Junk and dead cars in Sandy Springs

Code 58-40 in plain terms

The section covers two kinds of car on residential property:

• any vehicle or trailer without current license plates, from the first day
• any vehicle left inoperable for more than 30 days

Neither rule applies to a car "stored in an enclosed structure or appropriately covered and located in the rear yard area." So a garage works, and a fitted cover works if the car is behind the house. A car parked out front under a tarp is still on the wrong side of the rule.

Hauling it on a trailer? Watch the curb

Section 58-72 makes it unlawful to leave a commercial motor vehicle, recreational vehicle or trailer on city streets or their rights-of-way "for more than 72 consecutive hours." The section names those three types, not ordinary cars. If a dead car is sitting on a trailer at the curb waiting for someone to tow it, the trailer is the thing on the clock.

Tows and shop lots

For tows from private property without the owner's consent, Section 58-7 has the wrecker driver report the tow and where the car is stored to the police "within one hour" of dropping it off, and again within 24 hours of releasing it. If your car was towed from a lot, the police can tell you where it went.

A car stranded at a repair shop falls under a separate state rule: Georgia calls it abandoned once it sits at a shop, dealer or wrecker yard for 30 days without the owner calling for it. If the shop has been calling about a car you do not plan to fix, settle it before that point. See car doesn't run.

Title work from Sandy Springs

The Fulton County Tax Commissioner handles title and tag work for Sandy Springs. The office we looked up is downtown at No. 141 SW on Pryor Street (404-613-6100). It is roughly 12 miles south of Sandy Springs as the crow flies, and Fulton may run other branches.

Your part as seller happens on the title's reverse: your printed name, your signature in the Seller spot, and the mileage rounded to whole miles. The original goes home with the Sandy Springs buyer. Sandy Springs sellers should save copies of the title, the transfer paperwork and any bill of sale. The buyer then has 7 days from purchase to visit a tag office for title and registration. You keep the plate and end the registration on your own.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or write to us online. Send the offer form for your Sandy Springs car. We can collect it from a garage, a backyard or a repair shop. For neighbors, see Dunwoody and Roswell; for statewide rules, see Georgia.