Selling a junk car in St. Michael

A parking space is not storage

Section 155.074 says required off-street parking spaces in any district "shall not be utilized for open storage, sale or rental of goods, storage of inoperable vehicles, and/or storage of snow." The same section prohibits parking in "any portion of the front yard" except the designated driveway into a garage or an off-drive parking area, and those driveways must be surfaced with brick, concrete or bituminous material.

Put together, the two handiest places for a dead car, the required space on the driveway and the front lawn, are both restricted.

Commercial sites under Section 155.063's use standards get blunter wording: "No unlicensed or inoperable vehicles may be stored on the property," and junk or damaged vehicles and parts must sit inside a building or be screened from public streets and neighbors.

Street and park limits

Section 71.04 of St. Michael's code bars any vehicle from a public street "for a continuous period in excess of 48 hours." Signed zones in St. Michael can set a shorter limit. The section also makes it unlawful to remove or erase a mark an officer puts on a tire to time how long a car has been parked, so wiping off the chalk restarts nothing.

City parks have their own rule (Section 92.03): no vehicle, trailer or equipment may be left in a park between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and one found there may be towed and impounded by a city police officer or a county sheriff's deputy.

Impound under Minnesota law

The St. Michael sections we found do not lay out a vehicle impound process of their own, so for junk and abandoned cars the state's applies. Notice goes to the registered owner and lienholders within five days of the taking, excluding weekends and holidays. Once notice has gone out, a St. Michael car may be sold or disposed of after fifteen days. In St. Michael, depending on the type of vehicle, the owner gets 15 or 45 days to settle the towing and storage costs and take it home. See towed or impounded.

Selling in Minnesota, step by step

1. When the car is handed over, sign the title's assignment. Fill in the real sale price, the sale date and the damage disclosure, plus the odometer reading on 2011 and newer models. The DVS seller steps list no notary.
2. If a lender still appears on the St. Michael title still naming a lender must be mailed with a notarized lien release or the lender's release card.
3. Leave the plates on the car. Your right to use them ends at the sale, and the paid registration tax goes to the buyer.
4. A St. Michael seller files the sale online or mails in the title's Notice of Sale within ten days.

The transfer goes through a deputy registrar office. To find an office near St. Michael, call 651-297-2005 or look up the closest office on drive.mn.gov. Missing the title? See selling with no title.

Getting an offer

St. Michael sellers can reach us at (877) 421-6008 or online. St. Michael covers more than 32 square miles, and free pickup anywhere in the US reaches every corner of it, wherever the car is parked. Nearby: Otsego, Elk River and Ramsey. Statewide rules: Minnesota.