A dead car in West Palm Beach: the rules and the sale

Out of sight, or out of town

Section 34-102 does not ask whether the car runs today or will run next month. It asks whether an abandoned or inoperative vehicle on private property can be seen by the public. If it can, the code says it is "detrimental to the health, safety and welfare" of residents and "a violation of the aesthetic standards of the city."

Two people carry the duty to fix it. One is the registered owner of the car. The other is the owner, lessee or occupant of the land it sits on. So a tenant's dead car can become the landlord's problem, and the reverse. The exemptions are narrow: a car inside an enclosed structure, or one held by a business that uses such vehicles in its ordinary course and has the city's license, certificate of use and zoning approval.

How the city gets involved

Under Section 34-103 a code enforcement officer or police officer places a written notice of violation on the car. The officer also tries to find the registered owner and the property owner and sends each a written notice. Notice counts as given once it is posted on the car and mailed by certified and regular mail to the addresses on the tax collector's records.

If the nuisance is not abated and it is a serious threat to public health, safety and welfare, Section 34-107 lets the city, its agent or a contractor take the vehicle or its parts. Section 34-109 shows how that is paid for: the mayor may sign with a licensed junk dealer, and the dealer's only pay is the car itself, "at no expense to the city."

If it has already been impounded

Section 86-93 sets the terms. The owner shows proof of ownership to the impoundment custodian and pays the city's towing and impound charges, plus any immobilization charge and the fines behind it. To contest instead, demand a hearing and deposit a cash bond equal to those amounts. Miss the five-day window after the impoundment notice arrives and the right to a hearing is gone, and the city holds a lien on the car for the full sum. See towed or impounded for selling a car in that spot.

The title, downtown

West Palm Beach has its own title counter. Per pbctax.gov it occupies the 3rd Floor at 301 North Olive Avenue; phone (561) 355-2264. From mid-city that is about 5 miles southeast as the crow flies.

Three Florida rules decide whether you need it:

• Paper title, no loan. Complete the seller's block on the front: buyer, address, mileage, price, sale date. FLHSMV does not require a notary.
• Electronic title. The two of you go in person, photo IDs along, to a service center to move the title and declare the mileage.
• A loan still on it. Payoff comes first, and the lender must tell the state the lien is cleared before any transfer. Still owe on the loan explains the order of steps.

Afterward, unbolt the tag; it remains yours. File HSMV 82050 with the state inside 30 days so you are no longer tied to the car.

Nearby towns

Riviera Beach is 4.0 miles off, Royal Palm Beach 7.0, Palm Beach Gardens 7.6 and Greenacres 8.2. The Florida page has the statewide picture.

Tell us about the car

Start online or phone (877) 421-6008 and give us the car's year, make, model, mileage, running condition and title status. A tow truck can reach it at a curb, a garage, a condo lot or a repair shop.