Selling a junk or dead car in Albany

How the one-week rule works

Section 359-66 sets the clock and allows two exceptions. One is a license under § 136 of the General Municipal Law. The other is a car that "is necessary for the operation of a business enterprise lawfully upon said premises."

Section 359-67 covers what comes after the week. The officer may serve written notice on the owner of the land "to remove or shelter such junk vehicle," or let the city haul it away instead. The notice reaches the landowner in one of two ways:

• in person, or
• if the owner cannot be found, "by sending a certified or registered letter to the owner of record of the real property as designated upon the assessment rolls of the City."

A notice is also "posted conspicuously on each junk vehicle." One notice covers every junk car on the parcel, so a yard with three dead cars gets one letter, not three.

Tenants, take note: Albany's letter is addressed to whoever holds the deed, so a landlord can learn about a renter's dead car first.

Ten days to claim a removed car

If the city tows the car, Section 359-69 gives the owner or an agent a ten-day period to claim it by paying the towing or removal charges. The owner must then take it "at his own expense to a legal storage space" right away.

If no one claims it, Section 359-70 says ownership "shall be deemed forfeited." The city can sell the car to the highest bidder as scrap. The owner is not billed for towing, storage or disposal, but "all moneys realized from such sale shall belong to the City." If no bids come in, the city may dispose of the car however it sees fit.

Unregistered cars count too

Albany's property maintenance rule in Section 133-71 reaches further than the junk-car chapter. It says "junked or unregistered vehicles, equipment and materials shall not be stored in open areas of premises." Even a car with a healthy engine breaks this rule once its registration has run out and it sits uncovered beside the house.

Title paperwork from the capital

Albany plays its own part in New York titles. When someone orders a duplicate, the DMV prints it in Albany and mails it out. The form is MV-902 and the fee is $20.00. Albany owners can apply online, at an office, or by mail with a copy of their ID. See junk car with no title for the rest.

An older car worth little has a second path. Form MV-35 lets an owner sell without a valid title, but only when the car has reached eight model years and is worth no more than $1,250. Albany allows just three types of buyer registered with the DMV. They are a certified scrap processor, an itinerant vehicle collector, or a vehicle dismantler. It rules out private buyers, charities and tow-truck drivers. The owner and the delivery driver each attach a government ID, and an MV-35 car is never titled again.

Holding the title makes it simpler. Sign its transfer section, sign an MV-912 bill of sale too, and skip the notary, since New York asks for none.

Plates come off at the sale

Albany sellers keep their plates. In Albany, remove the plates and scrape the registration sticker from the windshield. Then the Albany plates go back to the state or onto the seller's next car. Do it in that order, plates and then the insurance call. Cancel the policy while the plates are still registered and New York can suspend the registration and possibly your license. The FS-6T is the receipt to keep. After you sell walks through the last steps.

Nearby towns

Troy lies 7.9 miles off as the crow flies. Schenectady is 11.5 and Saratoga Springs 27.8. Each has its own junk-car rules, covered on its own page. For statewide rules, see New York.

Getting an offer

Start online or call (877) 421-6008. To get started we need to know what car it is and about how many miles it has. For an Albany car, we'll also want to know if the engine turns over and if there's a title or an MV-35. A city notice stuck to the windshield doesn't stop anything. Our driver goes to the car's spot, wherever that is.