Selling a dead or junk car in Rosemount

Rosemount's ban, quoted

Section 8-2-2: "It is unlawful for any person to park, store or leave any junked vehicle, whether attended or not, upon any public or private property within the city." Section 11-6-8 repeats it nearly word for word. The nuisance chapter, 9-4-7, points to the zoning rule that "unlicensed vehicles, junk vehicles" belong inside structures. That pulls in a car with stale tabs, not just a wreck.

Rosemount also caps the count. Outdoors, an RR (rural residential) lot may hold "ten (10) vehicles per dwelling unit." Lots zoned R-1, R-1A, R-2, R-3 or R-4 may hold "six (6)." A dead third car counts toward that total.

Twenty-four hours and the plow

8-2-2 again: "No owner of a vehicle shall leave, park or permit the same to stand on any city street or alley for more than twenty four (24) hours." After two inches of snow or more, the street is off limits until it is "plowed curb to curb." Rosemount holds the registered owner responsible along with the driver who left it.

When Rosemount tows

Under 8-2-3, police may have a car hauled from a street if it breaks those rules or is "stalled thereon." It stays put until "reasonable costs of storing and towing the same have been fully paid." Unpaid charges turn into a possessory lien that may be foreclosed.

Section 7-6-4-1 sets the reclaim window. An owner or lienholder has 15 days after notice to pay up for "abandoned or junk vehicles," and 45 days for "unauthorized vehicles." Read towed or impounded before paying a big storage bill on a car you meant to scrap.

Title offices on our list

Minneapolis (Hennepin County): 300 S. 6th St., #A-025; phone 612-348-8240. From central Rosemount that is about 19 miles northwest, measured as the crow flies. Rochester (Olmsted County): 151 4th St. SE; phone 507-923-2020; about 58 miles southeast. Minnesota's deputy registrars can process a transfer too.

The Minnesota half of the deal

As the Rosemount car changes hands, fill out the title's assignment and warranty with the real sale price. Rosemount sellers then add the date and two disclosures, damage on every car and odometer on 2011 and newer. DVS's seller steps include no notary. Plates stay on and go with the car.

The Notice of Sale is your shield. Mail the stub from the title, or report online, within ten days. Under 168A.10, a seller who does that is not on the hook as owner for what happens once the car is driven away.

Insurance write-offs work differently. When a Rosemount car can't be fixed, the one taking it gives up the title and requests a junking certificate. With it they can only keep and transport the car.

Getting an offer

Start online or ring (877) 421-6008. Send the form for your Rosemount car. We haul from garages, repair shops, or the farm lot where it quit. A seized motor is common; see blown engine. Apple Valley and Inver Grove Heights are nearby, and the Minnesota page has the state rules.