Junk and dead cars in Shrewsbury

How Bylaw 9-C counts

The count is wider than it first looks. A "motor vehicle" here includes "automobile, truck, trailer, motorcycle, recreational vehicles and motor homes." A dead boat trailer and a project car can add up to two. "Major part thereof" can count too, so a body shell or a pulled engine may tip the total.

"Property" is wide as well. The bylaw counts "all contiguous parcels owned in whole or in part by the same person" as one property, so splitting cars between two side-by-side lots you own does not reset the count.

What the bylaw leaves out

Section 9-C does not reach "farm vehicles, motor vehicles necessary for business use, vehicles stored within a building," or vehicles on property licensed under M.G.L. Chapter 140, Sections 57 through 69. There is one catch even for those: "no such vehicle may be parked or stored on vacant unimproved, private property." An empty wooded lot is off limits for any of them.

The letter and the seven days

Enforcement runs through the police. When "it comes to the attention of the Chief of Police or his designee" that a nuisance exists, "a notice in writing shall be sent by certified mail to the owner of the land." It orders removal "within seven (7) days of receipt of said notice."

The letter is addressed to the landowner, not to whoever owns the car. If you rent in Shrewsbury, your landlord gets it, and the seven days start when they sign for it. See notice to remove a car for how people usually handle one.

Totaled, flooded or stolen

Massachusetts brands a salvage title one of two ways: repairable (REPR) or parts-only (PART). The cause shows up as a second brand. Theft, Fire, Collision, Vandalism, Flood and Flood/Salt each have one, and Other covers the rest. The branding never comes off, and no salvage car ever gets a clean title back. PART means the car is done on Massachusetts roads for good.

Whoever applies for the salvage title, the owner or the insurer, has 10 days. The clock starts at the settlement for an insured car, and at the crash, fire or theft itself when there was no insurance. If a passenger car was 10 years old or older at the time of the loss, it doesn't go through salvage at all. Our salvage title page goes deeper.

Paperwork for a Shrewsbury sale

A Shrewsbury seller completes the title assignment at handover, records the true odometer reading, vouches that the title is good, and passes the certificate to the buyer. Both of you sign it, print your names and date it. The RMV's steps don't include a notary.

A lost Shrewsbury title can be replaced for $25. You can order from the RMV online or by mail. Shrewsbury owners who mail it send a MassDOT check or money order to the Title Division. Expect it in about 10 business days. When an old, paid-off loan still sits on a Shrewsbury car's record, ask the lender for a signed letter on its letterhead. Even for a loan closed long ago, the RMV refuses faxes and photocopies. See junk car with no title.

You don't file anything to end your liability. Under c. 90D s. 15, when the buyer has the car and your signed assignment, any later tickets or use fall on them. Shrewsbury sellers keep the plates and then cancel the registration. After that, recycle or destroy them, since the RMV doesn't take them back.

Close by

Shrewsbury belongs to Worcester County and the Worcester metro. Measured in straight lines, Worcester is 4.9 miles away, Westborough 5.3, Grafton 5.5, Holden 9.0, Marlborough 9.6 and Hudson 11.2. The Massachusetts page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Shrewsbury car to sell? Call (877) 421-6008 or use our offer form online. Two cars to clear under the one-car limit? Mention both.