During the pandemic, normal business operations have been interrupted in many ways. That is no more prevalent than with necessary transactions at Secretary of State (SOS) offices. The Legislature approved extensions for items like license renewals and vehicle registration renewals, however there are still some items that members need and can’t get accomplished in a timely fashion. Thankfully, earlier in the year the SOS administrative team opened up an avenue for essential businesses to obtain their necessary items through channels with MITA and hundreds of members took advantage.
There continue to be many stories about backlogs at individual SOS branch offices and difficulties getting appointments when needed, and some individuals are having to schedule appointments several months down the road. It is likely that delays will continue into the near future. However, the SOS is expanding its current online services for commercial clients to include vehicle title and registration transactions, such as renewals and obtaining duplicate title/registration. This new feature also allows businesses to renew multiple vehicles at the same time.
It seems to be a relatively simple process, and MITA staff has been told it takes about a day to get approved. You are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity as it will alleviate a lot of time and frustrations down the road.
You can participate in just a few easy steps:
Step 1: Complete the attached Business Customer Account Application – this will be used to create a business account within the state’s system storing all the vehicles owned by the business.
Step 2: Verify your Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) – this is needed to establish the business account and will be used to associate the business’ vehicles to the account and to access the account online.
Step 3: Gather a listing of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for all vehicles owned by the business. This information should be in an Excel worksheet (see example) and will be used to associate the vehicles to the business account.
Step 4: Submit your application and VIN worksheet to MDOS-Business-Customers@michigan.gov. You will be notified once the business account has been established. Note: Commercial clients with an existing business account should indicate the FEIN when you title a new vehicle to ensure online services are applicable to that new vehicle.
Attached is the application that needs to be submitted to the above mentioned email address. There is no requirement to sign up, but it just might be helpful in fulfilling future needs with the Secretary of State.
If you have any questions, please contact Lance Binoniemi, Vice President of Government Affairs, at lancebinoniemi@thinkmita.org or call the MITA office at 517-347-8336.
