Selling a dead or junk car in Greenwood

Why the city calls it a nuisance

Section 6-296 gives the reasons. Junk cars "furnish shelter and breeding places for vermin and insects," and they have spaces "such as trunk compartments and engine compartments" that "cannot be opened from the inside." The city can also go after one under its general nuisance rules.

The $1,000 line

Section 6-299 sets out what happens once an officer finds a wrecked, junk or abandoned car. First comes a notice tag in a prominent place. Then the car's value sorts the next step. The $1,000 here is a legal test written into the code, not a price.

• If the officer thinks the car is worth at least $1,000, the officer must first try to find the owner, and the car is towed to a storage yard or towing service if it is not moved in time.
• A towing service or storage yard may dispose of an abandoned car worth less than $1,000 "not less than thirty (30) days after the date on which the towing service removed the abandoned vehicle."

The property owner, the city, the tower, a scrapyard and the storage yard are not liable for loss or damage during removal or storage. If the city sells the car, Section 6-302 credits money from owners and lienholders against removal, storage and disposal, and the rest goes to the Abandoned Vehicle Fund, which the Finance Department runs (Section 6-304).

Tickets and impound

Section 8-27 gives Greenwood a second way to take a car. If the city holds "five (5) or more unpaid parking violations" on a car parked on a street or in a city lot, police have it towed to storage. Section 8-23 lets officers impound any car left as a public nuisance. You get it back by paying the impound and storage fees, or by an order from the police chief or a court.

Indiana law then bills the owner of an abandoned car for removal, storage and disposal, though storage stops at $2,000.

Title and plates

One BMV branch we checked is down in Franklin, at 1053 W. Jefferson St., Suite D, phone 888-692-6841. Measured as the crow flies, it is about 9 miles south of the middle of Greenwood. Indiana titles come from the state BMV.

A Greenwood seller signs and prints for each owner on the title, then lists the miles, the sale date, the price and the purchaser. The BMV lists no notary among the seller steps. Unbolt the plates; they are yours and may go on another car you own. A new title must be filed for by the buyer within 45 days.

No title? A Greenwood car with no title has two options. $15.00 buys a Greenwood owner a duplicate. To scrap the car instead, State Form 55018 is a $4.00 Certificate of Authority. Johnson County has no emissions testing; Indiana tests only in Lake and Porter counties.

Nearby

Franklin is 8.0 miles from Greenwood, Plainfield 15.6, Shelbyville 17.9 and Avon 18.8. The Indiana page has the state rules.

Getting an offer

Selling a Greenwood car? Ring (877) 421-6008 or send the offer form. A truck comes to the car on your driveway, behind a building downtown or at a repair shop. If it was in a crash, wrecked or totaled may help.