Selling a junk or dead car in Anchorage

The five-day rule, and who it covers

Section 15.20.050 names two people. The first is the registered owner, or anyone with a legal right to the car. The second is "the owner, tenant or other person in possession or control" of that property. That means a tenant whose broken sedan sits in the parking area, and the landlord allowing it, can both be cited.

Anchorage's definitions in 15.20.010 reach a car that "is stripped, wrecked or otherwise inoperable due to mechanical failure." A seized engine parked beside the house fits that wording.

The rule is about public view. Section 15.20.090 keeps the right to run "a lawful junkyard or storage yard."

What happens after a notice

Section 15.20.060 sets the steps. When the director sees what looks like a junk vehicle, written notice goes out by personal service or certified mail, and a notice is also "affixed to the vehicle." If nobody can be found and served within five days, the notice on the car is enough.

The notice says two things. First, if the car is not out of public view "within five days from issuance of the notice," the department will "impound and sell or destroy the vehicle at the offender's expense." Second, an owner who can show the ability and willingness to fix it may apply for "a 30-day waiver to make the necessary repairs," but only before the five days run out.

Once the five or 30 days pass, the director may impound the car and sell it at public auction, or have it "privately sold, crushed or otherwise destroyed without further notice." The department can be the Anchorage Health Department, Development Services, Planning, the water utility or the Anchorage Police Department, depending on the case. Our guide to a notice to remove a car walks through answering one.

A car left on the street

Section 15.20.030 makes it unlawful to abandon a vehicle "on a street or highway within the municipality," or on public property not set aside for vehicle disposal. The definitions section sets the line: a car counts as abandoned when it is left unattended for "a period in excess of 72 hours." Police keep their power to impound and arrange storage, sale or destruction under other parts of the code.

If someone else's junk car was left on your land, 15.20.050 lets the owner or tenant ask for its removal under section 15.20.040E.

State law adds the bill. Under AS 28.11.010, the owner of record pays the removal and disposal costs, unless someone drove it off without permission. A towing lien under AS 28.10.502 lets a car unclaimed for 30 days go to public sale after 20 days' notice. When the car has already been hauled off, read towed or impounded.

Alaska title steps from Anchorage

The state Division of Motor Vehicles, not the municipality, handles every Alaska title. Its headquarters sits on Ingra Street in Anchorage, at number 4001, Suite 101; the phone is (907) 269-5551.

Your part of the sale happens on the title itself. Sign in the marked spots and complete the owner's assignment block. Any gap there is a problem, because federal law stops a transfer when the assignment or the odometer statement is left incomplete. Names linked by AND need every signature; names linked by OR need just one. The DMV's seller instructions do not ask for a notary. The buyer takes the title and the registration certificate from you when the car leaves.

Then report the sale within 10 days. Detach the Notice of Vehicle Sale from the bottom of the title and mail it, or log the sale online using the VIN. Skipping this step under AS 28.10.271 is a class B misdemeanor.

No title in hand? The owner of record applies for a duplicate on Form 809, signed before a notary, for $15, and only then can the car change hands. If an insurer branded the car Junk, the DMV can issue a Salvage title for $15 on Form 857, which helps you surrender it or get it out of impound.

Plates and emissions

Standard Alaska plates stay with the car when it sells, and they cannot move to your next vehicle. Personalized or specialty plates leave with you, and the DMV issues the buyer replacements without an added charge.

Anchorage's emissions program stopped when the Assembly ended testing effective March 1, 2012, so no test certificate is part of the sale. After you sell covers the last steps.

Getting an offer

To get an offer, send the form or call (877) 421-6008. We ask about the model year, the mileage, if it still cranks, and who the title is in. We drive to the car. It can be in a home driveway, a repair shop lot, or at a curb with a city notice taped on the window. Measured straight, Fairbanks is 258.1 miles away and Juneau is 558.4 miles. The Alaska page has the statewide rules.