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Town guide · California

Dead or junk car in Folsom? State rules and selling it

Folsom's own junk-car ordinance was not online when we looked, and that matters more than it sounds. In California, the rule for an inoperative car sitting on private land is local: Vehicle Code 22660 hands every city and county the power to declare such cars public nuisances, haul them off and recover what that costs. That means all of this is state law, and Folsom may have extra rules. If you'd rather not dig into it, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. Sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

Updated · 10 sources

A young deer crossing a dry, grassy hillside in Folsom, with tile-roofed houses and rolling hills in the distance
Photo: Sharon Mollerus · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Folsom, the short version

Population
91,983 (Census estimate, July 2025)
County
Sacramento
Private-property rule
Set by city ordinance under Vehicle Code 22660
Street limit before a tow
72 straight hours under a Folsom ordinance
Abandoning a car
Minimum $100 fine plus removal costs
Release of liability
REG 138 within 5 days
Smog Check for a junked car
Exempt

State rules that already reach a Folsom curb

  • Three days on one street. Leave a car 72 hours or longer in one spot on a public road, breaking a local rule, and state law lets it be towed.
  • Parts missing. Once a Folsom car has no engine, transmission, windshield, doors, tires, wheels or other needed parts, an officer can remove it from public right-of-way land right away. Selling the wheels off a dead SUV first can create exactly that car; missing parts covers cars already stripped.
  • Little value. Vehicle Code 22851.3 requires a 72-hour warning posted on an abandoned Folsom car worth $500 or less before it is removed. Folsom has one exception: a car worth $300 or less that is taken under 22669(d). A notice goes out within 48 hours of that tow. A Folsom owner gets 10 days to request a hearing. The car may be disposed of 15 days after the notice.

Dumping it costs more

Leaving the car along a highway, or on land that is not yours without consent, breaks state law. Fines begin at $100, plus you have to show proof the towing bill got paid. For a Folsom car that's impounded and never redeemed, the person last registered pays whatever the lien sale doesn't cover.

Vehicle Code 22523 offers one way out: a report of sale on file clears the last registered owner if a buyer later dumps the car. That report is the release form below.

DMV paperwork for a Folsom seller

California's DMV issues titles, not Sacramento County, either at field offices or by mail. Sign your certificate of title, get a lender's signature too if one is still listed, and pass it to the buyer, who files it. DMV's seller steps mention no notary.

Within five days, send REG 138 so DMV knows the car has left you. Folsom sellers file online at dmv.ca.gov/nrl. The paper version goes to P.O. Box 942859. After DMV records it, parking and moving violations dated later belong to whoever bought it.

Regular plates stay on a sold car. Personalized or special ones can be reassigned by you, for a fee. Cars sold for dismantling skip smog entirely. More state detail is on the California page.

Getting an offer

Selling a Folsom car? Phone (877) 421-6008 or use the form. The truck can reach a steep driveway, a side yard or a shop's back lot. Nearest pages: Rancho Cordova, 8.0 miles, and Citrus Heights, 8.1.

Questions people ask

Is there a Folsom junk-car ordinance?
We did not find Folsom's municipal code online. Because state law leaves private-property abatement to each city, ask Folsom directly before relying on any waiting period.
Will police tow a stripped car from a Folsom street right away?
They can. State law lets Folsom remove a car from a public right-of-way immediately when its windshield, doors, tires, wheels, transmission or engine are missing.
What if I just leave my car somewhere in Folsom?
That is abandonment, which California outlaws on highways and on any property without the owner's say-so. Expect at least a $100 fine, plus proof you covered the removal.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.

  1. California Vehicle Code 22660 (local abatement ordinances) california.public.law
  2. California Vehicle Code 22669 (removal of abandoned cars) california.public.law
  3. California Vehicle Code 22651 (72-hour street tows) california.public.law
  4. California Vehicle Code 22851.3 (low-value abandoned cars) california.public.law
  5. California Vehicle Code 22523 (abandonment, report of sale) california.public.law
  6. California DMV: Title transfers and changes dmv.ca.gov
  7. California DMV: Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (REG 138) dmv.ca.gov
  8. California DMV: License plates dmv.ca.gov
  9. California DMV: Junking a vehicle (individual) dmv.ca.gov
  10. U.S. Census Bureau: City population estimates, 2020-2025 www2.census.gov