Selling a dead or junk car in Omaha

How the snow rule works

The mayor or a designee declares the emergency. The code says it is announced "on at least two radio or television stations or other methods of communications whose normal operating range covers the city." Once it is in effect:

• Park on the wrong side and a "written notice of violation" goes on your car.
• The snow rules apply "in addition to existing and applicable parking regulations," so posted no-parking signs still count.
• The section lists exceptions, among them "streets with metered on-street parking."
• If a car parked against any rule in the chapter "impedes the city's removal of snow or ice," a city employee "may remove such vehicle and relocate it or deliver it to an authorized lot."

So a stalled car on an Omaha street in winter can end up hauled off, and getting it back costs money. Our guide to a towed or impounded car covers what comes next.

A dead car in your own driveway

The Omaha code sections we checked are about streets, not yards. We did not find an Omaha junk-car nuisance section to quote, so we can't give you a city deadline for a car parked on your own lot. Nebraska law lets each city decide by ordinance what counts as a nuisance and remove it, inside city limits and in its extraterritorial zoning area. Whether a junk car on private ground qualifies is up to each city. The City of Omaha may have its own limit, so call them before counting on extra days.

When Nebraska calls a car abandoned

State law sets the clocks, and they apply in Omaha too:

• Public property, no plates: 6 hours or more.
• Public property, in general: 24 hours or more.
• A legal spot where parking later becomes illegal: 48 hours after that.
• Private property: more than seven days, if the car was left without the owner's permission or stays after permission is withdrawn.

What happens next depends on the car. An abandoned Omaha car lacking current plates and worth $500 or less wholesale goes straight to the local authority's ownership. Otherwise the authority has 15 business days to notify the last-registered owner and any lienholder. In Omaha, a car nobody claims may go to sale or auction 5 days after the mailed notice, or the authority may hold it and take title after 30 days. The person who claims it covers removal and storage.

Douglas County Treasurer's title office

Nebraska titles and registrations are handled at County Treasurer offices, and the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles runs the system. We checked one Douglas County Treasurer office at 1819 Farnam Street, LC2, roughly 6 miles east of central Omaha in a straight line. There may be more county offices.

Lost the title? Any County Treasurer's office takes the Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title, and the fee is $14.00. Our guide to selling with no title has more.

Signing it over in Nebraska

• Every owner listed on the Omaha title signs in the seller spot.
• Any lien has to be released first.
• Omaha sellers complete the mileage certification and supply Form 6 or a bill of sale.
• At the sale, the purchaser's part gets the buyer's name, address and signature. Spouses can't sign as agent for each other.

Don't give a signed title away with the buyer's part still blank. That is an open title in Nebraska, and a County Official, the DMV or police can seize it. The DMV's seller steps list no notary.

Plates, refunds and the junk title

Omaha sellers who take the plates, decals and registration to the County Treasurer inside 60 days can recover the unused registration. Unused motor vehicle taxes and fees are refundable too.

Some owners junk the car themselves. Every owner signs the title over to "JUNK" (with the lienholder's permission if there is a lien) and turns it in with the plates and tabs. From then on the car can only be used for parts, and that title can never serve as the title for an assembled vehicle. Selling the whole car to a buyer is a separate route: you sign the seller's section instead.

Wrecks and salvage brands

A late-model Omaha car turns salvage once repairs hit 75% or more of retail value, or if its owner asks for a salvage title. An Omaha car's title could be branded salvage, previously salvaged, flood damaged or manufacturer buyback, the four Nebraska uses. If yours was in a crash, see wrecked or totaled and salvage title.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or ask online. Tell us about your Omaha car on the offer form. Omaha cars get free pickup anywhere in the US, from your street, a parking lot or a shop. Omaha's metro also takes in Papillion, 8.4 miles away, and Bellevue, 10.1 miles; for statewide rules, see Nebraska.