Selling a junk or dead car in Pembroke Pines

What Section 90.02 bans, and where

The list of banned cars is long: any "inoperable motor vehicles," any car "not duly and currently licensed for operation under state motor license laws," and any car without "a valid safety inspection certificate." Florida ended its state inspection program in 2000, but that clause is still in the city's text.

The places are broad too: streets, highways, parks, alleys, other public property, vacant land and occupied lots. There is one way out. A lot "properly zoned for such use" can hold inoperable cars if it is closed in by "a tightfitting board fence at least six feet in height" that blocks any view into it.

The five-day notice

Section 90.01 covers abandoned property on public or "quasi-public" property. The posted notice says the item "must be removed within five days," or ten for a boat. Past that point the item is "presumed to be abandoned property."

After five days, an officer may have it removed if no one has taken it away or "requested a hearing before the city's Code Enforcement Board." If you do nothing, the owner "shall be liable to the city for all costs of removal and destruction of the property, less any salvage value received by the city."

On quasi-public lots, a tow needs a posted sign that has been up for at least 24 hours, with the bottom no less than four feet off the ground.

Don't sell it from the swale

Section 72.01 says a car may be offered for sale only on private property such as homes, dealerships or used car lots. Rights-of-way, easements and swales are off limits. A car left there for more than 48 hours "shall be deemed to be abandoned and shall be towed, at the owner's expense, to the Police Department."

Title work for a Pembroke Pines seller

Broward's service center is in Plantation, Suite 101 at 1800 NW 66th Ave.; the number is (954) 765-4697. It is about 11 miles northeast of central Pembroke Pines in a straight line. We checked that one; Broward may have more.

A missing title has to be replaced before any sale. HSMV 82101 is the form. It costs $75.25, and Fast Title adds $10.00. If the mail lost a title issued within the last 180 days, there is no charge.

Pull your plate at the curb, since Florida plates belong to the seller. Then file HSMV 82050 no later than day 30. As a Notice of Sale it needs only sections 1 and 3 from you, and the buyer may sign or not. See after you sell.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send us the form: model year, make, model, odometer, runs or not, and the title's status. Our driver can take it straight off the jack stands in your garage. Miramar is 2.9 miles away and Cooper City is 4.1 miles away. The Florida page covers the statewide rules.