Getting rid of a dead car in Oak Park

Blight starts the day it stops running

The same section adds a second test: "No motor vehicle shall be parked, kept or stored on any property in a state of major disassembly, disrepair, or while in the process of being stripped or dismantled." Loose car parts count as junk under 38-96 as well, "whether or not the same could be put to any reasonable use."

Section 328, "Storage and repair of commercial vehicles," covers commercial vehicles, not ordinary cars. A commercial vehicle may sit on an R-1 or R-2 lot only under its listed conditions, and one of them puts repair work past 48 hours, or work that keeps the vehicle immobile or inoperable past 48 hours, inside an enclosed building.

Enforcement comes by blight violation notice, which section 2-202 says can be a ticket. It counts as served the day it is handed over, mailed, left at the house or posted on the property.

The scrap-vehicle fast track

Section 74-854 deals with a car that "is apparently inoperable or is extensively damaged," where fixing it to be operational and safe would cost more than its fair market value. That car can move quickly. The department of public safety, or the property owner when it is on private land, "may have a registered abandoned scrap vehicle immediately taken into custody by contacting a local towing agency."

What follows is short:

• Oak Park public safety completes a release form within 24 hours of the tow, weekends and holidays aside, and turns the car over to the tow company, a scrap metal processor or a used-parts dealer.
• Inside seven days, the Secretary of State sends the Oak Park car's last titled owner and any lender a letter calling the car abandoned.
• The owner can request a hearing to contest the abandonment or the towing and storage fees. An Oak Park lender can claim the car when 20 days pass after that notice with no redemption and no hearing request.

Other ways a car gets towed

Under Section 74-855, public safety can tow a car and bill the owner if driving it would be an immediate hazard, if its parking blocks traffic, or if it is in a posted tow-away zone. Get to your Oak Park car before it leaves and pay a reasonable towing fee, and the tow truck must let it go.

Scrap titles and plates in Michigan

Michigan lets an owner call a car scrap without working out its value first (MCL 257.217c). Applying for a scrap certificate of title costs $15. With it the car can be hauled but not driven, and it can't get a title ever again. If a scrap processor takes an older car instead, it needs your assigned title, and it has 30 days after destroying the car to return that title to the state.

Any sale needs the original title. For an Oak Park sale, write the mileage in the odometer box, complete the seller's part and sign it; any co-owner listed signs too. The SOS seller steps don't call for a notary. Remove the plate and keep it for your next car. Then store a copy of the title you signed for no less than 18 months; that is the record MCL 257.240 looks for.

Getting an offer

For your Oak Park car, call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Our truck picks up Oak Park cars on a side street, in a driveway or behind a building. Oak Park is 3.3 miles from Royal Oak and 5 miles from Madison Heights; the Michigan page has state-level detail.