Arnold's 14-day notice and your dead car

How the 14 days run

1. Notice arrives. Police hand it over or mail it. Mailed notice is presumed received "on the third (3rd) day following the mailing," so your two weeks can begin before the envelope gets opened.
2. Tag goes on. The car is marked in violation and "subject to towing after fourteen (14) days of the posting of said notice."
3. Tow follows. Still there on day 15 after service? The police department may arrange removal for the city, and the car is "subject to towing without further notice."

Section 385.040 sets the underlying duty: "No person shall store or allow any abandoned or derelict vehicle to remain on property in the City which is owned, occupied, or managed by such person." Section 385.070 forbids blocking police or a city agent from the property or getting in their way during removal.

Chapter 385 gives a 60-day window to a repair shop or dealer licensed by Arnold holding a car for repairs, and to an outside storage facility keeping cars with damage or missing parts. Both carry the condition that the car "is not an abandoned vehicle". Neither covers a car kept at home.

On the street, 48 hours

Section 385.030 forbids leaving on any street or highway "any derelict vehicle or any motor vehicle which does not have displayed thereon a permanent license plate or set of plates issued for that vehicle and indicating current registration." Past forty-eight (48) hours there, police may remove it, after tagging it and waiting 48 hours from the tag. Lapsed registration alone starts that count.

Once towed, Missouri's section 304.158 sends written word to the owner of record and any lender inside five working days. Our notice to remove a car guide covers both letters.

Selling from Jefferson County

Jefferson County is one of the four Missouri emissions areas, so Arnold sellers bring an emissions report no older than 60 days, together with a safety slip of the same age.

Three Missouri points tend to matter most for a dead car here:

• Old loan on the title? Revenue wants the lender's notarized Lien Release, Form 4809. More at lien still on the title.
• No title at all? Section 301.227 lets a scrap metal operator buy a dead Arnold car without one, after a lien check, if it's at least ten model years old. Once it hits 20 model years, the lien check is skipped.
• Signatures? Missouri requires no notary on title signatures.

Plates and the 30-day sale report are on our Missouri page.

Around Arnold

Kirkwood sits 11.0 miles off as the crow flies, Webster Groves 11.1, Ballwin 15.2 and downtown St. Louis 16.0. The haul-away itself is explained in junk car removal.

Getting an offer

Already tagged? Give us the date printed on the notice. Arnold sellers can describe the car on our form. Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Our driver can load it from a back yard, a storage lot or the shop holding it.