Dedham's 14-day limit on a dead car, and how to sell one

What Dedham's bylaw says

Article II is titled "Abandoned and Nonoperating Vehicles," and three of its rules bear on a dead car.

• Property you control: 14 days. No person in charge of a property may allow "any partially dismantled, non-operating, wrecked, junked or discarded vehicle to remain on such property longer than 14 days."
• Leaving one anywhere: three days. The same section adds that "no person shall leave any such vehicle on any property within the Town for a longer time than three days." The copy we read lists exceptions after that and is cut off there, so read the full section on ecode360 if you think one fits your case.
• The street: no allowance at all. "No person shall leave any partially dismantled, nonoperating, wrecked, or junked vehicle on any street or highway within the Town."

A fourth rule bans abandonment outright, including leaving a car "under such circumstances as to cause such vehicle reasonably to appear to have been abandoned." So even a car that runs can fall foul of it if it looks dumped.

When Dedham police tow it

The bylaw lets the Chief of Police, or a member of his department he designates, remove any car that "reasonably appears to be in violation of this section or lost, stolen, or unclaimed." Such a car "shall be impounded until lawfully claimed or disposed of in accordance with G.L. c.135," the state law on unclaimed and abandoned property.

$35 per 24 hours is the most a Dedham police tow yard can charge to store a passenger car on a fenced, lit, secure lot. Other lots get half. The yard holds a lien for the unpaid amount. See towed or impounded.

Signing over a Massachusetts title

The Registry of Motor Vehicles seller steps list no notary. What you do instead is write in the miles yourself. Both sides then add signatures, printed names and the date. A Dedham seller writes the price in the title's price box when there is one. If the Dedham title has no price spot, the buyer files a bill of sale that shows it. For the buyer, a licensed insurance agent fills out, signs and stamps the application. The title must be done within 10 days.

Dedham sellers won't find a release-of-liability form, because Massachusetts doesn't have one. Chapter 90D, s. 15(e) clears you of the car's later use and any violations once your assignment is signed and the car has changed hands.

If an insurer already totaled the car, the title may carry a REPR (repairable) or PART (parts-only) brand. Once a car is PART, Massachusetts will not register it again, ever. See salvage title.

Plates and the excise

You keep the plates. Cancel the Dedham registration online, then keep that receipt for your insurance company. Then recycle or destroy the plates, and cutting them in half with snips is fine. Dedham's excise bill runs until that cancellation, so file it the day the car leaves. From then on the car cannot legally use a public road. Moving the plates to another car? You have 7 calendar days.

Getting an offer

Ring (877) 421-6008 or reach us online. Dedham sellers just fill in the short form. Our truck collects from a driveway, an apartment back lot, or a shop in Norwood, 4.2 miles away in a straight line, or Needham, 4.0. Statewide rules are on the Massachusetts page.