Lienholder Corner

Let Us Explain


If you are a bank, car dealership, financial company, etc.,

A letter from the Florida Clerk of Courts indicates your customer (or the defendant) was sentenced or pleaded guilty to a DUI/DWI/Reckless driving offense and is now on probation. 

If your customer is making payments, they are keeping the vehicle. Additionally, if the vehicle was impounded (does not always happen) during the actual criminal and/or traffic infraction, it most likely is out of the impound lot. Especially, if the payments are made.

If it was not released from an impound lot, the towing company would have probably already reached out to you or sold the car at the auction.

However, it has been our experience that the majority of the people that are sentenced and/or plead guilty to a DUI/DWI/Reckless Driving, keep their vehicles. So check your records to see if the payments are being made.

50dollars-DUI-immobilization.com does not impound vehicles as part of the criminal and/or traffic infraction.

50dollars-DUI-immobilization.com will not be able to assist in locating your vehicle.

50dollars-DUI-immobiization.com will not be able to provide you with information on the whereabouts of our customers.

Have you or your business received an official letter from the Florida clerk of the courts?

Are you the lienholder/owner of the vehicle mentioned in the official letter received from the Florida clerk of the courts?


Let us explain,

When someone is charged with a DUI/DWI/Reckless Driving and is convicted or pleads no contest, they typically sign a probation contract with the clerk of courts. This contract outlines the conditions and steps needed to complete probation. Probation termination requirements vary by state/territory.

In the State of Florida, one of the probation conditions is to have the vehicle owned/registered by the person on probation taken away/locked up (immobilized/impounded) for a set number of days (10, 30, 90, etc.) The order applies to the person, not the specific vehicle. This allows them to immobilize/impound any vehicle they own/register or the one driven during the offense. 

Unfortunately, courts typically don't run DMV reports (YES - it would make sense to run a simple DMV report). The court simply notes the vehicle the defendant used at the time of the offense. The court orders of the immobilization as part of the probation that is required by the State of Florida.

The immobilization/impound order is placed on the defendant NOT on the owner/lienholder.

This also means that the court can but it DOES NOT COMPEL the actual owner/lienholder to be liable for the costs of the service or to have the vehicle driven during the offense locked up, if it DOES NOT BELONG to the defendant.

If the vehicle driven at the time of the offense IS NOT OWNED by the defendant, it is required by the State of Florida that the actual owner/lienholder be notified of the possible immobilization. An official letter is generated and mailed to the owner/lienholder.

The letter is ONLY GENERATED if the owner/lienholder is not the actual defendant.

This letter is primarily informational. It likely aims to prevent owners/lienholders from finding their vehicles immobilized unexpectedly and to notify them that the vehicle was involved in a crime.

By the time the letter is received by the owner/lienholder, the defendant is on probation. They are not in detention (usually, but not always). The vehicle is NOT IN THE IMPOUND LOT, because the offense happened weeks/months ago (99% of the time).

The defendant as advised by the court and/or probation services will contact 50dollars-DUI-immobilization.com to arrange a date for the their DUI immobilization, if required. The defendant alone will pay 50dollars-DUI-immoblization.com for the cost of the service (at the time of the DUI immobilization).

50dollars-DUI-immobilization.com is not an attorney's/legal firm. All explanations/statements on this page are for informational purposes only, based on our experience of over 13 years in the DUI immobilization field.

50dollars-DUI-immobiization.com is not in any form/shape/way making any legal statements.

50dollars-DUI-immobilization.com urges you to do your own research and/or consult a licensed State of Florida attorney.