Sell a dead or junk car in Winter Haven

How Winter Haven defines the problem

The land development code, Section 21-531, calls a vehicle inoperable if it "does not have a current State license plate," or if it is licensed but "disassembled or wrecked in part or in whole and is unable to move under its own power." An abandoned motor vehicle is one that "cannot be driven upon the public streets" for reasons such as being unlicensed, wrecked or in disrepair.

The property maintenance code, Section 5-73, also bars "open storage of abandoned, untagged, or inoperative motor vehicles" unless the zoning allows it.

Ten days, then the tow

Section 12-93 sets the clock. The property owner, tenant or occupant, plus the car's owner, get written notice to remove the vehicle "within ten (10) calendar days from the date specified in the notice." If the car's owner cannot be found, the notice is stuck on the car itself.

You can fight it. Within those ten days, pay a $25 appeal fee and request, in writing, to be heard by the code enforcement supervisor. A decision you disagree with can go to the special magistrate within another 10 calendar days.

If nothing happens and no appeal is filed, the code enforcement supervisor or police chief can have a towing firm haul it away. "All costs of removal shall be the sole responsibility of the property owner, tenant, occupant, and/or lessee," and the city pays nothing toward towing or storage.

Streets and other public land

A dead car on the street gets less time than one on a driveway. Under Section 12-87, a wrecked, junked or inoperative vehicle is deemed abandoned once it stays on a city right-of-way or public land beyond 48 consecutive hours. Section 18-32 also lets police tow a car left "unattended upon a street continuously for more than twenty-four (24) hours" that "may be presumed to be abandoned," and nothing leaves the impound garage before the owner covers its towing and storage charges. See towed or impounded if that has already happened.

The title office is in Bartow

For Winter Haven, the county's FLHSMV counter is over in Bartow, 430 East Main Street, (863) 534-4700. Draw a straight line southwest from the middle of Winter Haven, as the crow flies, and it is about 12 miles. Few junk-car sellers end up there. With a paper title you sign the front over yourself, writing in who bought it, the odometer figure, the agreed amount and the day, and Florida does not ask for a notary.

Two pieces stay with you after the car goes. One is the plate: unbolt it, then reuse it or turn it in. The other is the Notice of Sale. Florida gives a seller 30 days to file HSMV 82050, and on that form you only complete sections 1 and 3; a buyer's signature is not needed. Got a lender on the title? Florida will not move ownership until that lien is satisfied and the lender says so.

Getting an offer

Online or at (877) 421-6008, give us the car's year and model, the odometer's rough number, if the engine turns over, and where the title is. A driver comes to where it sits: a home driveway, a lot in the downtown business district, or a repair shop. Auburndale and Haines City are the closest towns with their own pages, and the Florida page has the state rules.