Got a dead car in Morgan Hill?

Building, solid fence, or nothing

Section 8.22.030 starts with a flat ban on keeping a wrecked, dismantled, inoperative or abandoned car "upon any private or public property within the city." Two exceptions follow. The first is a car "completely enclosed within a building or obscured behind a solid fence in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property". The second covers a licensed dismantler, licensed dealer, or junk or wrecking yard.

A Morgan Hill car in plain view of the street or a neighbor falls outside that wording.

Registered mail and a ten-day order

When the chief of police finds a dead car, Section 8.22.060 has a notice and order sent "by registered mail to the owner of the land, and to the owner of the vehicle if known". The landowner's copy reads: "You are hereby ordered to abate said nuisance by removing said vehicle (or parts) within ten (10) days from the date of mailing of this notice." The car's last registered owner gets the same ten days.

Asking for a hearing

Under Section 8.22.070, the landowner and the car's owner have ten days after the mailing to ask for a hearing. In this city the hearing is held "by the chief of police or designee", not the council. The date goes out by registered mail at least ten days ahead. If nobody makes a request by then, the city may take the car with no hearing.

Landowners stuck with someone else's wreck can file "a sworn written statement denying responsibility". If the person holding the hearing decides the car arrived "without the consent of the owner of the land and that he has not acquiesced in its presence", the costs "shall not be assessed against the property owner."

Dead trucks and motorhomes on the street

Section 10.40.210 bars parking an "oversized vehicle" on a public street next to a residential zone, outside of loading and a few other cases. Oversized means over "twenty-two feet in length or seven feet in height". A dead box truck or motorhome parked out front falls under it. For ordinary cars, the state rule applies. A car parked on one Morgan Hill street for 72 straight hours breaks a city ordinance, and Vehicle Code 22651 lets the city tow it. See junk truck or SUV for larger vehicles.

Selling it under California rules

• Sign the Certificate of Title as seller, along with a lender if one is on it. DMV's private-sale instructions don't ask Morgan Hill sellers to see a notary.
• REG 138 goes to DMV within 5 days. Vehicle Code 5602 then puts later tickets on the buyer once DMV records it.
• If the buyer plans to dismantle the car, you skip the smog test. Should you record it as Junk with DMV yourself, its plates go back to the state.
• Lapsed renewals still bill fees and penalties for each unregistered year, except where a Planned Non-Operation filing was made. Car sitting for years has more.

Getting an offer

Morgan Hill covers 12.938 square miles. Gilroy is 9.3 miles away, San Jose 14.8, Watsonville 16.1 and Los Gatos 18.6. Describe the car at (877) 421-6008 or on the form: what it is, its miles, and whether it sits in a garage, behind a fence or at the curb. The California page has the state rules.