Selling a dead or junk car in Willmar

Three street rules in the city code

• 48 hours, Section 15-50. No vehicle may be "parked or left standing at the curb on any street or avenue or any public place in the city for more than 48 hours at any one time." The city holds a lien for its charges, and the code says it can be foreclosed "in the manner provided for abandoned vehicles" under state law.
• No for-sale displays, Section 15-57. "No vehicle shall be parked on any street for the purpose of displaying it for sale." A dead car with a sign in the window belongs in the driveway, not at the curb.
• Snow emergencies, Section 15-59. During a declared emergency, cars stay off streets, highways and alleys "until snow maintenance operations have been fully completed, curb to curb." The public works superintendent can have a violating car removed, and the cost of removal is "assessed in addition to any fines."

A car in the yard: state law fills the gap

Every Willmar section we found is about public streets. None covers a car parked on private land, which leaves Minnesota's definitions as the guide, though a local ordinance we did not see could add more. Statute 168B.011 calls a Willmar car a junk vehicle only if all of these hold. It is at least three years old. Wheels, motor, drive train or transmission are missing or ruined on the Willmar car. The Willmar car also looks like it won't run. No valid current plate is on it, and it is worth scrap and nothing more. A car that's missing vital parts or can't run counts as abandoned when it's left on another person's land without the okay of whoever controls it. Storing it indoors, in an enclosed garage or a storage building, removes it from that category.

Local police or the city can impound either kind. Within five days of the taking, not counting weekends and holidays, the owner and lienholders get written notice, and 15 days later the car may be sold or scrapped. Our towed or impounded guide covers what to weigh next.

Minnesota paperwork for a Willmar sale

Titles come from the state. A Willmar title transfer can be done at any deputy registrar office in Minnesota, and there are close to 200 of them. To find a nearby office from Willmar, use drive.mn.gov or ring 651-297-2005. Both offices we checked are far from Kandiyohi County. Hennepin County's office is about 88 miles east of central Willmar in a direct line. Willmar sellers heading to Minneapolis should look for 300 South 6th Street, then Suite A-025. Call 612-348-8240. Olmsted County's office is in Rochester, about 149 miles southeast of Willmar. Willmar sellers can reach that Rochester office at 507-923-2020; it sits at 151 4th Street South East.

In Willmar, fill in the price, sale date and disclosures on the title's assignment, then sign and handprint it. The DVS seller steps list no notary. Leave the plates on, because in Minnesota they go with the car. Next comes the "Notice of Sale". A Willmar seller files it online or mails it within ten days. Statute 168A.10 then protects you: once the car is handed over and those steps are done, you are not liable as owner for how it is driven.

No title? A Willmar scrap car with no title, 10 model years old or older, can still go to a licensed dealer when DVS records show it unregistered for more than seven years. See selling with no title.

Nearby towns

Our closest other town pages are St. Cloud, 51.4 miles away, then St. Michael at 66.9, Otsego at 70.7 and Chaska at 73.9. Statewide rules are on the Minnesota page.

Getting an offer

Reach us online or at (877) 421-6008. Willmar sellers can share the car's details on the offer form. Pickup happens wherever it is parked: a farmyard outside town, a garage in Willmar, or a driveway it was pushed into before the 48 hours ran out.