Selling an inoperative or junk car in Arcadia

Building and Safety runs the process

In Arcadia, Section 4900.4 hands the job to the Superintendent of Building and Safety, who may "cause the abatement and removal" of a dead car or its parts found on any Arcadia lot or public ground. Section 4900 calls such cars a public nuisance, highways excluded.

Two things fall outside the chapter under 4900.2: a car "completely enclosed within a building" and out of sight, and one stored lawfully "in connection with the business of a licensed dismantler or licensed vehicle dealer" or another lawful business. The same section warns that these rules "are not the exclusive regulation" of dead cars in Arcadia, so other parts of the code can still apply.

The notice, step by step

1. Ten-day notice. Certified letters go to the Arcadia parcel owner and the car's owner, telling them to remove it "within ten (10) days from the date of mailing."
2. Hearing request. Either one may write to the City Manager asking for a public hearing before those ten days run out. A sworn statement from the landowner denying responsibility is treated as that request, and the landowner need not show up.
3. Hearing notice. When there is a hearing, a certified letter goes out ten or more days before it.
4. The decision. The hearing official can order removal and set the costs. The official "may delay the time for removal" when the circumstances justify it.

Miss the window and Arcadia may tow it with no hearing at all.

Closing out the car with the DMV

Arcadia sellers sign the California title, and a lender co-signs if one is named. The buyer then pays DMV the $15 transfer fee. DMV's seller steps say nothing about a notary. The state runs the field offices, and mail also works. Title in a relative's name? See car not in your name.

REG 138 is the step that shields you; get it to the DMV inside 5 days. Vehicle Code 22523 adds a second benefit. With a report of sale on file, a buyer who later dumps the car cannot leave you with the infraction or the shortfall after a lien sale.

Ordinary plates usually stay with the car. Recording it as junk is the exception: then the DMV takes those plates back. More in after you sell and on the California page.

Around Arcadia

Nearby pages: Temple City 2.4 miles, Monrovia 3.7, El Monte 4.0, San Gabriel 4.4.

Getting an offer

Reach us online or at (877) 421-6008. Tell us about your Arcadia car through the form. Free pickup anywhere in the US covers a side yard, a curb or a shop lot.