Read the full stored bill text
HB-4708, As Passed House, April 29, 2026
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HOUSE BILL NO. 4708
A bill to amend 1998 PA 362, entitled
"Michigan marina and boatyard storage lien act,"
by amending section 5 (MCL 570.375), as amended by 2016 PA 286.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 5. (1) A facility owner shall enforce a lien created 1
under this act only if the facility owner has notified the property 2
owner and all prior lienholders of the lien as required by section 3
4. 4
(2) If a property owner is in default for a period of more 5
than 60 days if there is no prior lienholder or of more than 180 6
days if there is a prior lienholder, the facility owner may enforce 7
July 01, 2025, Introduced by Reps. St. Germaine, Roth, Wozniak, Pavlov and DeBoyer and
referred to Committee on Natural Resources and Tourism.
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the lien by selling the repaired or stored property at a 1
commercially reasonable public sale. As used in this section, 2
"commercially reasonable" means that term as defined in the uniform 3
commercial code, 1962 PA 174, MCL 440.1101 to 440.9994. The 4
proceeds of the sale under this section must be applied in the 5
following order: 6
(a) To the reasonable expenses of the sale incurred by the 7
facility owner including, to the extent not prohibited by law, 8
reasonable attorney fees and legal expenses. 9
(b) To satisfy the lien created under this act to the extent 10
that it the lien has priority over all other liens. 11
(c) To satisfy all other liens on the property held by all 12
lienholders of record to be paid in the order of priority. 13
(d) To the extent that the proceeds of sale exceed the sum of 14
the items described in subdivisions (a) to (c), the facility owner 15
shall pay the surplus to the property owner. 16
(3) If, after satisfying the reasonable expenses of the sale 17
and the lien under subsection (2), there is a dispute concerning 18
the priority of record lienholders under subsection (2), the 19
facility owner may hold the proceeds of the sale until the dispute 20
is settled by the written agreement of the parties or until an 21
order or final judgment is issued by a court of competent 22
jurisdiction relative to the dispute. The facility owner may pay 23
the proceeds of sale to a court with subject matter jurisdiction. 24
After a facility owner pays the proceeds to a court as described in 25
this subsection, the facility owner is relieved of all further 26
obligation concerning the proceeds. 27
(4) If proceeds of the sale under this section are not 28
sufficient to satisfy the property owner's outstanding obligations 29
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to the facility owner or any lienholder of record, the property 1
owner remains liable to the facility owner or lienholder for the 2
deficiency. 3
(5) Before conducting a sale under this section, and within a 4
reasonable time after default has continued for more than 60 days 5
if there is no prior lienholder or for more than 180 days if there 6
is a prior lienholder, the facility owner shall do both of the 7
following: 8
(a) Mail a notice of default to the property owner and the 9
secretary of state by certified mail or by another commercially 10
available delivery service that provides proof of delivery, and, if 11
the property is registered in another state or with a federal 12
agency, mail a notice by certified mail to the other state or 13
federal agency responsible for registration or documentation of the 14
property. If the property is a vessel or trailer, the secretary of 15
state shall provide the facility owner with the name and address of 16
the registered owner of the vessel or trailer and a list of all 17
lienholders. If the owner of property cannot be determined because 18
of the condition of identification numbers or because a check of 19
the records of the secretary of state or, if applicable, an agency 20
of another state or federal agency does not reveal ownership, the 21
facility owner may send notice of default by certified mail or by 22
another commercially available delivery service that provides proof 23
of delivery to the person that delivered the property to the 24
facility, if known, at the person's last known address and shall 25
publish in the print or electronic version of a newspaper of 26
general circulation a notice that contains a description of the 27
property and the information required to be provided in a notice of 28
default. The facility owner shall provide a copy of the notice of 29
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default to each lienholder of record provided by the secretary of 1
state. The notice of default must include all of the following: 2
(i) A statement that the property is subject to a lien held by 3
the facility owner. 4
(ii) A statement of the facility owner's claim indicating the 5
charges due on the date of the notice, the amount of any additional 6
charges that will become due before the date of sale, and the date 7
the additional charges will become due. 8
(iii) A demand for payment of the charges due within a specified 9
time not less than 30 days after the date the notice is delivered 10
to the property owner and all lienholders of record. 11
(iv) A statement that the property will be sold if the claim is 12
not paid within the time stated in the notice. The statement must 13
include the time and location of the sale. 14
(v) The name, street address, and telephone number of the 15
facility owner, or the facility owner's designated agent, whom the 16
property owner may contact to respond to the notice. 17
(b) After the expiration of the 30-day period set forth in 18
subdivision (a)(iii), publish an advertisement of the sale once a 19
week for 2 consecutive weeks in the print or electronic version of 20
a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the sale is to 21
be held. The advertisement must include a general description of 22
the property, the name of the property owner, and the time and 23
location of the sale. The date of the sale must be not less than 15 24
days after the date the first advertisement of the sale is 25
published. 26
(6) At any time before the sale of property under this act, 27
any lienholder may cure the default by paying the amount of the 28
claim to the facility owner, which and this amount must be added to 29
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the lien of the lienholder. 1
(7) A sale under this act must be held at the facility or at 2
another reasonable location. 3
(8) A person who that purchases property sold at a 4
commercially reasonable sale under this act takes the property free 5
and clear of the rights of the property owner and all lienholders 6
of record. 7
(9) A facility owner who complies with this act is liable as 8
follows: 9
(a) The facility owner's liability to a lienholder of record 10
is limited to the net proceeds received from the sale of the 11
property. 12
(b) The facility owner's liability to the property owner is 13
limited to the net proceeds received from the sale of the property 14
after payment in full of all lienholders of record. 15
(10) A property owner or lienholder who suffers damages 16
because of a facility owner's failure to comply with this act may 17
bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for his or her 18
actual damages or $250.00, whichever is greater. 19
(11) A facility owner is limited to 1 lien under state law 20
against a property for the storage, labor, repairs, maintenance 21
services, materials, or supplies for the property. A facility owner 22
who asserts a lien against a property under another statute or the 23
common law shall not also assert a lien under this act for the same 24
storage, labor, repairs, maintenance services, materials, or 25
supplies, or other charges or expenses related to the property. 26
(12) A facility owner may deny a property owner who has been 27
was notified under subsection (5) access to the storage facility, 28
except that the property owner is entitled to access to the 29
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facility during normal business hours for the purpose of satisfying 1
the lien or viewing and verifying the condition of the property. 2
(13) Except as otherwise provided in this act, all notices 3
required by this act must be mailed by registered or certified 4
mail, return receipt requested. Notices to a facility owner must be 5
mailed to the facility owner's business address or to the address 6
of the facility owner's designated representative. Notices to a 7
property owner must be mailed to the property owner's last known 8
address as listed on the title, registration, or other marine 9
documentation or as provided in the most recent agreement 10
concerning storage, labor, repairs, maintenance services, 11
materials, or supplies entered into between the facility owner and 12
the property owner. Notices to a lienholder of record must be sent 13
to the address of the lienholder as provided by the secretary of 14
state under subsection (5). Notices are considered delivered on the 15
date the recipient of the notice signs the return receipt or, if 16
the notice is undeliverable, the date the post office last attempts 17
to deliver the notice. 18
(14) The facility owner may bid all or a portion of his or her 19
the facility owner's claim at the auction sale of the property. 20