A dead car in St. Clair Shores: street rules and selling it

Snow emergencies: the 12-hour mark

Section 12-22 lets police ticket or tow any vehicle parked on a street during a declared snow emergency and haul it to an impound lot the city picks. "Towing, storage and impound fees shall be charged to the owner." You do get some room: "Such ticketing or towing may not occur until 12 hours after the snow emergency has been declared." If your car can't drive itself off, sort it out before the 12 hours run out.

Work trucks and parking lots

• Commercial vehicles. Section 40-375 limits a commercial vehicle on any street to 30 minutes between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. On private property in a residential district it may stay only as long as the driver needs for personal business, up to 90 minutes. A dead work truck counts, unless it sits in "a completely enclosed garage."
• School lots. Under Section 40-368, a vehicle left in a school parking lot for 72 hours straight "shall be considered abandoned and may be impounded by the Police Department." Those lots are also closed to the public from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

The driveway question

The code sections we read cover streets, lots and licensed businesses. Take Section 10-735. It stops a licensee from having any vehicle "wrecked, dismantled or junked on the licensed premises." We turned up nothing on a dead car parked on land you own, though the city could have a rule. Check before you count on leaving it. In St. Clair Shores, two days on public ground (48 hours) makes a car abandoned under state law. Leaving it on a neighbor's land without an okay does the same. Local ordinance decides about a junk car on a lot you own.

Signing a Michigan title

Titles do not come from Macomb County. St. Clair Shores owners pick them up at the Michigan Department of State's Secretary of State branches. Its seller steps are short:

1. Hand over the original title. A photocopy will not do.
2. Complete the seller part and the odometer statement.
3. Add your signature. A St. Clair Shores title with two owners needs both signatures.

Those steps list no notary.

Plates, tabs and proof

Take the plate off when the car changes hands. In St. Clair Shores, the plate is yours to put on another car you have or get. Leave it on and the buyer's tickets could come back to you. If the tabs ran out while the car sat, note that a late renewal carries an added $10 fee and expired plates are not prorated.

Michigan has no release-of-liability form. The Department of State asks St. Clair Shores sellers to photocopy the signed title, front and back, and keep it for 18 months.

Getting an offer

Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or online. Tell us about your St. Clair Shores car on the form. Our truck picks it up from your driveway, a shop in Roseville 2.5 miles away, or a relative's garage in Eastpointe. Statewide rules are on the Michigan page.