Selling a junk car in Park Forest

When a car becomes junk here

The village uses one definition. A "damaged, inoperable or junk vehicle" is one in which, "for at least seven days, the engine, wheels, or other parts have been altered or are in disrepair so that the motor vehicle is incapable of being driven under its own motor power." A week in that state is enough. The rule covers property owners, tenants and the car's owner alike.

The same section adds a surface rule for every car, running or not. Parking anywhere in the village except on an improved surface, as the off-street parking article of Chapter 118 requires, is also unlawful.

Notice, tow and hearing

Enforcement starts with a written notice "served in a manner reasonably calculated to reach the property owner." The notice names a deadline. By then, the owner of the land must move the car "out of public view to a closed garage or similar enclosed structure." If that does not happen, "the village shall have the authority to tow and impound the vehicle," and hearings follow the impoundment procedures in Section 2-532.

The 72-hour street limit

Pushing it out to the street doesn't solve anything. Section 102-46 bars leaving any vehicle on a street "at the same location, without being moved or driven for a period in excess of 72 consecutive hours." Under Section 102-43, police supervisors may tow a car past that limit, "at the registered owner's expense." Before the car is released, any unpaid final rulings on ordinance violations tied to it must be paid as well.

A separate rule, Section 102-15, covers cars seized because they were used in certain offenses. It carries a $500 administrative penalty plus towing fees. In Park Forest, once the hearing officer issues a final order, a car nobody claims in 35 days counts as abandoned under state law.

Two counties, one state title

Part of Park Forest is in Cook County and part in Will. Park Forest's two counties sit in the Illinois emissions area. Titles come from the Secretary of State, not the county, by mail via Springfield or at its facilities.

Illinois skips a separate seller form, so the transfer is written on the certificate. All sellers and buyers put down a signature and a printed name, and someone fills in the odometer certification. The SOS seller steps list no notary. Your plates go with you; it is against the law for the buyer to drive on them. Put the price and the sale day on a bill of sale. Our bill of sale guide lists what else belongs on it. The final step is the Notice of Sale stub, or VSD 703, posted to Springfield at once.

Scrap-bound cars in Illinois get a junking certificate. An owner with no lender on file can get it without giving up the paper title.

Getting an offer

Got a Park Forest car? Call (877) 421-6008 or send the offer form. We come to it, whether under a carport near Central Park or at a curb where the 72-hour clock is ticking. Close by, see Chicago Heights, Tinley Park and South Holland. Illinois covers the state rules.