Junk and dead cars in Burlington

Seven weekdays after the letter

Under Section 163A.04, each junk or abandoned vehicle on private property in the city is "a nuisance." If the city spots one, 163A.07 tells the nuisance official to send a letter to the landowner and, if known, the car's owner. The letter says the car must be removed, or repaired and showing "current registration plates or stickers," within "seven (7) weekdays." If that does not happen, the city can remove it. The same letter explains how to ask for a hearing.

Weekdays, not calendar days, so a letter that arrives on a Friday runs into the following week and beyond.

When a car counts as abandoned

The junk-vehicle chapter treats an inoperable or junk car left unattended for 48 hours as abandoned. A car left "for more than forty-eight (48) hours on any public property," including a street, alley or park, is abandoned too. Chapter 85 cuts that to 24 hours on public ground for a Burlington car without current plates, or one so stripped of wheels or parts that it cannot run at all.

Towing, snow and the three-day claim

Officers may haul off, under 80.06, any car sitting through a snow-removal parking ban or overstaying a posted time limit. The Police Department sends written notice within 24 hours if it can find the owner. "If the owner does not appear within three (3) days" to claim the car and pay towing and storage, it is treated as abandoned.

Snow emergency routes are posted with signs. An automatic parking ban starts on them "when there is an accumulation of two (2) or more inches of snow," and no announcement is needed for that one. A Burlington car that will not start, left on a snow route, is the kind that gets towed.

No engine, no title

Section 85.08 covers a car that "lacks an engine or two (2) or more wheels." When the owner's title is "faulty, lost or destroyed," that car may go to a demolisher "without a title and without notification procedures." For a car that still has its engine and wheels, see selling with no title.

Iowa title and plates

Burlington titles, plates and junking certificates are a Des Moines County treasurer matter. Flip the title over and sign where the seller signs. After that, fill in the sale date plus the buyer's name and address. A title naming two people with "and" between them needs both signatures, while "or" needs just one.

Iowa sends plates home with the seller, so take Burlington plates off before the car is hauled away. When it's sold for scrap, the buyer has one more job. Within 30 days, they take the signed title to a county treasurer and ask for a junking certificate.

Towns around Burlington

Muscatine is 42.4 miles away in a straight line, Davenport 58.4 and Iowa City 62.3. Ottumwa is 69.5 miles. For statewide rules, see Iowa.

Getting an offer

In Burlington, reach us at (877) 421-6008 or through the online offer form. Our truck can collect from a hillside driveway above downtown, a lot along the riverfront, or the street where the car quit.