Selling a dead or junk car in Hartford

The 30-day removal clock

The city's director of licenses and inspections can remove an abandoned or inoperable car that "remains unmoved for thirty (30) days" after notice. The property owner where the car is parked gets the notice, in person or by mail, telling them to remove it.

When the 30 days are up, the director may have the car towed "to a commercial garage or an automobile wrecking yard or any suitable place for the disposal of rubbish." The code then lets the city "file an action in the name of the city in the appropriate court" against the person who was served. So the cost does not end when the car leaves.

There is an exception for "a vehicle in an enclosed building," and a further one for some business premises. Putting a tarp over a car in the yard does not make it enclosed.

Taking it apart is its own offense

Hartford sets a separate penalty for stripping an abandoned car: "Any person found dismantling a motor vehicle which has been abandoned shall be subject to a fine of not more than ninety-nine dollars ($99.00)." Pulling the battery, wheels and converter off a car that has sat for months can add a fine on top of the removal order. Selling it whole avoids that. Part it out or sell it whole weighs the two.

Downtown lots

Section 22-111 sets rules for commercial parking lots in the downtown parking district, and one of them reads: "no parking or storage of inoperable or unregistered motor vehicles on such premises." A car that died in a downtown lot cannot stay there as storage.

When the police tow it

Under Section 22-44, the owner must give the pound operator "evidence of his identity and ownership," sign a receipt and pay the cost of impoundment and administration, capped at a fee the city manager sets. The pound will not release a car the chief of police has authorized it to hold as evidence in a criminal case. If you pay under protest, the chief notes the protest on your receipt. Section 22-46 makes the police keep a record of every car impounded or booted: owner, plate, place, the violation and how the case ended. That record is where to start if you are not sure where the car went.

Paperwork from Hartford: the DMV in Wethersfield

The city does not handle titles. In Connecticut, the state DMV does. We looked at DMV headquarters, 60 State Street in Wethersfield. On a map it sits about 4 miles south of downtown Hartford. The DMV has other offices, and most of them take appointments.

A sale from Hartford goes like this:

• Sign the back of your Hartford title, then give the buyer that title and a bill of sale. Form H-31 works, or write your own. Writing your own bill of sale in Hartford? Put down both parties and their addresses, the color, VIN and model details, the amount paid, the date, and sign it. No notary is needed under the DMV seller checklist.
• Take the plates off. They stay with you.
• Cancel the registration. The online cancellation takes about 7 minutes and ends with a plate disposition receipt. When a refund applies, the DMV lets you ask for it while cancelling, and the State Comptroller sends the check.
• Keep liability insurance on the car until the DMV has cancelled it.

Connecticut does not use a release-of-liability form. Keep that receipt. If a tax bill shows up for a car you sold, the assessor will ask for it.

Why a dead car can block your next registration

Two state rules give Hartford owners a reason to deal with a parked car rather than let it sit. A town can report an owner as tax delinquent, and the DMV must then refuse registrations in that person's name. A lapse in insurance or emissions can also suspend a registration. Emissions tests come every two years at private stations, and the test costs $20. The newest four model years and model year 2001 and older are exempt. A car that has failed and is not worth fixing is covered in failed emissions.

Hartford cars past 20 model years old don't come with a title. To show the exemption, use the letter the DMV puts out. An older Hartford car like that changes hands on Form Q-1, with its most recent registration attached.

Around Hartford

West Hartford and East Hartford are each 3.8 miles from the middle of the city, Wethersfield 4.4 and Newington 6.0. The Connecticut page covers state rules in one place.

Getting an offer

Hartford owners can tell us about the car through the offer form. Ask online or call (877) 421-6008. We can pick up at a house, behind an apartment building, or at a shop. Someone just needs to point us to the car. After you sell lists the last steps.