Peoria's five-day sticker and your dead car

The sticker and the five days

Under Section 13-6, notice comes as "a self-sticking notice in a visible place upon such vehicle." It is meant for the car's owner and for whoever controls the lot, whether that lot is vacant or has a house on it. Starting the day it goes on, Peoria gives you five days to do one of these:

• get it off the property altogether
• send the code official a written request for an administrative hearing

Section 13-102, a separate rule, also lets you move a damaged or inoperable car "to an enclosed location on the property."

Let the five days pass with none of those, and the code says that "will constitute as a consent for the city to enter the lot and cause the removal of the vehicle." If you do ask for a hearing, Section 13-7 requires a written decision within five days of it.

Parking on dirt or grass is a separate problem. Section 13-102 also says "All vehicles must be parked on a legally paved/hard surface." Our guide to a notice to remove a car goes through your options.

The 30-day nuisance and its fines

Section 28-349 adds a second track. A car that is "inoperable or damaged or deteriorated or in need of repair for 30 days or more" on private land, visible from the side, and that is a danger or a blight, is a nuisance. Owners, tenants and whoever controls the car can be fined "not less than $25.00 nor more than $100.00 for each offense." Every day counts as its own offense, and so does every car.

On Peoria streets

The traffic chapter, Section 28-2, calls a car abandoned if it cannot be driven, or if it "has not been moved or used for seven consecutive days or more and is apparently deserted."

• Downtown overnight. Section 28-250 allows no more than two hours of parking between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. "within the district bounded by Jackson Street, the Illinois River, Kumpf Boulevard and Glendale Avenue."
• Snow routes. Under Section 28-386, parking on a snow emergency route ends automatically once two inches of snow or ice are down and one or more inches are forecast. The ban lasts 48 hours unless extended.
• Stalls. Under Section 28-390, a driver whose car dies on a snow route must have it towed or pushed to the first cross street. Popping the hood does not make it okay to leave it in the road.

Title work from Peoria County

Peoria County has no hand in titles. The Illinois Secretary of State runs them, through mail to Springfield, 66.4 miles from Peoria as the crow flies, or through its local facilities. The seller's part is the title already in the glovebox or the file drawer. Assign it to the buyer in the Assignment of Title area, sign and date the assignment, and fill in the miles. The state's instructions for sellers never send you to a notary. Plain paper works for a bill of sale. A Peoria bill of sale only needs who bought it, where they live, the sale date and the amount paid.

Missing title? Order a $50 duplicate on form VSD 190 before anything else. A car that is junk through and through can travel on a junking certificate, and Illinois puts no limit on who may take one.

Plates and the Notice of Sale

Unscrew the plates before the car rolls away. Illinois counts them as the seller's, and the buyer cannot drive on them. After that, a Peoria seller files the Notice of Sale from the bottom of the title, or a VSD 703 when that stub is missing. Peoria sellers mail it to Springfield's Record Inquiry Division, and the form says "immediately." Filing ends your tie to the car, but ownership hasn't changed yet. See after you sell.

Peoria County is outside the Chicago and Metro-East zones where Illinois runs emissions tests, so a dashboard warning light will not hold up a Peoria sale.

Close by

East Peoria is 6.7 miles away, Pekin 12.6, Normal 36.5 and Bloomington 38.9. More: Illinois.

Getting an offer

Peoria sellers can get an offer at (877) 421-6008 or by filling in the form. Pickup can be from a bluff driveway, a lot near the riverfront, or the Peoria garage that gave you the bad news. If your Peoria car is completely dead, read car doesn't run.