Selling a junk or inoperative car in Mission Viejo

What the city treats as a nuisance

Section 9.59.305 declares that "the presence of an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle or part thereof, on private or public property except as expressly permitted in this chapter" is a public nuisance. The council rests that on the power the state gave it in Vehicle Code 22660, and lists its reasons: falling property values, blight, fire hazards, and a danger to children.

The ten days, step by step

1. The letter. Section 9.59.320 says it "shall be mailed by registered mail to the owner of the land as shown on the last equalized assessment roll and to the last registered and legal owner of record of the vehicle." It also has to spell out your hearing rights.
2. Your move. Section 12.10.100 gives you two choices: remove the car "within ten days of the date of mailing of this notice," or ask the Mission Viejo chief of police for a hearing in that window. A land owner may file "a sworn written statement denying responsibility" and skip appearing in person.
3. Silence. With no request on file, the chief of police can take the car without a hearing and bill the cost against the land.
4. The hearing. The officer may order removal and fix the costs, or "delay the time for removal of the vehicle" when circumstances justify it (Section 12.10.110).

Two carve-outs. Costs stay off the land when the car turns out to have been left there without the land owner's say-so. And there is no notice at all if the land owner and car owner have both "signed releases authorizing removal and waiving further interest in the vehicle." That route hands the car to the city; it is not a sale.

Big vehicles on city streets

Section 12.08.060 keeps any vehicle "of a length in excess of 25 feet or a weight in excess of 10,000 pounds" off Mission Viejo's public streets. Emergency repairs to the vehicle itself are allowed "for a maximum of 72 consecutive hours." A broken-down motorhome is covered.

California title and plate rules

• Mission Viejo sellers sign the Certificate of Title, alongside any lender on record. The buyer handles the DMV and its $15 fee. A notary appears nowhere in the DMV's seller steps.
• Title gone missing? REG 227 comes before anything else. See junk car with no title.
• Smog does not apply when the buyer is dismantling the car.
• Mission Viejo sellers send REG 138 by mail or online no later than five days after the sale.
• Normal plates stay put on the car. If you record it as junk, they go back to the DMV.

Neighbors

Laguna Hills is 2.7 miles away and Lake Forest 3.3. Rancho Santa Margarita and Aliso Viejo are 3.7 and 4.7 miles off. The California page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

If a ten-day letter is already on the kitchen table, begin the offer online or dial (877) 421-6008. Have the car's year, make, model, miles and title situation handy. In Mission Viejo our truck reaches lakeside garages, cul-de-sacs under Saddleback, and repair shops where a car gave out.