Selling a junk or dead car in Hanford

Why Hanford calls a dead car a nuisance

Vehicle Code 22660 lets each California city set abatement rules of its own. In Hanford, those rules are Chapter 10.68. The council's findings say a pile of dead cars tends "to reduce the value of private property, to promote blight and deterioration, to invite plundering, to create fire hazards." That is how an engineless sedan in a Hanford side yard becomes, legally, "a public nuisance," apart from the exceptions the chapter lists.

The order of events in a Hanford case

The process starts soft. Under 10.68.070, the code enforcement officer "may follow such administrative procedures to secure voluntary removal" before any formal notice. In practice, that is your first chance to deal with the car on your terms.

When nobody moves it on their own, the officer sends the property owner and the vehicle owner "a ten day written notice of intention to abate and remove the vehicle." Either one may then ask for a hearing, both on the abatement itself and on who carries the costs.

From there the paths split:

• No hearing requested. Section 10.68.100 has the officer take the car "to a junk yard, automobile dismantling yard or refuse disposal site," and the vehicle owner or landowner is "required to pay all administrative costs and all costs of removal."
• Hearing held, no appeal. If the car is still there "within ten days after notice of the decision of the hearing officer was mailed," the city removes it.
• Appeal to the city council. The same ten days run from the mailing of the council's decision.

Moving it yourself still saves money

Section 10.68.150 lets "any interested party" remove the car at any time after the hearing officer orders it gone. If you do that without cost to the city, "only the administrative costs shall thereafter be collected." So the removal charge drops off the bill. The paperwork fees stay.

What leaves with a city tow

Once the city removes a car, the officer has five days to tell the DMV and hand over "any evidence of registration available, including, but not limited to, registration certificates, certificates of title and license plates." In other words, the title in your glovebox may go with the car. Selling first keeps the title, the signatures and the release of liability under your control.

California title steps from Kings County

Kings County issues no titles. Sacramento does, through state-run DMV field offices, and the DMV's Sacramento mailbox, PO Box 942869, CA 94269, takes title paperwork by post.

• Signing. A Hanford seller signs the California Certificate of Title. Any lienholder adds a signature beside yours. The $15 transfer fee is the buyer's to pay when turning it in. No notary appears anywhere in the DMV's private-sale seller steps.
• REG 138. You get five days to file this release-of-liability notice with the DMV. Send it through the DMV's NRL web page or post it. Vehicle Code 5602 then shifts tickets and civil suits dated after the sale onto the buyer.
• Plates. Standard plates remain on your Hanford car for the next owner. A personalized or special set is yours to move onto another car, for a fee.
• Smog. Headed to a wrecker or dismantler? Then the smog inspection does not apply.
• Lost title. Can't find the title? Start with REG 227, which is $28. Per the DMV, a Hanford owner should see the replacement in the mail in 15 to 30 days. See junk car with no title.

After you sell walks through the last steps, and the California page has the statewide rules in one place.

Towns around Hanford

As the crow flies, Lemoore is 8.3 miles away and Selma 17.0. Corcoran is 17.7 miles and Visalia 18.2. Each has its own page: Lemoore, Corcoran, Visalia and Selma.

Getting an offer

Use the site or call (877) 421-6008. Fill in the offer form for your Hanford car. We come to wherever it stopped: a side yard, a lot near the old Kings County Courthouse, or a shop that won't fix it.