Selling a dead or junk car in Passaic

The rule in Section 293-3

Section 293-3 of the city code covers anyone "in charge or control of any property within the City, whether as owner, tenant, lessee, occupant or otherwise." No such person may keep "any abandoned, discarded, wrecked, junked, dismantled or partially dismantled vehicle" on the property, or let someone else leave one there. The way out the code gives is to keep the car in an enclosed building, garage, barn or shed. The fine is set in Section 295-17.1.

Note who the rule reaches. A tenant is covered as much as the owner, so a renter whose car died in the lot is on the hook too.

Streets, vacant lots and lawns

Section 179-8, titled "Inoperable vehicles," adds a second rule. It begins: "No person shall keep or permit the keeping on streets, vacant lots or residential premises, except in a fully enclosed structure, any motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer which:" The conditions that follow are cut off in the copy we read, so check the full section with the city.

Section 179-1 closes off two workarounds people try:

• The lawn. No owner or tenant "shall park or permit the parking of any vehicle on any residential lawn."
• The parts pile. Tires may not be stored in residential zones except in a fully enclosed structure or on tire collection days.

The same section bans dumping a vehicle or vehicle parts along any road, or on someone else's land without written consent.

Public property and empty houses

Section 293-2 makes it unlawful to abandon a car, truck, trailer or "junk automobile body" on public property owned or kept up by the City of Passaic, the Board of Education, Passaic County or the State. And in the city's vacant-property rules, Section 151-2 lists "abandoned vehicles, auto parts and/or materials" among the signs that a house is no longer lived in. A dead car out front can help put a property on that list.

Title and plates in New Jersey

You cannot mail in a title transfer. It is done at a motor vehicle agency. Your signature goes on the back, in the part marked for the seller. Your Passaic buyer leaves holding the title plus a bill of sale. That paper names them, gives where they live, and records the day, the odometer and what they paid. Pull your plates before the car goes; New Jersey has you hand them in at an agency or transfer them to another car you own.

If the title is missing, the MVC Vehicle Center we checked for Passaic County is at 125 Broadway, Suite 201, in Paterson, about 5 miles northwest of the middle of Passaic as the crow flies. In Passaic, a duplicate title is $60, with an appointment and form OS/SS-UTA required. More in junk car with no title.

Getting an offer

Passaic is small, with 71,337 people on 3.133 square miles, so the car is rarely far from a street a tow truck can reach. Phone (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Send a quick note about your Passaic car and the form covers the rest. Neighbors Clifton and Garfield have their own pages, and New Jersey has the statewide rules.