St. Charles junk cars under Missouri law

No city code online, so state law fills in

We looked for the City of St. Charles code online and came up empty. So the clocks below are Missouri statutes, and local ordinances, if St. Charles has them, could add to them or be tighter. A state statute even leaves room for a local government agency to provide for towing vehicles off real property by ordinance. Ask City Hall about local limits before planning around a date.

Missouri's clocks for abandoned cars

• Private land: 48 hours. Once a car sits unattended on private property longer than that, law enforcement can approve a tow, or sooner for a safety hazard (Section 304.157).
• Urban interstate or freeway: 10 hours. Abandoned property there may be removed after ten hours (Section 304.155).
• Notice: five working days. The owner of record and any lienholder must be told of the removal in writing within that span (Section 304.158).
• Holding period: 30 days, sometimes 10. Cities and counties keep an abandoned car 30 days past notice. Ten days applies to a car over six years old, more than half wrecked (over 50% damaged) and valued below $200, which then passes to a licensed scrap or salvage dealer (Section 304.156). That $200 is a legal cutoff only.

When the car on your property isn't yours at all, car abandoned on your property goes further.

The inspections, up close

That safety paper can't be more than 60 days old at hand-over. Exempt are cars below 150,000 miles during the decade after their model year. The emissions inspection follows the seller's home address, so a St. Charles address brings it in whatever shape the car is in. A car that has already failed is covered in failed emissions.

Title steps for a St. Charles seller

Titles are a state product here. Take yours to a Missouri license office, any one at all, or to the Motor Vehicle Bureau's office in Jefferson City.

When you sign: nothing to notarize. Fill in the mileage and the day it sold; Missouri forbids correction fluid or erasing on the title. A loan in the car's past means a notarized Form 4809 lien release travels with it.

On pickup day: you keep the plates, so pull them before the buyer gets the car. Report it to Revenue within 30 days. Two forms qualify: DOR-5049, the Notice of Sale, and DOR-1957, the Bill of Sale. Newer titles even print a tear-off DOR-5049A.

A lost title costs $8.50 to duplicate, plus $9 in processing. Junk car with no title covers other routes, and after you sell has the final steps.

Getting an offer

St. Charles owners can call (877) 421-6008 or use the offer form. The truck meets St. Charles cars where they wait, at home, in a complex's lot, or at a garage. St. Peters and O'Fallon have their own pages, and Missouri covers the state.