Selling a junk car in Oroville

Two ten-day rules

Section 10.20.140 reads: "It is unlawful and a misdemeanor for any person to abandon, park, store or leave or permit the abandonment, parking, storing or leaving of any licensed or unlicensed vehicle or parts thereof which is in an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative condition upon any private property or public property not including highways within the city for a period in excess of 10 days." The code's exceptions follow.

The general nuisance list in Section 9.08.050 draws its own ten-day line around what neighbors can see. It covers vehicles, boats, trailers or parts "abandoned or left in a state of partial repair for 10 calendar days in front yards, side yards, driveways, side-walks or walkways and visible from any public or adjacent parcel of property." It separately lists vehicles parked in residential zones "other than on driveways" and visible from the street or next door.

Who pays when the city removes it

Section 9.08.350 is the clause that reaches people who believe a car stopped being their problem. Abatement costs, "including the actual tow costs, plus an administrative fee," are "the joint and several personal obligation of the property owner and the last registered owner." A landowner who shows the car arrived without consent, and was never accepted, is spared. The code gives the last registered owner no matching exception.

Within 5 days of the sale, an Oroville seller must file REG 138, online or by mail. If the car was a relative's or a former tenant's, see car not in your name.

From notice to scrapyard

The abandoned-vehicle chapter, 10.20, sends the landowner a notice giving "10 days from the date of mailing" to remove the car. During that window, the car owner or the property owner can ask Oroville's chief of police for a public hearing. A hearing officer appointed by the council runs it. The chapter then sets when a car declared a nuisance can go: "Five days after adoption of the order declaring the vehicle or parts thereof to be a public nuisance, 5 days from the date of mailing the notice of the decision if such notice is required by Section 10.20.100(C), or 15 days after such action of the governing body authorizing removal following appeal, the vehicle or parts thereof may be disposed of by removal to a scrapyard or automobile dismantler's yard."

California title, smog and plates

Butte County doesn't issue titles. The California DMV does, at field offices or by mail. To sell in Oroville, the registered owner signs the Certificate of Title. If a lien is recorded, the lender signs as well. The buyer files it and pays $15. A notary isn't required anywhere in the DMV's seller steps for Oroville. Junk-bound cars need no smog test. Plates usually ride along with the car, except when it is recorded as Junk; then the DMV takes them back. Years left unregistered without a Planned Non-Operation filing carry back fees and penalties, as car sitting for years explains.

Nearby

Measured straight, Chico lies 22.8 miles off, Yuba City 25.6 and Lincoln 45.2. The California page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Phone (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form. Describe the Oroville car on our form. The truck heads to it, whether it waits in a side yard, under a carport or near the old downtown.