Selling a junk car in Marshfield

What Marshfield calls a junk automobile

Section 134-3 applies to any owner or person "in control of premises." It defines a junk automobile as one that is "worn out, cast off, or discarded and which is ready for dismantling or destruction," or one that "has been collected or stored for salvage or for stripping in order to make use of parts thereof." That second half matters. A parts car kept around to feed another project fits the definition even if nobody would call it trash.

The same section also counts "any substantial amount of junk," so a heap of loose parts can bring the bylaw into play without a third car.

Two ways a car stays outside the rule

• Out of sight. Under Section 134-5, a junk car is not "in the open" if it is "totally screened from view of any public road or public way."
• A Planning Board ruling. If the town says something is junk and you disagree, 134-5 lets you get a determination from the Planning Board that it is not, as long as you get it before any court rules on guilt. The board holds a public hearing first, with notice published at least three days ahead.

The Select Board license

To keep a third junk car in view, you file a written application with the Select Board's office under Section 134-4. The board advertises a public hearing in a newspaper issued in Marshfield at least three days before it. It may grant a one-year license if it finds the cars "will not depreciate property values in the area," will not create a public safety hazard and will not become a public nuisance. That is a hearing, a newspaper notice and conditions, all for a one-year license, to store a car that does not run.

Off your own land: 72 hours

Chapter 134 is about premises. A broken-down car left on a Marshfield road, or on private land without permission, falls under c. 90 s. 22C instead. Once it has sat there past 72 hours and looks deserted, a Marshfield street officer may haul it off, provided its value is below what removal and disposal would run. The town can then treat it as refuse.

Signing the title and pulling the plates

Massachusetts keeps the seller's part brief. Put the odometer figure on the title. Both signatures then go on the transfer block, each beside a printed name and the date. The RMV's steps for sellers don't mention a notary, so Marshfield sellers can skip one. No line for the price? A bill of sale records it.

Plates go home with you. Once the registration is cancelled online, slice the plates in two or hand them to a recycler. If the next car arrives inside 7 calendar days, bolt them onto it instead. Cancelling is also what shuts off Marshfield's excise, which the town bills at $25 per $1,000 of value while any registration stays active. After you sell has the rest.

Getting an offer

Marshfield car to sell? Ring (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Pickup is free anywhere in the US, and the driver comes to the car, whether it rests behind a Marshfield garage or at a repair shop. Hingham has the nearest town page, 11.5 miles off, and Plymouth is 16.0; statewide rules are on Massachusetts.