Got a dead car in Middletown? Here is what the city code says

Chapter 457: the 30 days, then five more

The city opens the chapter with a warning that the problem of junk cars on private land "increases with the passage of time." Section 457-1 makes it unlawful for an owner, tenant, occupant or agent to store an abandoned, junked, discarded or unlicensed car, or its parts, on any private land. The rule is tied to the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.

When the city finds one, the notice gives five days from its date. You can remove the car, or appear before the Commissioner of Public Works at City Hall and explain why you should not have to. If you do neither, the notice warns that the city's agents "will enter upon your land" and take it. Ignoring the notice is itself a violation of the chapter.

Two cars can be a junkyard

Chapter 306 defines an automobile junkyard as any place where "two or more unregistered, old, or secondhand motor vehicles" no longer fit for legal road use are kept, whether for used parts or for their metal, glass or fabric. Keeping one takes a license from the City Clerk. So does buying "old automobiles" or "inoperative automobile bodies" as a business. The code gives two fence heights for a yard. Section 306-9 asks for a screening fence 8 to 12 feet high, while Section 306-1 sets a solid fence of 6 to 9 feet. Nothing inside may be piled above the fence, and fuel and fluids come out before a car is taken apart.

So one dead car you are about to sell is a Chapter 457 question. Two, kept for parts, can start to look like a yard that needs a license.

Snow and a car that will not start

Once 2 1/2 inches or more of snow falls, and until the streets are clear, Middletown bans parking on a street during plowing "unless such vehicle is attended by a person capable of operating it." Standing right next to a car with a dead engine won't get it out of the plow's path. For a first conviction under that traffic article, the fine is up to $50, up to 15 days in jail, or both.

Plates first, then insurance

New York's rule is "No insurance, no plates." So once your Middletown car is sold, take off its plates and the registration sticker on the windshield. Turn the plates in to the DMV before the insurance ends, or the registration can be suspended, and possibly your license too. The DMV does not accept plate frames or fasteners. Ask for receipt FS-6T and keep it. Middletown sellers file no notice of sale in New York. The plate receipt and bill of sale serve as proof.

For a Middletown sale, you sign the seller section on the title's back plus an MV-912 sales receipt. New York needs no notary. Replacing a missing title through Form MV-902 costs $20.00. Some untitled cars can go out on Form MV-35 instead, though only to DMV-registered scrap and dismantling businesses. Selling with no title explains both routes.

Nearby towns

Kiryas Joel is 15.1 miles away as the crow flies, Newburgh 21.3 miles and Poughkeepsie 31.2 miles. For the statewide rules, see New York.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or ask online. Selling a car in Middletown? Our offer form takes the details. We pick up at the spot it quit, be that a driveway near downtown or behind a repair shop.