Selling a dead car in Newburgh

Which cars Newburgh can remove

Section 288-54 lists the cases. A car that blocks traffic, one parked past the lawful period plus 12 hours, and one that state law (VTL 1224) treats as abandoned can all be impounded. During a snowstorm, flood, fire or other emergency, the Police Chief or a designee may also remove and store cars "if he deems such removal advisable for public safety or convenience."

Newburgh borrows its definition of abandoned from Albany: Section 70-13 sends readers to VTL 1224. That statute's clocks are short. More than six hours with no plates in a public place is enough. So is more than 24 hours in public, or more than 96 hours on somebody else's land without their say-so.

The $1,250 line

When the city designates a towed car as abandoned, it also puts a value on it. Under Section 297-22, if that value is under $1,250, the city pays the private tow company a flat $50 for the job. If it is $1,250 or more, the tow company that has the car may keep it and dispose of it under state law, or hand it over to the city. Either way, the owner has already lost control of the car.

Three tickets and a boot

The same section covers unpaid tickets. An unattended car on a street or city property "against which there are three or more outstanding or otherwise unsettled parking violation summonses within an eighteen-month period" with judgments entered can be towed or immobilized. The Director of Parking Violations mails the owner by first-class mail. A booted car gets a notice warning that moving it might cause damage. For more on tickets that follow a car, see tickets or registration hold.

Paying to get it back

Section 70-13 says towing happens "at the risk of the owner." Storage accrues for every day, partial days included, once the city has held the car longer than 24 hours. Those charges come on top of any parking fines. You pay the towing charges at the Parking Violations Bureau during its open hours. Before the car is released, you show ID and proof that you own it, or have the right to take it, and you sign a receipt and release. Weigh that against letting an impounded car go.

The New York paperwork

In New York, the owner on the title is the only one who can sell. Where two owners appear, a signature from either one does it. Your part is the seller's assignment on the title's reverse plus a signed MV-912 receipt, and no notary gets involved. Pre-1973 model years never received a New York title, so the transferable registration stands in for one. Owners who have lost the title can sometimes use Form MV-35 for a low-value older car, but only with a DMV-registered dismantler or scrap buyer, and a car sold that way stays untitled for good.

Before the car leaves, take off the plates and remove the windshield sticker. In Newburgh, plates go back to the DMV or onto your next car right away, and the policy stays on until that happens. The plate receipt is called FS-6T; file it.

Nearby towns

As the crow flies, Kiryas Joel is 13.6 miles away, Poughkeepsie 14.2, Peekskill 15.7 and Middletown 21.3. Statewide rules are on the New York page.

Getting an offer

Start online or call (877) 421-6008. Selling a Newburgh car? Use our offer form. We pick up on steep river streets, in driveways, or at the last shop.