Selling a junk car in Rome, Georgia

What Rome counts as abandoned

Section 14-51 lists the conditions. Abandoned vehicles are "vehicles which are not road worthy, inoperable, do not have current license plates and are not located completely within a fully enclosed, standing and permanent structure."

Two details stand out. The tag matters: lapsed plates are part of the description. And a carport or a tarp does not meet the last part, which asks for a structure that is fully enclosed, standing and permanent. A car that sat through a few renewals in the side yard is the textbook case. Our sitting for years guide covers that kind of car.

Another passage in Rome's code goes further for junked vehicles. It says any "junked automobile, truck, vehicles or trailer of any kind or type shall not be parked or stand on any private property or public roads." The council's stated reasons are blunt: such cars reduce property values, promote blight, "invite plundering and vandalism," and create fire hazards.

Downtown parking has two clocks

The downtown parking zone runs along Broad Street and Second through Fifth Avenues, inside the area bounded by First Avenue, West First Street, Tribune Street, Sixth Avenue and East First Street. It also covers lots run by the downtown development authority.

• Three hours. On-street parking is capped at three hours, "whether consecutive or otherwise," from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
• 48 hours. No vehicle may stay more than 48 consecutive hours. After that, police can have it towed, "with the owner or operator to bear all towing and storage costs."

A car that will not restart after a night out downtown sits on both clocks at once.

When police remove a car

Section 12-135 lets officers move a vehicle left unattended where it "constitutes an obstruction to traffic," or one so disabled on a highway that it blocks traffic while the driver is hurt. Where Rome's registration records show an owner, the officer "shall immediately give or cause to be given notice in writing," saying why the car was removed and where it is held. If a Rome car sits three days with no owner found and no one claiming it, the officer sends the state a written report.

Georgia law handles what follows. Whoever stores the car has 15 calendar days after the tow to get a letter to each owner, by mail or by hand. The letter puts owners on notice that after another ten calendar days the storage firm can ask a court for lien foreclosure, which can end in a court-ordered sale. See towed or impounded car.

Floyd County title and tag work

For Floyd County we looked up the office at 5 Government Plaza, Rome, GA 30161, phone (706) 291-5150. It sits roughly 7 miles south of Rome's center point, measured as the crow flies, and Floyd may have more offices than this one. Georgia's Department of Revenue writes the rules; the county handles the counter.

What a Rome seller does:

• Find the assignment section on the title's reverse side. Print your name in the Seller space and sign it; any co-owner does both as well.
• Put the odometer down in whole miles, keeping the title free of erasures.
• Pass the title to the buyer. Once the Rome car is sold, keep your own copies of the title, the transfer and the bill of sale if you wrote one.
• Pull the tag off before the car leaves. Georgia keeps it with the seller.
• End the Rome registration with Form MV-18J, or do it online at DRIVES e-Services. Keep the insurance until then.

Lost the title? A new one costs $8.00 on Form MV-1. Cars from 1985 or older need no Georgia title. A bill of sale covers the sale. After you sell has the rest.

Near Rome

Calhoun is 21.7 miles away and Cartersville 23.1, in a straight line. Acworth is 32.1 miles and Dalton 36.7. The Georgia page has the statewide picture.

Getting an offer

Rome owners can send the form or ring (877) 421-6008. We collect from a yard on one of Rome's hills, a downtown space before the 48 hours are up, or a garage that can't repair it.