Junk and dead cars in Valdosta

The 30-day rule, word by word

The test has three parts. The car is outdoors, "unsheltered." It is "not in good and safe operating condition," which covers a car that runs but is not safe to drive as well as one that does not run at all. And it has been there 30 days or more.

Section 42-86 puts the duty on the lot's owners, tenants, lessees and occupants and on whoever owns the stored property, all "jointly and severally." Its fix is to put the car "into completely enclosed buildings authorized to be used for such storage purposes." So the building has to be fully closed in. Section 42-82 lists the same storage among the city's nuisances.

The rule does not stop at cars. It also covers machinery, implements, equipment and "personal property of any kind that is no longer safely usable for the purposes for which it was manufactured." A dead riding mower or a trailer with a broken axle counts too. See sitting for years for a car that has stopped being used.

Ten days, then the city acts

Section 42-174 sets the next step. Under Valdosta's code, "Any abandoned, junked or discarded motor vehicle shall be removed upon ten days' written notice" sent to the landowner or occupant, or to the vehicle owner when plates or other records show who that is.

If the car is still there after those ten days, "the police department or city marshal of the city shall remove or cause the removal and sale" of it, at the cost of the property's owner or occupant, or the car's owner. Section 42-177 lets the owner reclaim the car by paying the city "all reasonable costs incidental to the removal and storage." The ten days start with the written notice. Our towed or impounded car guide covers what comes after a tow.

Front-yard parking in the overlay district

Valdosta has rules on where in a front yard a car may be parked, too. Section 94-123 says that in the Valdosta Residential Parking Overlay District, no one may park a motor vehicle, boat, camper or trailer in the front yard "unless it is upon an improved surface."

• A property owner cannot allow that more than three times in a 12-month calendar period.
• The city mails the owner a notice within seven days of each violation.
• An existing unpaved driveway is allowed, up to five spaces, and the code defines that path as no more than ten feet wide.

A car pushed onto the grass because it would not start can earn one of those notices. Section 94-122 adds that a vehicle wider than 80 inches and heavier than nine tons may not park on a residential street, so a dead heavy truck needs another plan.

Lowndes County title and tag work

Lowndes County's office at 300 N. Patterson Street, Valdosta, GA 31601 (229-671-2579) is the one we looked at. As the crow flies it sits about a mile south of the city's center point; Lowndes may run others.

Georgia's Department of Revenue sets the steps for a seller:

1. Flip the original Valdosta title over to find the transfer section. In Valdosta, all owners print and sign where the title says Seller.
2. Odometer: whole miles only. A title with alterations or erasures can be voided.
3. The buyer leaves with the title, and you keep copies of that title, the transfer paper and any bill of sale.
4. Remove the tag. Georgia tags stay with whoever sold the car.
5. Don't cancel your Valdosta policy until Form MV-18J or DRIVES e-Services has ended the registration.

Getting the order wrong costs money. If a lapse fee goes unpaid 30 days after a Notice of Pending Suspension, a suspension can follow. If a Valdosta seller had already sold the car, the state says that notice can be ignored. Form MV-1 and $8.00 replace a lost title. A car from 1985 or earlier just needs a bill of sale. After you sell walks through the rest.

Around Valdosta

The nearest towns with pages are a long way off. Albany is 73.1 miles away in a straight line, Kingsland 88.3 and St. Marys 101.1. For statewide rules, see Georgia.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or go online. Valdosta owners can tell us about the car on the offer form. A truck then comes to the car, wherever it is: a Valdosta backyard on day 29, an unpaved driveway, or a shop lot near downtown.