Selling a dead or junk car in Perris

The notice

Perris mails "a ten-day notice of intention to abate and remove the vehicle, or parts thereof, as a public nuisance" by registered or certified mail, one copy for the landowner and one for whoever owns the car (Section 7.30.080). If the car is still there ten days after mailing, the city hauls it off, and the costs plus administrative costs "will be assessed to you as owner of the land." No notice is needed in two cases: the property owner and the vehicle's owner both sign releases, or the car is "inoperable due to absence of a motor, transmission or wheels," "is incapable of being towed" and meets the rest of the code's list.

At the hearing

Within the 10 days, a landowner with no part in the car being there can state so in a written, sworn statement. Perris reads the statement as a hearing request, and the landowner need not appear. Hearing notices are mailed, registered or certified, ten or more days in advance. Under Section 7.30.100 the board "may delay the time for removal" when the facts justify it. Should the board find the car was dumped without the landowner's consent and never tolerated afterward, it "shall not assess the cost of administration or removal of the vehicle against the property."

Impound fees in Perris

When police impound a car under Vehicle Code 22651 or city code, the chief of police can charge an impound release fee set by city council resolution (Section 10.12.150). It is not charged on proof the car was improperly impounded, and it is refunded in full if the owner shows the impound "was executed without reasonable cause." Some Perris streets also carry posted time limits under Section 10.24.210, with fines that can differ from street to street.

Statewide, Civil Code 3068.1 lets a tow or storage business claim a lien on any car in its care. The yard has 15 days from the lien coming into being to begin a lien sale on a Perris car worth $4,000 or below. Towed or impounded explains getting a car back or selling it.

Junk status and plates in California

The paperwork has to come first. The owner asks the DMV to record the car as Junk, and pulling it apart before that brings an investigative service fee. Plates come off and go back to the DMV with that application. A Perris car that becomes nonrepairable (Vehicle Code 431 includes a surgical strip, a complete burn, or an owner declaring it parts or scrap only) can't ever be titled or registered again.

In a normal Perris sale you sign the Certificate of Title, any listed lienholder signs with you, and the buyer takes it in to a DMV field office. The DMV's steps call for no notary. File REG 138 inside five days of the sale. A Perris car headed to a wrecker or dismantler does not need a Smog Check.

Getting an offer

Perris sellers can call (877) 421-6008 or go online. We collect from a yard, a street or a repair shop in Perris. Nearby pages: Menifee, Moreno Valley, Lake Elsinore and Hemet, with statewide rules on California.