To get a title for an abandoned vehicle in Minnesota, you buy it at a government-run impound sale after the statutory notice and waiting period has expired, then take the impound sale receipt to a Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) office, pass a motor vehicle safety inspection, and apply for a new certificate of title. There is no shortcut. Minnesota channels every abandoned vehicle through the impound system, and title transfers only after the original owner and any lienholders have had their legal chance to reclaim the car.
You Cannot Simply Claim a Car You Found
This is the first thing worth being clear about, because the assumption trips people up. A private citizen has no legal authority to tow an abandoned car off the street, off a lot, or off their own property and start driving it. Only units of government and peace officers can take an abandoned or junk vehicle into custody, and a peace officer or parking enforcement officer must prepare a written towing report before it moves.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes Chapter 168B – Abandoned Motor Vehicles and Towing If you take a vehicle without going through that process, you have no title, and you could face theft charges no matter how long the car sat there.
If the vehicle is on your property, your role is to call local law enforcement or your city’s code enforcement office. They arrange the tow to an impound lot. From there, the statutory clock begins.
How the Vehicle Gets to a Sale
Once impounded, the government unit or impound lot operator has five business days to send written notice to the registered owner and any lienholders. That notice must state the date and place the vehicle was taken, its year, make, model, and serial number, where it is being stored, and that failing to reclaim it within the allowed time is treated as giving up all ownership rights.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes Chapter 168B – Abandoned Motor Vehicles and Towing
The owner or a lienholder can reclaim the vehicle any time during the waiting period by paying the towing, storage, and cleanup charges. If nobody does, the vehicle becomes eligible for sale.
Waiting Periods Before Sale
- Abandoned or junk vehicles: eligible for sale 15 days after notice
- Unauthorized vehicles outside Minneapolis and St. Paul: 45 days after notice, or earlier if the registered owner voluntarily transfers title in writing to the impound lot operator
- Unauthorized vehicles in Minneapolis or St. Paul: 15 days after certified-mail notice, extended to 45 days if the owner files a written intent to reclaim within that window
You do not have to sort out which category a given car falls into. The impound operator does. What matters for you as a prospective buyer is that the vehicle you bid on has cleared its waiting period.
Buying at the Impound Sale
Government impound lots and private impound lots both sell vehicles after the waiting period ends, typically by auction or direct sale. This is the primary legal path to acquiring an abandoned vehicle in Minnesota.
When you win the vehicle, the lot issues a receipt on a form prescribed by the state’s registrar of motor vehicles. That receipt is your proof of ownership. By statute, it entitles you to register the vehicle and receive a certificate of title free and clear of all previous liens and ownership claims.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes Chapter 168B – Abandoned Motor Vehicles and Towing Hold onto that receipt. Without it, you cannot title the vehicle through the standard process.
Getting the Title from DVS
The state will not issue you a new title until the vehicle passes a motor vehicle safety check. This inspection is required on any vehicle purchased through an impound sale, and inspection costs vary by shop. Once the vehicle passes, you take the impound sale receipt and your inspection paperwork to a Minnesota DVS office and apply for a new certificate of title.
Expect the following costs:
- Title application fee: $8.25, due every time a title is issued or transferred3Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Vehicle Fees
- Motor vehicle sales tax: 6.875% of the taxable sales price4Minnesota Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle Sales
- Registration fees, which vary with the vehicle’s age, value, and type
- The safety inspection itself
The new title comes to you clean by operation of statute. Any liens that existed against the previous owner do not follow the vehicle to you.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes Chapter 168B – Abandoned Motor Vehicles and Towing
If You Do Not Have an Impound Receipt
Sometimes people end up with a vehicle but lack standard documentation. The impound receipt was lost, or the vehicle came to you through informal means without proper paperwork. Minnesota DVS has a process for applying for a certificate of title when proof of ownership cannot be established through normal channels. It requires contacting DVS directly and providing whatever documentation you do have. The process takes longer than a standard title application and can involve additional verification steps. Plan for delays if this is your situation.
Check the VIN Before You Bid
The statute promises a clean title, but that promise is only as good as the impound lot’s compliance with the notice rules. Doing your own homework before the sale protects you and helps you decide what the vehicle is worth.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau runs a free online tool called VINCheck that searches a Vehicle Identification Number against records from participating insurance companies for unrecovered theft claims and salvage entries. It does not include law enforcement databases, and a clean result is not a full history, but it catches the most obvious problems. The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS), available through vehiclehistory.gov, adds title brand information, odometer readings, and out-of-state salvage or junk reports.
If the Vehicle Belonged to a Servicemember
One legal wrinkle is worth flagging. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, nobody can enforce a storage lien on a servicemember’s property during their period of military service, or for 90 days afterward, without first getting a court order. The term “lien” here specifically covers liens for storage, repair, or cleaning.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3958 – Enforcement of Storage Liens Knowingly violating that protection is a federal crime punishable by up to a year in prison, a fine, or both.
If a vehicle you are eyeing turns out to have belonged to an active-duty servicemember and no court order was obtained before the sale, the sale itself may be legally vulnerable. Impound operators generally know the rule, but a buyer who wants a genuinely clean title has an interest in the rule being followed.
The Short Version
Report the car, let law enforcement impound it, wait out the statutory notice period, bid at the impound sale, get the receipt, pass a safety inspection, and take the receipt and inspection to DVS with $8.25 plus 6.875% sales tax and your registration fees. That is the whole path, and there is no other legal one.