Selling a dead or junk car in Dunedin

The three-day rule on residential lots

Section 34-1 makes it unlawful to "accumulate, leave, dump, or store openly on any premises with a residential zoning classification" a list of items that includes inoperable or derelict vehicles, when they "may be seen from public rights-of-way or abutting properties for a period greater than three days."

The test for a derelict car is legal, not mechanical. A car counts if it "is not able to be operated legally and in a normal manner on the public streets, including a requirement that such vehicle be properly licensed." An expired tag is enough.

There is one stated exception: a car "may be stored on residential premises for a period of not exceeding three days for the purposes of repair." Seen from the street or next door, the clock is the same either way.

On Dunedin streets and public lots

Section 74-42 bans an inoperative car, or one without a current tag, from standing or parking on any street or right-of-way in the city. A car stranded by "an unexpected mechanical breakdown or accident" may stay in a safe spot for a reasonable time.

Public lots run under Section 105-24.7.4.6. Where parking is closed or restricted and signs warn of removal, officers and parking enforcement specialists can order a car towed. Unless it is "an emergency or a public safety issue," they "shall not have an illegally parked vehicle towed until 72 hours elapses from it being determined to be illegally parked." They try to find the owner nearby first. If they cannot reach anyone, or nobody claims the car within 48 hours, a letter goes to the registered owner naming the tow and the car's location. Paying the towing and storage costs gets it released.

In paid spaces, Section 105-24.7.4.3 allows a citation every two hours at a two-hour pay station space for a car that stays parked overtime. More on towed cars is in towed or impounded.

A Pinellas tax collector office

The Pinellas County Tax Collector lists an office at 29399 US Highway 19 North, Suite 100, Clearwater, phone (727) 464-7777. It is about 4 miles east of the middle of Dunedin, as the crow flies. Pinellas might run more counters than this one.

Signing the car over under Florida law

Your part of the title is the "Transfer of Title by Seller" block on its face: the buyer's identity and home address, the odometer figure, the price paid, and the date. Florida needs no notary. Within 30 days, send in a Notice of Sale on form HSMV 82050. As seller you complete section 1 and section 3; the buyer may sign but does not have to.

Keep your plate. You remove it and can put it on another vehicle. Moving out of state or cancelling the insurance tied to it? Then surrender it at a service center. If a lender still holds a lien, it has to be paid and reported before the title can transfer. For a lost title, see selling with no title.

Getting an offer

Dunedin owners can call (877) 421-6008 or use the online offer form. We send the truck to wherever your Dunedin car is, like a carport, a shop bay or the curb where it died. Close by, see Clearwater and Tarpon Springs, or the Florida page.