Selling a dead or junk car in Warren

What Warren's code does say

Two parts of the code touch cars like yours:

• Wrecking. Section 30-46 says "It shall be unlawful for any licensee to cause any vehicles or parts thereof to be wrecked, dismantled or junked on the licensed premises" "unless the property is properly zoned and a valid certificate of occupancy has been issued for such purposes." Taking cars apart is a zoned use, not something a licensee can do anywhere.
• Recreational units. Section 5A.04 bans them from the front or side yard at a single- or two-family home. The one exception lets a unit stay on an established driveway up to "seventy-two (72) hours" for loading, unloading, trip prep or routine repairs. Section 5A.08 lets one park on the street in front of the house for a limited stretch under the traffic code.

Neither section sets a rule for an inoperable car at a home. Call the city before assuming one can stay.

The state's abandoned-car steps

The state law covers two things. One is a car left 48 hours or longer on public property. The other is a car on another person's land without their OK. For that second case, a Warren landowner can phone a towing agency. The Warren tow company must keep the car within 15 miles and let police know before hooking it. Police can also order a car moved to safekeeping, billed to the last titled owner, for example when it blocks a landowner from using their own lot.

After Warren police take the car, the Secretary of State must give them the owner and lender details within 7 days. Next comes a letter to the Warren owner. The notice says the car will be sold if 20 days lapse without redemption or a hearing request. To get a hearing, a Warren owner must petition the court within that time, post a $40.00 bond and pay the tow and storage charges. Should nobody step in, the Warren car can't go to public sale until at least 20 days later. See towed or impounded.

State law leaves a junk car on its owner's own land to local ordinances, which is why a call to the city matters here.

Title and plates in Macomb County

Warren sellers deal with the state, not Macomb County, for titles: the Michigan Department of State runs them through its Secretary of State branches. Sign the original certificate over to the buyer after you write in the odometer reading and fill out the seller block. Co-owners each add a signature. Seller instructions from the state don't call for a notary.

A Warren seller stays on the state's owner record until the buyer completes the transfer. MCL 257.240 shields a Warren seller who goes to a branch with the buyer. Saving sale records for 18 months also works. In Warren, a photocopy of the reassigned title is one such record. A Warren seller can instead keep a buyer-signed page listing their name, address, driver license number, the price paid and the date. Have neither and the law fines you $15 as a civil infraction and assumes you owe the tow and storage bills if the car turns up abandoned. With a 48-hour abandonment rule in play, file that proof where you can find it.

Unbolt the plate before the car goes; it is yours to reuse on another vehicle you own or buy. If it stays on, tickets the buyer earns could be charged to you. A lost title costs $15 to replace by mail, with about 14 days of wait, or $20 at a branch counter for same-day. See junk car with no title.

Getting an offer

Use the form or ring (877) 421-6008. Tell us about your Warren car on the form. In Warren, we pick up right where the car died, like a side street driveway or a shop lot along a main road. Nearby pages cover Madison Heights at 4.1 miles, Eastpointe at 4.4 and Sterling Heights at 6.1. The Michigan page has the statewide rules.