Selling a junk or dead car in Homestead

What the city code does cover

Two parking rules in Section 30-443 touch on vehicles at a home:

• Heavy equipment and commercial vehicles that carry more than one ton may not park in the A-1, A-2, R-1, R-2, R-TH, R-CH, R-3 or R-MH districts "for more than one (1) hour, except for loading and unloading." A tow truck or flatbed counts.
• A boat may sit in front of the house for no more than two hours in a 24-hour period, and only "while the boat is hitched to an operable motor vehicle with a valid permanent license tag."

Neither one puts a deadline on a sedan that died at home. If code enforcement leaves a notice, it will name the section; read that before acting.

Florida's rules for an abandoned car

Chapter 705 of Florida law covers a car abandoned on public land: one that is wrecked, will not run or is partly stripped, and has no owner anyone can identify. A notice is posted on the car with 5 days to get it gone. If it stays, it is hauled off and disposed of. Proceeds from any public sale, after costs, are held for a year.

Towed off a parking lot without your say-so? Section 715.07 limits the storage yard's distance from the spot it was taken: 10 miles in a county with 500,000 people or more (Miami-Dade-sized places), and 15 miles in less populous ones.

A storage yard holding your car for unpaid fees must send certified mail to you as registered owner, plus your insurer and lender. Section 713.78 sets that letter by model age, with older cars getting the letter 35 days in and newer ones after 57. Storage keeps adding up all the while, which is why selling a car before it is towed is usually the better path. Our towed or impounded guide covers the rest.

A car that just sits

There is no state smog check to worry about; Florida scrapped its inspection program in 2000. Registration is another matter. Homestead owners whose car sat unused can skip license tax for those idle months if a sworn dead-storage statement, notarized or certified, is on file.

The title office in downtown Miami

The Miami-Dade counter is a long way up the county: about 26 miles northeast of Homestead as the crow flies. The street address is 200 NW 2nd Ave. Ring (305) 375-5448 first so one trip covers it.

Lost the title? For a Homestead car at least ten model years old (the model year counts as year one) and worth under $1,000, the owner can apply for a derelict certificate on form HSMV 82137, which goes to the local tax collector's office. The car can then go to a salvage dealer that holds a state license, but it may never carry a title again.

Getting an offer

At (877) 421-6008 or online, tell us about the car, the miles on it, how it is behaving, and which papers you can find. Our driver can load it outside a house near the Seminole Theatre or at the shop where it broke down. Nearby: Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, and Florida for state rules.