Selling a junk or dead car in Coconut Creek

Section 6-39: where an inoperative car may sit

The rule for private land is one sentence: "An inoperative vehicle shall not be on private property unless it is within a completely enclosed building structure or a designated storage area, which includes a wall or hedge to screen the stored inoperative vehicle from view." A paved driveway does not qualify, and neither does an open carport.

Once an officer posts a notice, five days remain. If the car is still there, "the enforcement officer may cause the article of abandoned personal property to be removed and destroyed." The city keeps any salvage value to cover its costs. A posted car can't be moved off private property onto the street either. Section 6-39 makes that unlawful.

Street rules

• 24 hours: Under Section 19-32, the public safety department can remove a vehicle "left unattended upon a street continuously for more than twenty-four (24) hours," since it "may be presumed to be abandoned." It is not released "until the charges for impoundment and storage have been paid."
• Overnight: On streets marked against all-night parking, Section 19-35 allows no more than "thirty (30) minutes between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m."
• Tickets: To contest a parking citation, Section 19-31 gives you ten working days to ask the Broward County Clerk of Court for a hearing.

For a working car, Section 19-37 allows parking on "a paved driveway, or within a carport, garage or screened side yard." Those spots are for passenger vehicles. A car that has turned inoperative falls under the stricter 6-39 rule.

The title, the plate, the notice

(954) 765-4697 reaches the service center at 1800 NW 66th Ave. in Plantation (Suite 101). From central Coconut Creek it is about 10 miles south as the crow flies. That is the Broward office we checked; it may not be the only one.

If an insurer called your car a total loss, that is a legal line in Florida. A car is a total loss when the repair cost at the time of the loss is 80 percent or more of what a similar replacement would cost. FLHSMV calls the label on such a title a brand, such as junk, salvage or flood. See wrecked or totaled.

For any sale, sign the seller's part on the front of the title. You do not need a notary. Unscrew the plate, since it stays with you, and get HSMV 82050 (the Notice of Sale) filed inside 30 days.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. Coconut Creek owners can get started on the offer form. We can pick up from the street where it died, a garage or a screened side yard. Margate is 2.8 miles away, and Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach are each 4.2. The Florida page has the statewide rules.