Paramount junk cars: tows, liens and selling first

How a car ends up at a lien sale

The route usually starts on the street. Where a local ordinance caps parking, Vehicle Code 22651 lets a Paramount car be towed after 72 hours or more in one spot. Vehicle Code 22660 lets cities write their own rules for dead cars on private property, so a yard car can be removed under a city ordinance as well.

Once the car is towed, the clock belongs to the tow company:

• The lien. Civil Code 3068.1 grants the towing and storage business a possessory lien.
• Cars worth $4,000 or less. In Paramount these fall under Civil Code 3072, and the yard must start the sale no later than 15 days after the lien attaches. Storage charges can run 60 days, sometimes 120. Cars worth more fall under Civil Code 3071.
• The notice. A Notice of Pending Lien Sale arrives by mail, setting the sale for a date 31 to 41 days out.
• Your 10 days. A court hearing requires mailing the Declaration of Opposition back inside a 10-day window.

If you are already at this stage, read towed or impounded.

Why REG 138 is the step that matters

California law gives you five days after selling or disposing of a car to tell the DMV, and REG 138 is the form. Submit it on the DMV website, or post it to the release-of-liability box, P.O. Box 942859. When recorded, Vehicle Code 5602 moves later parking tickets, moving violations and lawsuits onto the buyer. It is the report of sale that 22523 is talking about.

The rest is light for a Paramount seller. Your signature goes on the California title, next to the lender's if a loan is still open (see still owe on the loan). Filing and the $15 transfer fee fall to the buyer. A notary is not mentioned anywhere in the DMV's guidance for sellers. Junk-bound cars need no Smog Check, and ordinary plates usually stay on. Field offices are run by the state, and mail is accepted. Statewide rules are on the California page.

Paramount's neighbors

Nearby pages: Bellflower 2.4 miles, Lynwood 2.7, Downey 3.4, Compton 3.5.

Getting an offer

Start online or call (877) 421-6008. Fill in the form about your Paramount car. Paramount driveways, apartment lots and the back row at a mechanic all fall under free pickup anywhere in the US.