Laurel's garage-only rule for dead cars, and selling one

No garage space? Then a sale is the remaining option. We buy whole non-running and junk cars, so you can sell the whole car as it sits, tarp and all, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

Who Section 18-166 spares

The rule has two narrow exceptions beyond the closed garage.

• Business lots. Vehicles kept on property where a business operates, when the business is allowed by the building and zoning codes and the storage is allowed in connection with that business.
• Registered antiques. Cars "validly registered as 'historic motor vehicles'" with the Maryland MVA. Even then, an antique that is "inoperable, wrecked or dismantled, may only remain on the property in such condition for such time as may be reasonable for restoration of the vehicle." A restoration that stalled years ago is the case that line was written for; see classic project car.

Repairs at the curb

Laurel's Section 17-35 bars parking on a street "for the purpose of making major repairs." Emergency repairs and maintenance are allowed, "provided that the time for such emergency repairs or maintenance does not exceed four (4) consecutive hours." The code spells out what counts as major: pulling apart the differential, transmission or engine, and "the sanding, scraping, applying filler to or painting of the vehicle body." So a transmission job that drags on over a weekend at the curb is outside the rule.

The same section also bars parking that leaves less than eight feet of open roadway or blocks someone's driveway.

Snow streets and the 48-hour line

The director of public works can designate "snow emergency streets," and those streets "shall be marked by permanent signs." The mayor then declares the emergency for one or more of them. A car that cannot be started cannot be moved off a signed street when that happens.

Laurel's land development code uses a 48-hour test of its own. In that article, an abandoned vehicle is one "that is inoperable and left unattended on private or public property for more than forty-eight (48) hours, or does not display current license plates for that vehicle, is wrecked or dismantled."

The paperwork for a Laurel sale

Laurel sits in Prince George's, a county inside Maryland's VEIP emissions area, and state law adds a safety inspection certificate as a condition of any sale, titling or transfer. That does not land on you as the seller. The MVA says the buyer titles the car and completes the required safety and emissions inspections, and the seller is not responsible for those steps. Even a car with no hope of passing can be sold; see failed inspection.

What the seller brings is the title: a current Maryland one from the state MVA, in the seller's name, with no lien left on it. The mileage goes on the back next to your signature; if two owners are listed without "OR" between them, both sign. A lost title is replaced first with form VR-018 for $40.00. The tags come off too, because Maryland leaves them with the seller, and any MVA drop box takes them. Keep the insurance until you have the return receipt, and file a copy of the signed title and the sale paper alongside it.

Nearby

In a straight line, Greenbelt is 7.1 miles from Laurel, College Park 7.9, Hyattsville 10.5 and Bowie 11.7. The Maryland page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Send the form or call (877) 421-6008. In Laurel, our short offer form is the place to start. We can load it from beside a house, a garage or a repair bay, cover left on if you want.