Selling a junk or dead car in Lincoln

What Nebraska law says about abandoned cars

Section 60-1901 sets the clocks the whole state uses:

• Private property. A car left unattended "more than seven days" on private property is abandoned if it was left there without the property owner's permission, or stayed after permission was withdrawn.
• Public property, no plates. Abandoned after more than 6 hours.
• Public property, general. Abandoned after more than 24 hours.
• Legal parking that turns illegal. Abandoned 48 hours after the parking became illegal.

Those rules are about cars left where they do not belong. They do not answer whether you can keep a dead car on your own driveway. That question belongs to the city: under Section 18-1720, cities may "define, regulate, suppress and prevent nuisances," within city limits and their zoning jurisdiction, and whether a junk car on one's own lot counts "is set by each city ordinance." So check Lincoln's own rules for that.

What happens after a tow

State law decides who ends up with an abandoned car. Section 60-1902 says that when it lacks current plates and is worth $500 or less wholesale, "title immediately vests in the local authority or state agency." That amount is a legal cutoff, not an offer from anyone.

Every other car in Lincoln falls under Section 60-1903, which gives the authority 15 business days to reach the last-registered owner and any lienholder. If nobody in Lincoln claims it, the car may be sold or auctioned 5 days after the mailed notice. The authority can also hold it and get title after 30 days. Whoever claims the car pays the removal and storage costs. Our towed or impounded guide covers getting one back.

Lancaster County Treasurer

We checked the office at 625 N 46th St., phone 402-441-7497, roughly 1 mile northeast of downtown Lincoln. The rules come from Nebraska's Department of Motor Vehicles, yet you do titles and registrations at a County Treasurer office such as this one.

Selling a car you own outright takes a few signatures and no notary step in the DMV's seller list:

1. All people listed on the title sign as seller. A lien has to be released before that.
2. Fill in the odometer certification.
3. Lincoln sellers give their buyer Form 6 or else a bill of sale.
4. Don't give up the title until the purchaser's part has the buyer's name, address and signature. In Lincoln, a husband or wife may not sign the title as agent for the other.

A title signed by the seller with the buyer's part blank is an "open title," and it can be confiscated by a county official, the DMV or law enforcement. Once you sell, you have 60 days to turn the plates, registration and decals in to the treasurer. Unused registration fees, motor vehicle taxes and fees are refundable after a transfer.

Damaged, flooded or rebuilt cars

Section 60-174 lists four Lincoln title brands: manufacturer buyback, flood damaged, salvage and previously salvaged. Under Section 60-171, a late-model car is salvage once repairs reach 75% of its retail value or more, or when the owner opts for a salvage title no matter the damage, age or value.

Turning a Salvage Certificate back into a regular title needs a Sheriff's inspection. The County Sheriff handles required VIN inspections for $10, and the new title carries the "Previously Salvaged" brand from then on. See salvage title.

Long-parked cars and the junk title

For a car parked for years, Nebraska may charge registration fees going back to the title date or the last expiration. To avoid that charge, a Lincoln owner can sign an affidavit of storage and non-use in front of a notary. It shows the car sat off Nebraska highways for at least one full registration period. An expired registration only becomes delinquent on the first day of the next month.

Owners who scrap a car themselves sign the title to "JUNK" and surrender it with the plates and tabs to any County Treasurer or the DMV. The state then notes the junk status and destroys the title. From then on it is a parts vehicle, good only "for scrap and parts." If the title is lost, first replace it using an Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title, which costs $14.00.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form for your Lincoln car. We come to apartment lots near downtown, shops at the city edge and garages across Lancaster County. Lincoln is 44.6 miles from Fremont and 45.0 miles from Omaha; the Nebraska page has state rules in one place.