Selling a dead or junk car in Northfield

Two sections, one answer: indoors or gone

Northfield covers dead cars twice. Section 46-7 calls abandoned, junk, unauthorized and inoperable vehicles "nuisances and blight" and says they "are prohibited from being stored in the open on private land, public streets, rights-of-way, or land." Its list of reasons goes past the 90-day licence rule to vehicles that are "wrecked, abandoned, in a state of disrepair, or incapable of being moved under its own power."

Section 22-56, the blight chapter, is shorter: "In any area, the storage of junk automobiles is prohibited." It defines a junk automobile as a vehicle, part of one or former one, "stored in the open, which is not currently licensed for use upon the highways of the state," plus further conditions the section lists. The only exception it names is "a permitted junkyard or salvage yard."

Read together, the two sections leave one legal spot for a car that has stopped running or lost its plates: inside an enclosed structure.

Front yards and landscaped strips

The land development code adds a placement rule. Under Section 3.3, "No front or street side setback shall be used for the storage of building materials, scrap, junk, machinery," and landscaped areas in an approved plan must be kept free of "unlicensed or inoperative vehicles." Section 46-6 separately treats outside parking of large numbers of vehicles on residential lots as a public nuisance, among its reasons that it "creates cluttered and otherwise unsightly areas."

If the city tows it

The sections above do not set Northfield's own towing clock, so state law fills the gap. Cities and peace officers in Minnesota may impound abandoned or junk vehicles. Once a car is towed, written notice has to reach the registered owner and any lender within five days. Weekends and holidays do not count toward that. Fifteen days on from that letter, a junk vehicle may go to sale or the crusher, and a current plate does not stop it. The city may have further steps of its own.

Signing it over in Minnesota

Being split between Rice and Dakota counties changes nothing here, because Minnesota titles come from the state. Northfield sellers can file at whichever deputy registrar suits them; nearly 200 are listed at drive.mn.gov.

All of your entries go on the title's back. A Northfield seller signs the assignment, puts the price in the sales tax declaration spot, notes the date and any damage, and records mileage on a 2011 or newer car. No notary is needed anywhere in the DVS steps for Northfield. Leave the plates bolted on; the buyer keeps them.

Within ten days, detach and mail the Notice of Sale or file the sale electronically, giving the buyer's name, address, license number and the date. If you file in time, you are not counted as the owner should the car crash down the road. Lost title? See junk car with no title. The rest is in after you sell.

Nearby

Faribault is 12 miles away as the crow flies, Farmington about 14 and Lakeville about 16. Statewide rules are on the Minnesota page.

Getting an offer

Use the form or ring (877) 421-6008. Northfield owners can send the form or call. A driver can come to a garage, a Rice County farm lane, or a spot near Bridge Square.