Selling a junk or unregistered car in Framingham

Code 357-1, word for word

Framingham's Storage of Unregistered Vehicles article is short. Section 357-1 says: "No person shall have more than one unregistered car or truck ungaraged on their premises in a residential district at any one time unless authorized by the Mayor."

A few things follow from that wording. It applies to trucks as well as cars. A vehicle inside a garage is outside the rule. And the limit is one per person at any one time.

The penalty clause reads that anyone who breaks the article "or any lawful order of the Mayor to remove any vehicle" faces "a fine of not more than $100 for each violation."

What the zoning code says about junk storage

Framingham's zoning definitions, section 435-5, describe car storage as a land use and leave junk out of it. The definition covers "open or enclosed storage of motor vehicles, excluding outdoor storage of junk or inoperative motor vehicles." So even where storing cars is allowed as a business, keeping dead ones outdoors is not part of that permission.

Your title, and why you are off the hook after delivery

Chapter 90D, section 15 has a Framingham seller sign the title's assignment when the car changes hands, list the true mileage, warrant the title is good, and pass the certificate over. The RMV's checklist has a Framingham seller enter the odometer figure, then both people sign, print their names and date it. A notary is not on that checklist.

There is no release-of-liability form to file. That statute also protects you. Once you sign and deliver, Framingham tickets or crashes involving the car afterward are not yours, even before a new title issues.

Stopping the Framingham excise

Framingham, not the state, sends the yearly excise: $25 on each $1,000 of value. Register a car partway through a year and you owe from that month through December. Only cancelling the registration, online with a MyMassGov account, ends it. The plates then stay with you, to be destroyed, recycled, or bolted onto a replacement vehicle within a 7-day grace period. Hold on to the cancellation receipt; your insurer needs it.

Neighboring towns

As the crow flies: Natick is 4.7 miles, Marlborough 6.4, Wellesley 7.8 and Hudson 7.9. Statewide rules are on the Massachusetts page.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or ask online. Tell us year, make, model, miles, starts or not, title or not. Two or more cars? Say so; several junk cars explains how that works. Pickup is at the car's spot in Framingham, from a side yard to a space near Concord Square.