Got a junk or dead car in Fort Collins to sell?

The 30-day rule, in the city's words

Section 20-92 reads: "The unsheltered storage of an inoperable motor vehicle for thirty (30) days or more on any private property within the City is hereby declared to be a nuisance and dangerous to the public health, safety and welfare."

Three definitions in Section 20-91 decide whether that sentence applies to you:

• Inoperable means a car "that does not have a current license plate and validation sticker lawfully affixed," or one that is junked, wrecked, dismantled or "unable to perform the functions or purpose for which it was originally constructed." A running car with a lapsed sticker can qualify.
• Unsheltered: a Fort Collins car kept outside of any garage or building, in view of neighbors or of anyone on a public alley, street, sidewalk or right-of-way.
• Sufficient screening means "a solid fence, trees or shrubbery" big and dense enough to hide the car from ordinary public view and keep children from getting at it.

"Property" reaches further than many expect. It includes the area to the middle of an abutting alley, plus the sidewalk, curb, gutter and parking strip of the street in front.

How the city builds its case

Among the conditions the code lists for presuming a car is inoperable: no visible plate or sticker, or a plate blocked "by an object, including but not limited to, another vehicle, stored materials, or a vehicle cover." Another is a City employee seeing the car "at least weekly, for a period of thirty (30) days or more." So the cover that was meant to hide the car can be part of the proof against it.

After the notice

Under Section 20-95, the owner and occupant of the property and the owner of the car "are jointly and severally responsible to abate the nuisance." That means the city can look to any of them. Moving the car around is not a fix. Once notice is given, no one may move it "to any other private property upon which storage of such vehicle is not permitted or onto any public property or right-of-way."

Repeated problems can add up. Under Section 20-111, a property where three or more nuisance activities occur within 90 days, or seven or more within a year, can be labeled a chronic nuisance property. Parking and vehicle storage nuisances are on that list.

On the street

The traffic code, Section 1801, defines an inoperable car on a street the same broad way: "junked, wrecked, wholly or partially dismantled, missing essential parts." Parking staff, community service officers and police may tow or immobilize a car standing in violation of the Traffic Code. Before a car is released from a boot or impound, every fine, fee and penalty, including the boot and impound fees, must be paid in full. Tampering with a boot is its own offense.

Snow emergencies

When the Fort Collins City Manager declares a snow emergency under Section 24-96, parking is banned on every street signed as a snow emergency route. A car left there, "attended or unattended," is towed "without delay and at the owner's expense." The emergency ends on its own once the route is clear curb to curb. In November, a posted route is a bad spot to leave a car that won't start.

Larimer County title office

We checked the Larimer County office at 200 W. Oak Street, phone (970) 498-7000. In a straight line it's roughly 3 miles north of central Fort Collins. In Colorado you use your home county's motor vehicle office, and every county picks its own hours and fees.

Fort Collins sellers sign and print their name in the Seller box on the title's back, exactly as it reads on the front. Every owner named on the front must sign. Enter the price and date. Cars from model year 2011 onward need the odometer disclosure until they turn 20 years old. Colorado's seller steps don't call for a notary. For a Fort Collins sale, a DR 2173 bill of sale is smart, and you need one when the title shows no price.

Lost the Fort Collins title? Form DR 2539A gets a duplicate for $8.20. No luck getting one? The county office handles "Bonding for Title." Cars older than 25 years don't need the bond.

Emissions when the car will not run

Fort Collins sits in Colorado's testing program, along with the Denver metro area and the rest of the North Front Range. Gas cars are exempt for seven model years, then get tested every two years. If the car is older than 7 model years and the buyer lives in a county that tests, the seller has to give the buyer a passing test. A dead car can't be tested. Per the DMV, a Fort Collins car that doesn't run can still sell in the program area under certain criteria. Sellers are asked to call 303-205-5603. See failed emissions for a car that runs but will not pass.

The state decal route

A Fort Collins project car under repair or restoration can stay on private land. The owner pays the yearly specific ownership tax and shows a decal (form DR 2910). Even so, nobody can drive it until it is registered and clears a P.O.S.T.-certified inspection.

Plates and the 5-day report

Your plates are yours to keep, not part of the car. Pull them before we load it. Fort Collins sellers turn in standard plates at the county office or give them to a metal recycler. Personalized ones can go on your next car. After a Fort Collins sale, you have 5 days to file "Report Release of Liability" on myDMV. Fort Collins sellers type the plate number and then either the VIN or the registration card's code. Filing it means a Fort Collins seller isn't liable for the buyer's later use of the car. After you sell has the rest.

Getting an offer

Request an offer at (877) 421-6008 or online. Tell us about the Fort Collins car. It can sit behind a fence near Old Town, in an apartment lot, or at the garage that couldn't fix it. Nearby pages cover Loveland, Windsor and Greeley; statewide rules are on Colorado.