Duarte junk cars: five days, no yards

The five-day limit

Chapter 9.45 handles cars that are truly dead. Section 9.45.130 makes it "unlawful and a misdemeanor" to keep a car "in an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative condition upon any private property or public property, not including highways within the city, for a period in excess of five days." Section 9.45.140 adds a second misdemeanor for refusing to remove it once ordered.

How the notice works

Section 9.45.080 mails "a ten-day notice of intention to abate and remove" by registered mail. The 10 days start on the mailing date. Within that window, you may ask Duarte's City Manager for a public hearing. Skip it, and the City Manager, the Los Angeles County Sheriff or the California Highway Patrol may haul the car away, with the costs and administrative charges billed to the landowner.

Foothill streets and emergency alerts

Part of Duarte lies in the Fish Fire Impact Area, where mud and debris flows are a danger. Section 11.14.030 lets the public safety department ban parking on listed streets, Conata Street among them, during a yellow or red emergency alert. Cars left there "shall be removed and impounded at the owner's expense." Except when it must act immediately, the city gives at least 24 hours' warning, by a notice on the car or a post on its website. If the car is dead, you can't move it off the street once the alert hits.

California title, plates and smog

The DMV handles titles across California. In Duarte, sellers can mail them to PO Box 942869 in Sacramento or hand them in at a state field office.

1. In Duarte, the seller and any lienholder both sign the California Certificate of Title. DMV's steps for sellers list no notary.
2. Missing title? REG 227 comes first.
3. REG 138 is due 5 days after a Duarte sale. File it on dmv.ca.gov/nrl, or mail in the paper version. Any ticket dated later goes to the buyer. See after you sell.
4. Skip smog testing when the car is going to be wrecked or dismantled; that sale is exempt.
5. Leave standard plates on. When a Duarte car is recorded as Junk, the DMV gets its plates back.

Many Duarte cars are only unregistered, not wrecked. The DMV charges back fees and penalties for every year a Duarte car goes unregistered, with a filed Planned Non-Operation (REG 102) as the only exception. Car sitting for years covers it.

Getting an offer

Fill in the form or call (877) 421-6008 with the year and model, the mileage, whether the engine runs, and the title's status. Free pickup anywhere in the US reaches a garage in a Duarte neighborhood, a foothill driveway, or a lot near the City of Hope campus. Monrovia and Azusa are about 2 to 3 miles off, and state rules are on the California page.