Selling a junk or dead car in Chelmsford

Chapter 180 in plain terms

Chapter 180 names two kinds of road: paper streets and private ways. A registered car parked on one is outside the rule. An unregistered one is not.

The bylaw lists ways to stay inside it. One covers "Motor vehicles in enclosed buildings", so a garage solves the problem. Another runs through a permit. Before one is granted, the board must have "Held a public hearing on the application therefor, 14 days' notice of the time, place and subject matter of which has been given at the expense of the applicant", by newspaper notice and by registered or certified mail to each abutter on the Assessor's list. A permit "May specify a location on the property where such motor vehicle or vehicles will not be exposed to the view of abutting residents or the general public."

That is a lot of process for a car that does not start.

The 30-day clock and the $50 penalty

Chelmsford does not fine on sight. The count starts with the letter: "Thirty days after receipt of such notice of violation, the person receiving the notice shall be liable to a penalty of $50 for each separate offense." So a notice buys you a month to register the car, move it indoors, or get it hauled off.

Zoning is a separate matter. Section 195-108 defines a junkyard use as land used "for the storage, keeping or abandonment of junk, scrap or discarded materials or the dismantling, demolition or abandonment of automobiles". Pulling parts off a dead car in a Chelmsford yard edges toward that line, which is one more reason to sell it in one piece.

Signing the title for a Chelmsford sale

Massachusetts runs titles through the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV). Its private-sale instructions never mention a notary. Write the odometer figure. Then the Chelmsford buyer and seller each sign the transfer block on the title, print their names by hand and add the date. The price goes on the title where a line exists for it. Where none exists, a bill of sale has to show it. A licensed Massachusetts insurance agent then stamps and signs the buyer's application. That errand is the buyer's, not yours.

Chapter 90D section 15 says a Chelmsford seller who has signed the assignment and given up the car isn't liable for later driving, even before a new title is issued. No separate release form exists in this state.

Plates and the excise bill

Chelmsford plates come home with you. Cancel the registration through MyMassGov. Save that receipt, and your insurer should get a copy. Next, saw the plates in two or drop them at recycling; the Registry does not collect them. Buying again soon? They can go onto the replacement inside 7 calendar days.

Money is the other reason to cancel. The excise bill comes from Chelmsford's assessors rather than the RMV. It runs $25 per $1,000 of value and keeps coming until the registration is closed. After you sell walks through the rest.

Getting an offer

Reach us online or at (877) 421-6008. A Chelmsford seller only needs to fill in our short offer form. Free pickup anywhere in the US reaches a private way in Chelmsford as readily as a lot in Lowell or a driveway in Westford. Statewide rules are on the Massachusetts page.