Selling a junk or dead car in Anniston

Three words in Section 34.2

Anniston's health and sanitation chapter defines its terms with care, and each one points to a different kind of dead car.

Deserted. Left unattended where it should not be, or on someone else's land without permission. Time does not enter into it.

Inoperable. A car that "cannot be driven upon the public streets for reasons including but not limited to being unlicensed, wrecked, deserted, abandoned, in a state of disrepair, or incapable of being moved under its own power and which has been stationary for a period of thirty (30) consecutive days." Expired tags alone can meet the first half. The second half is a month without moving.

Junk. The code's list of worthless material includes "worn out, dismantled, inoperable, wrecked or dilapidated trailers, vehicles," and its definition of a junk pile names "partially dismantled, non-operating, wrecked, junked, or discarded motor vehicles."

Abatement under the chapter's nuisance sections can mean repair, demolition "or removal of any nuisance." The definitions we read do not state a notice period or a fine. Anniston can add local rules on these points, covered below. If a notice comes, read it closely.

Downtown parking runs on the clock

A car that dies downtown does not get to wait for a tow truck in peace. The limits in Sections 15.35 and 15.44:

• Off-street zones: a two-hour stretch from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. unless a permit covers you.
• Zone A: two hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., "whether consecutive or otherwise."
• Zone B: 15 consecutive minutes between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Nights and Sundays: open, but "in no case" longer than "twenty-four (24) consecutive hours" in either zone.

That 24-hour ceiling is the one that catches a stalled car. Move it, or have it picked up, inside a day.

If the car is parked on land you do not own

If a car stays on private property without the owner's consent, Alabama's own process takes over, and it moves on a fixed schedule:

1. 48 hours. After that, the car counts as "unclaimed." The same goes for one left on a public road for more than 48 hours.
2. 5 calendar days. The person holding the car has to report it to the Department of Revenue. The title record is then held for 60 days.
3. 30 days. A car nobody claims for 30 or more calendar days after notice reached the owner and lienholder is "abandoned."
4. 35 days. An auction notice is printed weekly for two weeks. The sale can happen 35 calendar days after that notice.

To fight the sale, the owner or a lienholder files a notice of appeal with circuit court in the county hosting the sale. A holder who skips the report or the owner's notice gives up any claim for storage. If the car being held is yours, selling it before the auction date is usually simpler than paying to get it back; see towed or impounded.

The Noble Street office

The Calhoun County office we checked is at 1702 Noble St., Ste. 107, Anniston (256-241-2900). In a straight line it sits roughly 1 mile southwest of downtown. Other county offices may exist. The county handles plates and registration. The Alabama Department of Revenue issues titles.

Signing it over in Alabama

The seller's title assignment does not need a notary. Two details matter at the counter:

• Mileage. Certify it, and make it equal the figure on the buyer's application.
• Names. Every owner on the application must be spelled exactly as on the title.

Pull the plates at the sale. They can go on a car you get afterward. Missing title? A replacement is $15 through the state's Public Title Portal or a designated agent. Older cars get an easier path in Alabama. An Anniston owner lacking a title can still sell to a dismantler or scrap recycler if the car is 12 model years or older and valued at $1,000 or less. Notice form MVT 5-18 goes in through the SCRAP portal from the buyer, who holds the originals for five years. More on that at junk car with no title.

Getting an offer

Ring (877) 421-6008 or send the form listing the model year, maker, miles, running condition and title details. A car that will not start is welcome; pickup goes to it. Anniston is about 6 miles from Oxford and about 26 from Gadsden. The Alabama page covers the statewide rules.