Got a dead car in Peekskill?

Why the city is strict about it

The Common Council wrote its reasons into Section 544-1. The problem of cars stored outdoors "increases with the passage of time," and the list of concerns runs from snow removal and street cleaning to "the prevention and extinguishment of fires and explosions." A separate property chapter, 230, says yards and vacant lots must be kept free of "unlicensed or unregistered vehicles." That chapter carries its own fines and the chance of a short jail term.

The one-car permit

There is a narrow way to keep an unregistered car at home for a while. The owner of a one-, two- or three-family house, or a tenant, can ask the Director of Public Works for a temporary vehicle storage permit. It covers one car that is unlicensed "but otherwise fully equipped and functional," parked on a paved driveway. The form asks you to describe the car, and you won't get the fee back. "The Director of Public Works may issue only one temporary vehicle storage permit per dwelling house in a calendar year."

So the permit fits a working car between registrations. It does not fit a car with a seized engine or missing parts. For that one, see car sitting for years.

When the notice goes unanswered

Under Section 544-3 the notice warns that if you do not comply, the city "may enter upon the land and remove" the car. What the city spends then "shall constitute a lien and a charge on the lot or parcel," collected the way the city collects delinquent taxes. A renter's dead car can end up as the landlord's tax problem.

Selling it the New York way

The seller's half of a New York sale is two signatures: one in the assignment block on the title's reverse, one on Form MV-912, the bill of sale carrying the buyer's name, the VIN, price and date. Nothing is notarized. Only a person named on the title can sell; if two names are on it, either one can.

To replace a lost title, file Form MV-902 and pay $20. Albany mails it to you. Form MV-35 is the shortcut for an owner with no valid title. There are limits. In Peekskill, the car can't be worth more than $1,250, and it must be eight model years old or older. Only state-certified or registered scrap processors, dismantlers and itinerant collectors can buy it. After that the car must be dismantled or scrapped. Read junk car with no title before you pick one.

Plates come off at the curb

Unscrew the plates and peel off the windshield sticker before the car rolls away. Return them to the NYS DMV, or shift them to a car you still own, without delay, and hold onto the FS-6T receipt. Hold off canceling the policy until then, since New York says "No insurance, no plates." With no Peekskill notice of sale to file, keep the plate receipt and a bill of sale copy as proof. After you sell covers the rest.

Getting an offer

Use the website or call (877) 421-6008. Share the model (running or not), the mileage, if it will start, and who has the title. A city garage or driveway is fine for pickup. Ossining is 9.7 miles away; statewide rules are on the New York page.