Selling a junk or towed car in East Hartford

The state timeline after a tow

Chapter 246 of the Connecticut General Statutes sets the steps:

Storage runs at the owner's expense. The sale dates do not apply if title has already passed to the town.

When the town takes title

Title can pass to the town without a sale. That happens when police find a car that looks abandoned, has no plates or invalid ones, is worth $500 or less and cannot be used. The car then goes to a licensed recycler.

The former owner is not cut out completely. The sale proceeds, or the car's fair market value if that is higher, less costs, go to the former owner if claimed within one year. After a year, the town keeps the money.

Other state rules for a car that sits

• East Hartford uses the Connecticut rule. A car left more than 24 hours on a road or someone else's lot is an infraction, with a fine of $85 or more.
• Troopers, DMV inspectors and town officers may seize any car that endangers traffic, public health or safety, on pavement or off.

East Hartford's code did not surface in our search. Local rules on private-property cars may exist all the same. Connecticut empowers towns to address blight after written notice, yet its statute is silent about cars.

Selling a car stuck at a tow lot

To sell, you sign the title over. Recyclers with a state license must receive that title whenever one is required. Misplaced it? Form H-6B and $25 bring a replacement by mail in 20 business days or fewer. Anything past 20 model years is title-exempt, with a DMV letter as proof.

The DMV office about 4 miles away

East Hartford does not issue titles; Connecticut's DMV does. Among offices we checked, 60 State Street in Wethersfield sits about 4 miles southwest of central East Hartford as the crow flies.

A routine sale rarely needs the trip. Sign the title on its reverse, include a bill of sale, copy both, then unbolt your plates and cancel online. With no Connecticut release-of-liability form, an East Hartford seller relies on that receipt. It also takes the car off East Hartford's tax rolls. After you sell covers the last steps.

Getting an offer

Use the form or ring (877) 421-6008. Tell us the car's age, brand, model and odometer, if it can drive, how the title looks, and where it is now. Pickup can be from an East Hartford home, a store lot or a tow yard. East Hartford sits across from Hartford and next to Manchester; see Connecticut for statewide rules.