Selling off a dead or junk car in St. Charles

When a car counts against the property

Section 15.40.010 gives the reasons a car fails the test: "being unlicensed, unregistered, wrecked, abandoned, in a state of disrepair, or incapable of being moved under its own power." Lapsed registration alone fits that list, even if the engine still turns over.

Hiding it is not the answer either. The code rules out "a cover, other than one designed to fit over the specific make-model of the vehicle." A fitted car cover is fine. A tarp, a bedsheet or a moving blanket is not.

Repeat cases move faster. Say the city sent a notice or went to court in the last 365 days over "inoperable motor vehicles," litter or weeds. Then the next notice "may be posted on or about the structure or premises." Once served, an owner may not sell or transfer the house until the order is met. So a junk car can stall the sale of your home.

Street, snow and repair-shop clocks

• 24 hours on the street. Section 10.40.010 bars parking "on any public street or other public place for a period of longer than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours."
• 3 inches of snow. After a fresh snowfall of three inches or more, Section 10.40.070 bans parking on the designated streets and city lots for 72 hours, or until the Chief of Police says they are clear. The code calls a car left there "a nuisance and a hazard to public safety," and police may have it hauled off, with the owner paying.
• Shop storage. Section 17.20.030 says minor repair shops "shall not store or park any vehicle on the site for longer than five (5) business days." Major shops get 45 days, "including, but not limited to, wrecked or junk vehicles." If a repair estimate is what stalled things, see stuck at a repair shop.

After a police tow

Under Section 10.40.090, the city mails a notice of stored vehicle to the registered owner within 48 hours, weekends and holidays excluded. You get ten days to file a written demand for a hearing on the city's form. The only question at that hearing is probable cause. To get the car back, you pay what the city spent removing and storing it. If the hearing goes your way, take the certificate to the police garage within 24 hours, or later storage charges are yours.

Title, plates and the Notice of Sale

St. Charles sits in both Kane and DuPage counties. For the title, that does not matter. Illinois titles are a state job, handled by the Secretary of State through the mail in Springfield or over the counter at its own offices.

Your part on the certificate is the Assignment of Title: signature, date, printed name. You won't find a notary in the steps Illinois gives sellers. The plates are your property, so unscrew them before the car leaves. Mail the title's bottom Notice of Sale stub, or the separate VSD 703, to Springfield without waiting. Doing so ends your responsibility for the car. The buyer has 20 days to retitle it and pays the $165 title fee. Missing your St. Charles title? You can replace it with Form VSD 190 for $50, and selling with no title explains the steps. A car going to scrap may get a junking certificate instead. The state gives you 15 days to apply. If no lienholder exists, you keep from turning in the title.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. The offer form asks the details. In St. Charles we haul cars from Main Street area driveways and repair shop lots, plus Geneva, which sits 2.8 miles off on a straight line. For the state's rules in one place, see Illinois.