Dead and junk cars in Palm Springs

How Chapter 11.80 works

Palm Springs drew on the state Vehicle Code to adopt Chapter 11.80, which removes abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles as public nuisances. The core sentence: "A ten-day notice of intention to abate and remove the vehicle, or part thereof, as a public nuisance shall be issued unless the property owner and the owner of the vehicle have signed releases."

The steps after that:

1. Ask for a hearing in 10 days. The request goes to the city clerk "within ten days after the mailing" of the notices. The hearing is held by the director of community development, not the council.
2. The director rules. The Palm Springs director decides whether the car is abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative. The director then orders its removal and sets the removal and administrative costs the parcel owner must pay.
3. Disposal. Palm Springs may give the car to a scrapyard or dismantler's yard five days after the order. If a decision is mailed, it's five days after that.

The one shortcut is narrow. Without notice, Palm Springs may take a car that is "inoperable due to the absence of a motor, transmission or wheels and incapable of being towed," provided it is worth under $200, poses an immediate danger to public health or safety, and the property owner signed a release. Should registration papers be found, the owners are mailed and get 12 days to claim it from the yard before final disposal.

A car that sat unregistered

Let the registration lapse and the bill keeps growing. California DMV charges fees and penalties for each unregistered year; the exception is a car whose owner filed REG 102, the Planned Non-Operation form. That debt follows the car, so clear up what you owe before you list it. See car sitting for years and registration hold.

Title and plates

Palm Springs sellers deal with the state DMV for the title, at a field office or by mail, with no county office in between. Seller and lienholder signatures are what the steps call for, and the DMV seller steps list no notary. A missing title is replaced on REG 227 before the sale.

Most regular plates remain on the car. An owner may pay a fee to shift personalized, environmental and special plates to another car. There is one exception. When you file to record the car as Junk on your own, the plates go back to the DMV.

The release of liability, REG 138, has a 5-day deadline after the sale. Once that filing is recorded, parking and traffic violations from after the sale belong to the Palm Springs buyer.

Nearby

In straight-line miles from Palm Springs: Cathedral City 4.9, Desert Hot Springs 10.7, Palm Desert 11.0. Statewide rules are on the California page.

Getting an offer

Got a dead car in Palm Springs? Call (877) 421-6008 or use the online form. Pickup is free anywhere in the US; the truck can collect it from a vacation home, a condo carport or a repair shop.