Weymouth junk cars: the 30-day letter, and selling yours

Who Section 120-99 reaches

Anyone who controls the land answers for it, "whether an owner, occupant, lessee or otherwise." So a Weymouth tenant is just as liable as the landlord.

Three settings escape the rule:

• inside "an enclosed building or in an area unexposed to the view of the public or any abutter"
• a storage place or depository the town keeps or approves
• a lot holding a Class III used-car dealer license

A car cover in plain sight of the house next door doesn't qualify. For most Weymouth driveways, the realistic options are a garage or a buyer.

Section 7-602 stacks a blight program on top

Weymouth's anti-blight ordinance names "at least one partially dismantled, wrecked, junked, nonoperative or discarded vehicle" kept over 30 days. It also names the storage of "abandoned or unregistered vehicles." A notice gives the owner 30 days from receipt to comply. Ignore it, and the town may step in and correct the condition itself where it sees a danger to public health or safety. Fines pile up "cumulatively for each separate offense," payable within 30 days of a certified-mail bill.

The street is worse

Section 13-103 caps parking on any Weymouth street at one hour overnight, from just after midnight until 7 in the morning. Daytime one-hour and two-hour signs apply where they're posted. A police officer of sergeant rank or above can order a violating car towed. Weymouth then holds it until removal and storage are paid. Statewide, storage after a police-ordered tow is capped at $35 each 24 hours for passenger cars kept in a secure, fenced and lighted lot.

Title, plates and the town's excise

Weymouth sellers fill in the mileage on the Massachusetts title. On that Weymouth assignment, both seller and buyer sign, print names and write the date. The RMV's instructions for private sales include no notary. Weymouth title missing a price line? A bill of sale records it instead. The buyer registers the car through a licensed insurance agent.

You keep the plates. Cancel the Weymouth registration online and keep that receipt. After that it can't go on a public way, and a car that won't run wasn't going anywhere anyway. Halve the plates with tin snips or take them to a recycler. Weymouth's assessors bill excise on every registered car, so the cancellation is what ends those bills. Massachusetts law says a Weymouth seller who signs over the title and gives up the car is done with its later driving and any violations. See after you sell.

Getting an offer

Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or through the form. Our form covers the details for a Weymouth car. The truck can take it from a side yard, a garage bay or a repair shop. In a straight line, Braintree is 3.0 miles off and Hingham 3.4. The Massachusetts page has the statewide rules.