Selling a junk or dead car in Hagerstown

How Chapter 186 works, step by step

1. The letter. Unless the car is an emergency, the city sends notice "by registered mail, return receipt requested," to the property owner or occupant and to the car's owner. It requires that the car "be licensed, repaired, removed, or enclosed within 30 days of the date of mailing of the notice." You count from when it was mailed, not from when you read it.

2. The emergency exception. A car on private land "deemed to be an imminent hazard to the life, safety, or health of the public" can be removed "without first providing any prior notice, or option to cure."

3. Custody. If 30 days pass with no fix, the city can tow the car to a storage area, where it stays "for at least 30 days or until it is redeemed and all costs incurred by the City are paid."

4. The owner's notice. Within seven days of the tow, the Department sends registered mail to the car's owner and any secured party on MVA records. It explains the right to redeem the car "within 30 days from the date of the notice" by paying towing, storage and fees.

5. Posting. If the owner can't be found or the letter comes back, notice is posted "in the Circuit Court for Washington County within 15 days of taking the vehicle into custody."

One more line is worth knowing before a car is hauled off: neither the city nor the tow company is liable for damage to the car or theft of anything inside it during custody. Take out personal papers and anything you want to keep early.

A permit to hold an abandoned car

Section 186-7 offers a way to keep one legally. The Department "may grant permits for possession of an abandoned vehicle for a period of up to six months," on application. That suits someone sorting out a title or an estate. When the abandoned car is not yours, read car abandoned on your property.

Parking lots and old tickets

• Store and office lots. Under Section 60-55, a car sitting more than two days on a private lot of five or more public spaces, "without the permission of the owner," counts as abandoned.
• Three tickets. Three or more unpaid summonses or parking citations make a car towable from any city street, provided at least 30 days have gone by since the third one.

Title, plates and brands

Titles come from the state MVA. The certificate must name you and carry no unpaid lien. If it is lost, request a duplicate first; the no-title guide explains how.

Damaged cars carry Maryland's own definitions. A car is "salvage" when collision, fire, flood or another event leaves repair costs above 75% of its fair market value before the damage. A title also shows a conspicuous "Flood Damaged" notation when the salvage certificate carries the flood mark. Neither brand stops a sale. See salvage title and flood damage.

At the sale, sign the back and note the mileage. The tags come off and go home with you, then back to the MVA through one of its drop boxes; once that receipt is in hand, the insurance can lapse. Washington County is on the VEIP emissions list, though inspections after a sale are the buyer's task.

Nearby

Hagerstown has 44,228 residents on about 13.3 square miles, and it anchors its own metro area that reaches into West Virginia. In straight-line miles, Frederick is 21.6 away, Westminster 38.4, Gaithersburg 44.0 and Rockville 48.9. State rules are on our Maryland page.

Getting an offer

Hagerstown sellers can ring (877) 421-6008 or start on our short online form. Pickup is free anywhere in the US. We pick up behind a downtown building, from a lot off Potomac Street, or at the shop that has the car.