Michigan DUI Vehicle Forfeiture Attorney

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Michigan Drunk Driving 
Boot Camp: Vehicle Forfeiture

If you're convicted of certain Michigan drunk driving offenses, the court may order as part of your sentencing, forfeiture of your vehicle.  Forfeiture is not mandatory, but it falls within the discretion of the sentencing judge.

The court can put your vehicle into forfeiture if it was involved in the offense charged, and you are at least a partial owner of the vehicle.  If the vehicle is a leased car, the court can return that vehicle to the lessor without your consent.  Forfeiture coincides with vehicle immobilization, which is mandatory, and if the judge doesn't order forfeiture, the court will order immobilization.

It is up to the prosecutor to petition for the forfeiture of your vehicle, which must happen within 14 days of your conviction; this petition puts all possible person's with an interest in the vehicle on notice of the forfeiture.  The court will then hold a hearing on the forfeiture within 21 days of the claim.

There are some cases where the vehicle is seized at the scene of the crime before the case comes to a conclusion.  A defendant in an open case may move the court to require the seizing agency to file a lien against the vehicle and return the car to the defendant pending resolution of the case.  The defendant must convince the court that the vehicle is necessary for the defendant or a family member to use the vehicle during the pending case.

If the defendant attempts to conceal, sell, give away or transfer the vehicle with the intent to avoid forfeiture, the defendant can be charged with an additional misdemeanor.

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