Selling a junk or dead car in Somerville

The 72-hour state rule

We could not find Somerville's own ordinances online, so this page leans on Massachusetts law. Somerville might have stricter limits than the state. Ask Somerville City Hall before relying on any deadline.

The state rule is M.G.L. chapter 90, section 22C. If a Somerville street officer finds a vehicle "apparently abandoned" and left "more than 72 hours" on a street, a private way, or land the owner never okayed, the officer can tow it and scrap it as refuse. That only applies when the car is worth less than what it costs to remove and dispose of it. For an old car with a dead engine parked at a Somerville curb, that is a low bar.

Towed off private property

A landlord or a neighbor cannot simply call a truck. Chapter 266, section 120D bars towing a Somerville car off private property unless whoever runs the lot warned the driver off, in person or with a sign. Police also have to be told. In Somerville, towing without police notice or the owner's say-so risks a fine of up to $100.

$35 per 24 hours is the ceiling under Chapter 159B, section 6B. It applies to a secure, fenced, lit lot storing a passenger car from a Somerville police tow. Any other lot gets half. The car is under the lot's lien. If a garage holds a car, it has to send the registered owner a registered letter, return receipt requested, showing its storage rates. A garage can send notice when a car has gone 60 days with no one claiming it. A Somerville lot may sell the car 21 days later. Before a Somerville sale, a paper prints the notice three weeks running. Somerville's police chief gets 5 days' notice. Out of the sale money, the Somerville lot takes its debt and sends the remainder to the registered owner. Our guide to a towed or impounded car covers getting one back.

Signing the title

Titles run through the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV). A notary isn't part of its steps. In Somerville, enter the mileage, and both parties sign, hand-print a name and date the transfer part of the title. If the Somerville title has a price line, fill it in. No price line on the Somerville title? Hand the buyer a bill of sale too. The law also says your assignment must list the true odometer reading and warrant the title.

The Somerville buyer then has 10 days to title it, with a $75 fee. A licensed Massachusetts insurance agent fills out, stamps and signs the form. Replacing a lost Somerville title is $25. The wait can stretch to 10 business days. More at selling with no title.

Plates, the excise and your liability

Your Somerville plates do not go with the car. Somerville owners cancel on MyMassGov. Keep the receipt it gives you, and mail your insurer a photocopy. Then the Somerville plates get recycled or cut in half. You don't have to send them to the RMV. Getting another car? Somerville owners have 7 calendar days to shift the plates over. After cancelling, the old car stays off every public way.

Cancelling also ends the excise. Somerville city hall sends that bill, not the RMV, charging $25 on every $1,000 of value. A lapsed registration keeps owing until it is cancelled.

There is no release-of-liability form for a Somerville seller to send in. Chapter 90D, section 15(e) says a Somerville seller who signs the assignment and delivers the car stops answering for how it is driven or ticketed, even before the new title exists.

Close by

As the crow flies, Cambridge is 1.3 miles from Somerville, Medford 2.3 miles, Everett 2.6 and Malden 3.4. Statewide rules are on the Massachusetts page.

Getting an offer

Fill in the form or call (877) 421-6008. Fill in our form for your Somerville car. We collect it at a curb, a shared driveway, or a repair shop's lot. If it won't start at all, car doesn't run explains what to expect.