Selling a junk car in Royal Palm Beach

Section 14-4, the village's junk-car rule

The rule speaks to whoever is "in charge of or in control of a premises, whether as owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or otherwise". That person may not let "any dismantled, partially dismantled, wrecked, junked, deteriorated, derelict, discarded, or otherwise nonoperating vehicle" stay on the property. A renter is covered as much as an owner.

Any one of these is enough to raise "the rebuttable presumption" that the car is inoperative:

• the inside is used for storage, with metal, parts, rags or trash stacked so "the driver seat is blocked or inaccessible"
• the setting shows it has not moved: plant growth, standing water in the car, or debris under it
• it lacks "a valid and current vehicle license tag affixed thereto, which is properly registered to the vehicle upon which it is affixed"

That last point catches more cars than any other. A plate borrowed from another car does not count, because the tag must be registered to the vehicle it is on.

Old collector cars are not automatically safe. The section also reaches a historic or antique vehicle, as state law defines one, "if such historic/antique vehicle is not regularly used for transportation". The rule exempts a lawful business outside a residential district that needs the car for its work, and a proper storage yard.

Even parked right, it has to point the right way

Section 23-49 adds a driveway rule that surprises people. A car parked on a home's driveway sits "with the front end or back end of the vehicle at a perpendicular orientation to the roadway", so "the narrowest side or façade of the vehicle is facing the roadway". Curved, circular, side-entry and rear-entry driveways are the exceptions. A dead car pushed sideways across the driveway to clear the garage can break this rule too.

Where the title work happens

For Royal Palm Beach, a county office sits on the 3rd floor of 301 North Olive Avenue in West Palm Beach. The phone is (561) 355-2264. Measured as the crow flies, it lies around 11 miles east of the village center, and there may be other county offices.

With a paper title, the seller's portion on its face takes the buyer's name, where they live, the mileage, the price paid and the day of the sale, with no notary involved. Electronic titles are different: seller and buyer show up together at a service center, each with a photo ID, and reassign it there.

Within 30 days, file the Notice of Sale, HSMV 82050. It ends your registration on the car and helps protect you from civil liability for it.

The tag rule works both ways

The village reads a missing or invalid tag as a sign of junk, and Florida keeps the plate with the seller. When the car leaves, you take the plate off and may move it to another vehicle. Dropping that plate's insurance means surrendering it at a service center. Renew a registration late and you pay a delinquent fee. That's another reason not to keep a dead car on a tag that's running out. More on the last steps is in after you sell.

Getting an offer

Got a car in Royal Palm Beach? Call (877) 421-6008 or try our offer form. Pickup works from a driveway, a carport or a shop lot. Wellington is about 4 miles away, and West Palm Beach about 7. Statewide details are on the Florida page.