El Centro junk cars and the ten-day clock

Why El Centro calls a dead car a nuisance

The council explains itself in Section 18-74. Relying on Vehicle Code 22660, it found that stored wrecks tend "to reduce the value of private property, to promote blight and deterioration, to invite plundering, to create fire hazards." So a car that is "abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative" on private or public property, other than a highway, is "declared to constitute a public nuisance."

That is the misdemeanor clock. The removal process runs on its own clock, and the two can overlap.

The notice of intention to abate

Section 18-81 has the city send "a ten (10) day notice of intention to abate and remove" by registered mail. The landowner listed on the county's last equalized assessment roll gets one copy. The car's last registered and legal owner also gets a copy, unless the car's identification numbers are gone.

El Centro's letter tells the landowner to remove the car "within ten (10) days from the date of mailing of this notice." Otherwise the city tows it and charges the landowner for towing and administrative costs. Note the start date: the days count from mailing, not from when the envelope reaches you.

Asking for a hearing, and when it helps

Under El Centro's Section 18-82, either the vehicle owner or the landowner can ask for a public hearing. El Centro's police chief must get your request no later than ten days after the mail date on the notice. El Centro's city manager runs the hearing. A landowner who sends "a sworn written statement denying responsibility" has made a hearing request without needing to show up. With no request in by the deadline, the city can tow the car and skip the hearing.

Section 18-83 allows the city manager at the hearing to "delay the time for removal" if "the circumstances justify it." When a car was dumped on land without consent and the owner never agreed to it later, that landowner isn't charged the removal costs. If the car's identification number and plate are readable on site, the removal order includes them.

Street parking: 120 hours

On public streets, Section 17-94 says "No person shall leave any vehicle standing or parked upon any street, highway, or other public place in the city for one hundred twenty (120) or more consecutive hours." Police may then tow it to the nearest garage or one the city uses. RVs, trailers, campers, buses and motor homes get a shorter 48-hour limit under Section 17-105 unless the city issues a permit. If one of those sits on a residential lot, it must show current registration tags.

State law can be quicker still. Vehicle Code 22669 lets El Centro tow a car from the public right-of-way right away when it's missing its doors, wheels, tires, windshield, engine or transmission.

If the car is already at a tow yard

Civil Code 3068.1 gives the tow company a lien on the car. Civil Code 3072 governs the yard when an El Centro car is worth $4,000 or under. Following an El Centro tow, the yard mails a Notice of Pending Lien Sale, then sells 31 to 41 days later. In El Centro, the Declaration of Opposition must go back by mail within 10 days if the owner wants a judge to decide. When nobody redeems an abandoned car, Vehicle Code 22523 puts the last registered owner on the hook for any gap the sale leaves. That changes if you'd already reported the sale. Towed or impounded walks through the choices.

Title, plates and the DMV from Imperial County

California's DMV runs all titles, so you won't find a county office for them. El Centro sellers sign the California Certificate of Title. If a lienholder's loan still shows on record, that lienholder signs as well. Next the buyer goes to the DMV with it and pays the $15 transfer fee. El Centro sellers won't need a notary under the DMV's private-sale steps. A lost title can be replaced with REG 227 for $28. Its section 5 is the only part that needs notarizing, and only if the record lists a lienholder.

You then have 5 days to report the sale on REG 138, which El Centro sellers can send through the DMV website or the mail. After the DMV records an El Centro sale, Vehicle Code 5602 puts tickets and other liability from later dates on the buyer. In El Centro, regular plates usually stay on the car when it's sold. You can pay a fee to put personalized or special plates on another car you own.

Junked cars skip the Smog Check entirely. Did the registration lapse while it sat? The DMV then charges El Centro owners fees and penalties for each year without registration, unless a Planned Non-Operation form, REG 102, covered that year.

Nearby towns

Measured as the crow flies, Imperial lies 3.7 miles off and Calexico 8.0 miles. Brawley is 13.4 miles north. The nearest Coachella Valley page, Coachella, is 71.0 miles off. For the full state rules, see California.

Getting an offer

Contact us online or at (877) 421-6008. Send us a few details on your El Centro car through the form. Already holding a notice of intention? Check its mailing date, since the ten days count from there. Our truck can pick it up in El Centro from a carport, a back lot, or a repair shop that gave up.