-- Am. 2020, Act 241, Eff. Oct. 28, 2020 ;-- Am. 2020, Act 304, Imd. Eff. Dec. 29, 2020 ;-- Am. 2021, Act 71, Imd. Eff. July 29, 2021 Compiler's Notes: Enacting section 1 of Act 71 of 2021 provides:"Enacting section 1. Sections 216(2), 217(11) and (12), 226(11) and (13), 255(4), 301(6), 306(1), (2), (4), and (6), 306a(4), 309(11), 312k(1), 314(7), 801k(1) and (2), and 811(5) of the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.216, 257.217, 257.226, 257.255, 257.301, 257.306, 257.306a, 257.309, 257.312k, 257.314, 257.801k, and 257.811, as amended by this amendatory act, are intended to be retroactive and apply retroactively."

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