A dead car in South St. Paul: the rules and the way out

Section 118-240: inside a building, or off the lot

The full rule reaches both the car's owner and whoever controls the land. South St. Paul, city code says it is "unlawful for any person to park, store or leave any junk vehicle, whether attended or not, upon any public or private property within the city". An owner or occupant who allows it breaks the rule as well. The exception is a car kept "within an enclosed building or structure".

The South St. Paul city code we checked has no meaning for "junk vehicle." Minnesota fills that gap in Section 168B.011. Three years is the minimum age. The South St. Paul car must also be badly damaged, with its wheels, motor, drive train or transmission broken or missing, look unable to run, have no valid current plate, and be worth only scrap.

The parking pad is not a storage yard

Section 118-352 closes the other obvious spot. Required off-street parking cannot hold "vehicles that are inoperable, not currently licensed, for sale, for rent, or other nonparking purposes." Parking that belongs to a home is "solely for the parking of passenger vehicles."

There is one winter allowance. From November 15 to April 1, "up to three motor vehicles registered to the property owner or occupant may be parked in a landscaped rear or side yard," so plows can clear streets and alleys. That rule is about moving parked cars out of the plow's way, not about keeping a broken one.

Streets, snow and towing

• Plows first. Section 58-101 bars parking that would "obstruct or interfere with snowplowing or snow removal." In a declared snow emergency, "on-street parking is prohibited," and city staff will order tagging or towing.
• A car that dies on the street. Section 58-91 lets an officer tell the person in charge to move a disabled car to a safe place. If that does not happen, the officer may send it to "the nearest convenient garage or other place of safekeeping."
• Getting it back. South St. Paul police can have a car towed under Section 58-92 when it is parked against city code or state law. It goes to a commercial storage lot or a city impound lot, and it is released to the identified owner "upon payment of the impounding and storage fees."

State law adds the clocks. In South St. Paul, a car parked unlawfully on public land for 48 hours, or 4 hours under posted signs, may be called abandoned. The owner is told about the taking within five days, leaving out weekends and holidays. The state allows the car to be sold or scrapped 15 days after the notice. A South St. Paul owner gets 15 or 45 days, depending on the vehicle, to cover the towing and storage bill and reclaim it. Our towed or impounded guide walks through it.

Title, plates and the ten-day notice

Minnesota titles come from the state's Driver and Vehicle Services. A South St. Paul seller can finish a transfer at any of Minnesota's close to 200 deputy registrar offices. South St. Paul, the closest office turns up on drive.mn.gov, or by phoning 651-297-2005. We have not measured the distance to any one office from South St. Paul.

On the back of a South St. Paul car's title, write the price where the sales tax declaration goes, and add the date and disclosures. Every car needs the damage disclosure. Cars from 2011 on need an odometer disclosure for 20 years. No notary appears in the DVS seller steps. You just print your name by hand and sign the assignment. When the title still names a lender, add a lien release card or notarized lien release (lien still on the title).

The buyer gets the plates on the car, and the paid registration tax comes with them. South St. Paul, ten days is how long the seller has to file the "Notice of Sale" online or mail it in. Doing so means you are not liable for the way the car gets driven later. After you sell has the rest.

Next door

South St. Paul covers 5.625 square miles of Dakota County. West St. Paul is 2.4 miles away, Inver Grove Heights 4.2 and St. Paul 5.2. For statewide rules, see Minnesota.

Getting an offer

South St. Paul owners can call (877) 421-6008 or use our online form. We can load it from the garage 118-240 requires, next to a South St. Paul alley, or at the repair bay where the diagnosis came back bad.