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Town guide · Massachusetts

Selling a dead or towed car in Hudson

Once a dead Hudson car is in a tow lot, every day costs something. On a Hudson police tow, the yard gets a lien. Its passenger car storage tops out at $35 per 24 hours if fenced, lit and secure, and half that otherwise. Selling before a tow keeps the car out of that arithmetic: we buy whole non-running and junk cars, and you sell the whole car as it sits.

Updated · 9 sources

The Assabet River running through Hudson between bare trees, a parking lot and brick mill building on the left and a bridge with houses upstream
Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Hudson, the short version

Population
20,341 (Census estimate, July 1, 2025)
County
Middlesex
Land area
11.528 square miles
Town junk-car bylaw
None found online
Police-tow storage cap
$35 per 24 hours, passenger car in a secure lot
Garage notice
Registered mail, return receipt
Garage sale clock
60 days unclaimed, then 21 more
Abandoned on a way
More than 72 hours

How a car ends up on a hook

An online search turned up no Hudson bylaw on junk cars. So this section is Massachusetts law, and Hudson may have local rules for cars kept on a lot. Two state laws say when someone else may move your car.

  • Left on a way. Section 22C of chapter 90 lets a Hudson street officer take a car that seems deserted after over 72 hours on a public way, private way, or land with no permission. A Hudson car worth less than the cost of towing and disposal can be taken as refuse.
  • On someone's lot. Under c. 266 s. 120D, a Hudson tow off private property needs the property's manager to have warned the driver beforehand, in person or by sign, plus word to the police. Removing a car without police notice or the owner's consent carries a fine of up to $100.

When a garage is holding it

A Hudson repair shop or storage garage that keeps a car works under c. 255 s. 39A:

  1. A registered letter, return receipt requested, goes to the registered owner with the garage's storage rates.
  2. A Hudson garage may mail notice after a car goes 60 days unclaimed from its arrival.
  3. 21 more days must pass before a Hudson garage sells, publicly or privately. By then a paper has run the notice three weeks, and the police chief got 5 days' warning.
  4. The garage takes its charges out of the proceeds. Money left over in Hudson goes to the registered owner. If he can't be paid, the district court clerk gets it.

A car held over a shop bill is covered in stuck at a repair shop; a towed one in towed or impounded.

The title and the plates

When you hand the car over, Massachusetts wants you to sign the title over in writing, with the real odometer number and a promise that the title is good. For a Hudson sale the RMV keeps it simple: write the miles, then you and the buyer sign, print names and date it. In Hudson the sale price goes on the title. No spot for it there? Use a bill of sale. The RMV's seller steps list no notary. Inspection falls to the buyer, who has 7 days from registering.

Plates stay off the car that leaves Hudson. Cancel the registration on the web, keep the receipt for your insurer, and slice the plates or recycle them. A new car bought inside 7 calendar days can take them over.

Getting an offer

Got a car in Hudson, even one stuck in a tow lot? Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Pickup is free anywhere in the US, so the driver can meet it near the Assabet, on a Hudson side street or at the shop holding it. Marlborough has a page 2.7 miles away and Framingham is 7.9; statewide rules are on Massachusetts.

Questions people ask

What is the daily limit a lot can charge after police order a tow?
$35 per 24 hours is the top storage charge for a Hudson passenger car in a fenced, lit, secure yard. Other yards may charge half. The facility gets a lien as well.
Can a garage sell a car nobody comes back for?
Yes, by steps. Notice can go out once the car has sat unclaimed 60 days. A Hudson garage then waits 21 days before selling. Ads run in a paper each week for three weeks, and Hudson's police chief is told 5 days early.
If the garage sells it, is anything left for me?
Out of the sale, the Hudson garage keeps its debt. The registered owner gets the rest, or the district court clerk does if not.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, city and town population estimates, July 1, 2025 www2.census.gov
  2. U.S. Census Bureau 2025 Gazetteer, county subdivisions (land area) www2.census.gov
  3. M.G.L. c. 159B s. 6B, towing and storage charges malegislature.gov
  4. M.G.L. c. 255 s. 39A, garage keepers' liens and sale malegislature.gov
  5. M.G.L. c. 90 s. 22C, abandoned vehicles malegislature.gov
  6. M.G.L. c. 266 s. 120D, removal of vehicles from private property malegislature.gov
  7. Mass.gov: Registration and title for a vehicle bought from an individual mass.gov
  8. Mass.gov: Cancel your vehicle registration and plates mass.gov
  9. Mass.gov: Vehicle inspections mass.gov