Selling a dead or junk car in Littleton

The two offices we checked

Littleton spans Arapahoe, Douglas and Jefferson counties. The Arapahoe County office at 5334 S. Prince St., phone (303) 795-4500, sits roughly 2 miles north of central Littleton in a straight line. On the Douglas County side, we checked the office at 301 Wilcox Street in Castle Rock, phone 303-660-7440, about 17 miles southeast. We did not check a Jefferson County office for this page; if your home is on that side, look up that county's office before you go.

No city code found, so here is the state floor

We couldn't find the Littleton ordinance online, and any Colorado city can pick its own limits. These are the statewide defaults:

• Private property, 24 hours. Under C.R.S. 42-4-2101, a car sitting 24 hours or longer on another person's private property in Littleton, without permission, counts as abandoned unless a local ordinance sets a different period.
• Public property, 48 hours. A Littleton car left untended on public property 48 hours or longer, or beyond any local limit, is treated as abandoned.
• Your own driveway. A Littleton owner repairing or restoring a broken car may keep it on private property after paying the yearly specific ownership tax and showing the decal (HB 22-1388, form DR 2910). In Littleton it stays parked until it is registered and passes a P.O.S.T.-certified inspection.

If you skipped that tax, the Registration Fairness Act means back registration fees come due when the car is registered again. That is one reason a long-parked car often makes more sense sold than revived.

When the title is missing

Colorado has no way to skip a title. If yours is lost, the owner can order a duplicate for $8.20 on form DR 2539A, online through myDMV or at the county office. When a Littleton title is lost and can't be replaced like that, the county office offers "Bonding for Title": a surety bond worth two times the appraised value and a VIN inspection. A car over 25 years old does not need the bond. Our junk car with no title guide goes further.

Signing and the plates

Each owner on a Littleton title signs and prints in the Seller section on the back, exactly as the front reads. Write in the price and date. The state's seller steps list no notary.

Littleton plates belong to you, so take them off before loading. A Littleton seller can hand standard plates to a metal recycler or return them to the county office. Then file "Report Release of Liability" on myDMV within 5 days, using the plate number and VIN.

Getting an offer

Start online or by phone at (877) 421-6008. Have the model year and model ready, an odometer reading, a yes or no on starting, and a word on the paperwork. Pickup can be at a home on the Arapahoe, Douglas or Jefferson side of town, or at a shop. Neighbors include Englewood and Centennial; for statewide rules see Colorado.