College Park dead cars: notices, impounds and a sale

We buy whole non-running and junk cars, including ones with a city notice on the glass. You sell the whole car as it sits, and there is free pickup anywhere in the US.

What Chapter 184 calls abandoned

Section 184-30 is the list that matters. It covers a car that "is inoperable and left unattended on public property for more than 48 hours," and one that "is displaying registration plates of another vehicle." A car counts as inoperable when "one or more of its major mechanical components, including but not limited to the engine, transmission, drive train and wheels, is missing or not functional, unless such vehicle is kept in an enclosed building as permitted in the county's zoning regulations."

That last clause draws the line. A car with a seized engine behind a closed garage door sits under the exception. The same car on the street, or out in the open, does not. The code goes one step further: "Any partially dismantled, wrecked or junked motor vehicle may be presumed to have been or be abandoned."

From the notice to the lot

1. The warning. One copy is fixed to the car, one is mailed, and the week begins.
2. The impound letter. Within 48 hours of an impound under § 184-31A, College Park's Code Enforcement Officer in the Public Services Department mails a registered or certified letter to the last registered owner and any lender the Maryland MVA has on record.
3. Getting it back. Without a hearing, the owner or lender redeems the car "by paying all towing and storage charges and the costs of the notice," on top of "all other outstanding and overdue parking tickets."
4. If it is sold. Under Section 184-25, money left from the sale after expenses, storage and repair charges and liens goes into a special fund. The owner can claim that excess "within one year from the date of the sale."

If the car is already gone, start with towed or impounded.

Parking tickets add up here

A College Park ticket sets "a payment date, which shall be 15 days from the date of issuance." Unpaid ones count, because overdue tickets are part of the price of getting an impounded car back. The code also bars parking on the grass or dirt strip between the curb and the sidewalk, and within 15 feet of a fireplug. On a narrow side street near downtown, a dead car on that strip is easy to spot.

Maryland title and plates from College Park

The state MDOT MVA issues Maryland titles. To sell, the title has to be a valid Maryland one in your name, free of any lien and of mistakes. The seller fills in the odometer reading and signs on the back, and co-owners sign too unless the names are joined by "OR". Lost it? Replace it before the sale with a VR-018 duplicate, which costs $40.00 by mail, at an MVA branch, or on myMVA.

For a College Park car an insurer has written off, Maryland says salvage when repairs top 75% of its value before the damage; see salvage title.

Your tags stay behind with you when the car goes. Unscrew them first, then use an MVA tag return box, which never closes. That return is the step that ends the car's registration and coverage duties, so the receipt matters; leave the policy running until it reaches you. Photocopy the signed title, front and back, plus any bill of sale.

Nearby towns

Hyattsville is 2.6 miles from College Park in a straight line and Greenbelt 2.7. Laurel is 7.9 miles and Bowie 11.0. For the whole state, see Maryland.

Getting an offer

Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or through the form. A short form covers the details. In College Park we come to a student rental's driveway, a downtown parking deck, or the curb where the notice is posted.