Selling a dead or junk car in Slidell

The back-and-forth trap

Rolling the car around the side of the house and back again does not restart the clock. The code: "should any junked or inoperable vehicle be moved and returned to the front yard in the same calendar year, and continue to meet the criteria of a junked or inoperable, motor vehicle, the vehicle will be in violation of this Code immediately upon relocation to the front yard area."

What counts as legal storage is spelled out in Section 16-71. Junk kept "in an enclosed building, including a garage permanently attached to a residential dwelling" is outside the rule. So is a licensed salvage yard or tow operator. An operable antique on private property is exempt too, if it is "at least 25 years old or has a current and valid Louisiana antique license plate and certificate of registration."

How the notice works

Section 16-89 has code enforcement officers inspect the car. They record its location, type, make, color and plate, if there is one. Then they "post a notice on the windshield of the abandoned or junk vehicle and photograph such vehicle(s)." If they cannot get to the car, the notice goes up near it, in a spot visible from the road.

That posting is the notice. You will not necessarily get a letter. It tells the owner "to remove the vehicle within ten days of the date of posting" and explains the right to a hearing. If the car stays, the case goes to an administrative hearing. There the hearing officer "may issue an order that results in the vehicle being removed, destroyed, or sold by the city," and the owner or occupant pays the removal and abatement costs.

Arguing that it is not a total loss

Slidell defines "total loss" as "a condition where the cost to repair a damaged or dismantled motor vehicle exceeds the junk value for such vehicle, as determined by a recognized national appraisal book." If you think your car is worth fixing, the burden is on you. At the hearing, the property owner or whoever controls the property must bring "three cost estimates to repair the vehicle, as well as the junk value of the vehicle as determined by a recognized national appraisal book."

Three written shop estimates are real work for a car you may not want. If the estimates would only confirm the city's view, a sale ends the case. Louisiana's own test is different. An insurer totals a car at damage of 75% or more of market value. See insurer totaled it.

A car that is not yours

Slidell calls a vehicle abandoned when it "has remained illegally or without the consent of the owner or person in control of subject private property for more than three days." If someone else's car is sitting on your lot, our abandoned car on your property guide covers the next steps. A sale to us has to come from the owner or a person entitled to sell.

Streets, driveways and the pound

Section 13-22 bars leaving any inoperable, scrapped or junked vehicle, or parts of one, "upon any public street, park, highway, alley or other public property of the city." A car blocking a posted driveway is a public nuisance under Section 27-5, and the city can haul it off with the owner paying.

To get a car back after a 27-5 tow, you show you have the right to it. You also pay the accrued fines and costs, or post collateral for city court, plus towing and storage. For a junk car the city seized, Section 16-91 lets the owner redeem it "at any time after its removal but prior to an order of sale or destruction thereof." You need proof of ownership and payment of processing, storage and towing fees and penalties.

Louisiana paperwork, seen from St. Tammany

No St. Tammany Parish office handles titles. Louisiana issues them centrally through the OMV, in person at an OMV office, through a Public Tag Agent, or by post. See the OMV.

The seller signs the assignment while a notary watches. The buyer also needs the price in writing: on the assignment, or on its own notarized bill of sale. Before the car rolls away, unscrew the plate. The OMV will cancel it online, by mail or at a counter, or you can transfer it to another car you own for $3.00. Keep the insurance until the plate is canceled. Under state law, written notice of the transfer to the commissioner is due within fifteen days.

Scrap is the exception to all of this title talk. Instead of a title, the owner signs and dates a sworn statement of ownership or authority to sell.

Nearby

New Orleans is 18.6 miles from Slidell as the crow flies, Kenner 34.1, Hammond 42.8 and St. George 74.3. Statewide details are on the Louisiana page.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. Keep it brief. Name the car, give a mileage guess, say if it can start, and explain the title in plain words. Pickup can be from the front-yard slab, the backyard, or whichever shop it ended up in.