Selling a junk or unregistered car in Pittsburg

Two ways a car becomes a nuisance

Section 50-163 gives more than one route to the label:

• No current tag. A motor vehicle nuisance is "any motor vehicle which is not currently registered or tagged" under state law.
• A missing part. The code also points to the "absence of one or more parts of the vehicle necessary for the lawful operation of the vehicle upon streets or highways."

The tag test is the one that catches people off guard. A car parked for a year with stale registration does not have to look like junk to fall under it.

When a car is allowed to stay

The section lists three ways out:

1. The car is "enclosed in a garage or other building."
2. It is inoperable and has been parked or stored for "a period of less than 30 consecutive days."
3. It sits "behind screening of sufficient size, strength, and density to screen the vehicles from the view of the public and to prohibit ready access to the vehicle by children."

Note the last words. Pittsburg's screen has to keep children out, not just hide the car from the street.

Notice and removal under Kansas law

The Pittsburg text we read stops at the definition, so the steps after a violation come from state law, and the city may set its own on top. Under K.S.A. 12-1617e, a Kansas city can order a nuisance car off private property, giving no more than 10 days to comply, by certified mail or personal service, with a right to a hearing. If the Pittsburg deadline passes, the city tows the car. You then get a bill due in 30 days, or the charge gets added to the property.

Streets and parking

Section 46-86 keeps recreational vehicles and equipment off public streets for more than 24 consecutive hours, though light vans and light trucks may park where parking is otherwise allowed. For an ordinary car left on a public road, state law lets an agency impound it after 48 hours. After 30 days in impound comes a certified letter with 15 days to claim it, then two weeks of published notice, then a public auction.

Even Pittsburg's rental scooters get a short leash: Section 42-325 gives operators four hours after notice to pull "any inoperable dockless vehicle" off the right-of-way.

Crawford County title and plates

A Pittsburg car is titled through the Crawford County treasurer's motor vehicle office, since Kansas handles titles in the county where the car is garaged. On the back of a Pittsburg seller's title go the price, sale date and odometer miles, then both parties print their names and sign. No notary is involved unless there is a lien.

When a loan has been put on record, the buyer must get a lien release. It may appear on the title itself, in a letter from the lender, or on a notarized TR-150. If your title is electronic, the buyer has to get a paper title free of liens or a lien release from you. See lien still on the title.

Pittsburg sellers keep their plates, so unscrew them first. Putting them on another car costs $1.50. Or return them to the treasurer's office, which takes your name off the car's record with no need for the optional TR-216 notice. After that, title and registration are the buyer's job, and they have 60 days to apply.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form to get an offer on your Pittsburg car. The truck can meet it near downtown, on a farm lot or behind a Crawford County shop. Pittsburg is 97.2 miles from Gardner and 101.7 miles from Olathe; for statewide rules, see Kansas.