Selling a dead or junk car in Oviedo

What Oviedo's code covers, and what it leaves out

The sections we found deal with public parking. Section 50-50 bars leaving a large vehicle in a public lot or on-street space, and it lists purposes no vehicle may park there for. It lets the chief of police, or a designee, remove a car parked in violation, or one that gets in the way of city maintenance, city operations or a city event. Under 50-51, the "duly identified owner" gets the car back after paying the charges.

We did not find an Oviedo rule on how long a broken car may sit on private land. The city may have one, so check with Oviedo before you count on a grace period. State law covers parts of the gap:

• Chapter 705 treats a wrecked or inoperative car on public land, with no identifiable owner, as abandoned property. An officer puts a notice on it. After five days in Oviedo, the agency can have the car towed and then store it or put it up at a public sale.
• For a tow from private land done without the car owner's okay, Florida Statute 715.07 caps the distance to storage. Counties with 500,000 or more residents allow 10 miles; smaller counties allow 15.
• Under 713.78, a tow company claiming a lien mails a certified notice to the owner on record, the insurance company and each lender.

When there is no title

Old cars often outlive their paperwork. If you have no title, a salvage title or a certificate of destruction, you can apply for a derelict motor vehicle certificate on form HSMV 82137. Its value has to be below $1,000, and it must be in at least its tenth model year, with its own model year counted as the first. State law defines such a car as one whose main value is for scrap or dismantling.

Only two kinds of buyer qualify: licensed salvage motor vehicle dealers and registered secondary metals recyclers. After that sale, the car is finished as far as titles go. The form goes to your local tax collector office. It lets you name the driver and transport business that will haul the car, but a towing company working a storage lien cannot use it. Selling with no title has more.

With a title in hand, the job is smaller. The seller fills in the sale date, price and mileage on the front, plus the buyer and their address, and FLHSMV says no notary is required.

Sanford has a county title office

The Seminole County service center FLHSMV lists is 1101 E. First St., Sanford, (407) 665-1000. Oviedo's center is about 11 miles south of it as the crow flies. You can file the Notice of Sale (HSMV 82050) there in person, and Florida law gives you 30 days after the sale to do it. The plate is yours to keep, move to another car or turn in.

Getting an offer

Oviedo owners can call (877) 421-6008 or go online. We collect from yards, carports or the repair shop's lot. Nearby: Winter Springs, Casselberry and Sanford. Statewide rules are on the Florida page.