Selling a dead or junk car in Adrian

The 3 a.m. rule and the tow behind it

Section 90-34 lets Adrian police "immediately remove" and impound a car found on a street during those hours. The same section covers a car driven without a current year's registration. To get it out of the pound, the owner pays the violations bureau the towing charge, any extra labor and storage the tow service bills, and a city impound fee.

Some homes can get around the overnight ban. The parking appeal board can issue a street permit when it finds the people living there cannot fit their own vehicles on the property, and an inspection comes first. Visitors can get a free permit from the chief of police on the same grounds.

A broken-down car in the yard

Section 54-4 reaches past the curb. It is unlawful to keep "a dismantled, partially dismantled, inoperable, or unregistered motor vehicle or any parts thereof, on any parcel of land in the city" unless it is in "a wholly enclosed garage or other wholly enclosed structure." The code calls a car partially dismantled when a part it would normally have "has been removed or is missing." A missing bumper or a pulled engine qualifies.

Here is how a case runs:

1. The city issues a written notice of violation.
2. Once it arrives, the car owner or landowner gets ten days to move the car or appeal to Adrian's city administrator.
3. If the city removes it, a notice goes to the last known owner. From the mailing date there are ten more days to reclaim it.
4. After that, the city declares the car abandoned and disposes of it under the Michigan Vehicle Code.

The property maintenance rules in Chapter 10 add that no vehicle may be "in a state of disassembly, disrepair or in the process of being stripped or dismantled," and that cars must sit on the improved, designated parking space or on the street where allowed. Major work, body work included, belongs inside a fully enclosed structure approved for it.

Paperwork for a Lenawee County seller

Lenawee County does not issue car titles. The Michigan Department of State, often called the Secretary of State, issues them through its branch offices. Hand the buyer the original title, not a copy. Complete the odometer statement and the seller's part and sign it; when two owners are listed, each one signs. The state's written steps for sellers do not mention a notary.

There's no release-of-liability form in Michigan. For an Adrian sale, MCL 257.240 covers you if you and the buyer go to a branch office, or if you save sale proof 18 months or longer. Copying both sides of the signed title is enough. Do neither and you risk a $15 civil infraction, and the law assumes you owe towing and storage if the car gets dumped down the road. In a city that tows cars off the street at 3 a.m., that copy is worth the paper.

Take your plate off when you sell and hang onto it for another car you own or buy. Adrian owners who lost a title pay $15 for a mailed copy in about 14 days, or $20 at a branch the same day. See junk car with no title and after you sell.

Getting an offer

For an Adrian car, call (877) 421-6008 or use the offer form. Trucks reach driveways off Maumee Street, back garages, or the shop where it quit. If you are nearer Ann Arbor, 30.6 miles away, or Jackson, 30.1 miles, those pages cover their own rules. Statewide rules are on the Michigan page.