Selling a broken-down car in Murrieta

Murrieta's abatement chapter

Chapter 10.40 is adopted under Vehicle Code 22660 and covers "private or public property within the city, excluding highways." Under 10.40.060, once a dead car is found, "the city manager shall have the authority to determine that a public nuisance exists and to cause the abatement and removal thereof."

Murrieta sends its ten-day notice by registered or certified mail, one copy to the person who owns the land and one to the person who owns the car. If the ID numbers can't be read, only the landowner gets it. The letter gives "ten (10) calendar days from the date of mailing this notice," and warns that otherwise the car "will be abated and removed by the City of Murrieta and the costs, thereof, together with administrative costs, assessed to you as owner of the land."

Ten days or twelve?

The notice form printed in 10.40.060 says a hearing request must reach the City Manager "within ten days after the mailing of this notice of intention." Section 10.40.080, the hearing procedure itself, accepts a written request "within twelve (12) days after the mailing of the notice of intention to abate." If you plan to contest, file inside the shorter window.

Hearing notices go out at least ten days ahead by registered or certified mail. If one comes back undeliverable, the hearing moves to a date at least ten days after the return. With no request in time, "the city manager shall have the authority to abate and remove the vehicle or part thereof without a hearing."

Streets, and what counts as abandoned

Section 10.32.140 bars parking on a street or alley "for more than a consecutive period of seventy-two (72) hours." The nuisance chapter, 8.20.020, defines an abandoned vehicle as one left "in such inoperable or neglected condition that the owner's intention to relinquish all further rights or interests in it may be reasonably concluded."

Sacramento's rules follow the car into an impound lot. If nobody redeems an abandoned Murrieta car, Vehicle Code 22523 treats its last registered owner as committing an infraction and on the hook for the auction shortfall, a result a filed report of sale avoids.

California paperwork from Murrieta

In Murrieta you sign the California title as the seller, then handle the state DMV through the mail or at a field office. The buyer turns it in and pays DMV's $15 transfer charge. DMV's steps for a private sale skip the notary. Title lost? REG 227 comes before anything else. Dismantler-bound cars are smog-exempt. Plates generally stay with a car, though recording it as junk returns them to DMV. Inside 5 days, get REG 138 filed, so violations after the sale are the buyer's.

Getting an offer

Use the form or ring (877) 421-6008. Murrieta sellers can reach us by phone or the online form. Murrieta pickups happen in garages, on driveways and beside the house. Nearby pages: Wildomar, Temecula, Menifee and California.