Selling a junk or dead car in Altoona

Chapter 51 and who is on the hook

Section 51.02 bars anyone from letting "any junk or junk vehicle" stay on private property inside city limits. Section 51.03 declares that a car kept that way is a nuisance and threat to the health and safety of the citizens.

It names "the owner of or person occupying the property" as "prima facie liable." A renter, or a homeowner minding a cousin's stalled pickup, stands in the same spot as whoever holds the title.

Altoona's abandoned-vehicle clocks

Section 80.01 lists the cases. Three come up most often around town:

• a vehicle "left unattended on public property for more than 24 hours" that "lacks current registration plates or two or more wheels or other parts which renders the vehicle totally inoperable"
• a vehicle "unlawfully parked or placed on private property without the consent of the owner or person in control of the property for more than 24 hours"
• an impound "not reclaimed for a period of 10 days," although police may begin the notice earlier

A plated, running car gets twice that long at the curb. Section 69.05 allows parking on public property up to 48 hours unless a shorter limit applies. Under Section 70.06, police may tow a car parked past a limit or during a snow-removal ban, billing the owner "the reasonable cost of towing and storage."

Shells are simpler still. Section 80.06 lets the city, the landowner, or an owner with a missing title give a car lacking its engine or two or more wheels to a demolisher "without a title and without notification procedures."

Polk County title, plates and proof of sale

Altoona belongs to Polk County. The treasurer there handles titles, junking certificates and plates under Iowa DOT rules.

Check the little word that sits between the two owners' names. With "And" every owner signs as seller. With "or" one signature is enough. Replacement titles and junking certificates are stricter: all owners sign, no matter which word appears. A seller bound for the scrapyard may also obtain the junking certificate and assign it over, so no title changes hands.

The DOT suggests guarding yourself with any one of three records. Ask the buyer for a receipt, photocopy the signed back of the title, or file form 411107, "Notice of Sale of Vehicle and Delivery of Title," with your registration county. Our bill of sale guide covers the receipt. Finally, unscrew the plates; Iowa sellers hang on to them.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or reach us online. Send us your Altoona car's details through the offer form. We can get it from a house by the water tower, a lot at work, or a garage. Ankeny is 8.4 miles away and Des Moines 8.6, in a straight line. For rules covering the whole state, see Iowa.