Selling a junk car in Cornelius

The one car you may keep

Section 90.18 puts it this way: "One junked motor vehicle, in its entirety, can be located in the rear yard as defined by the town's zoning ordinance ... if the junked motor vehicle is entirely concealed from public view from a public street and from abutting premises by an acceptable covering." Whether your covering passes is not your call: "The Town Manager has the authority to determine whether any junked motor vehicle is adequately concealed." A second junked car belongs inside an enclosed garage or building.

Who enforces what

Section 90.19 divides the work. "The Police Department shall be responsible" for cars abandoned on streets and town property. On home lots and other private land, "The Zoning Administrator shall be responsible" for abandoned, nuisance and junked cars. Removal orders come from the Town Manager, who must first put in writing why the neighborhood's gain outweighs the owner's burden.

Section 90.26 keeps town tow trucks off private lots unless asked: "In no case will a vehicle be removed by the town from private property without a written request of the owner, occupant or lessee," apart from nuisance vehicles and junked cars the Town Manager has ordered gone.

Seven days of notice

Cornelius Section 90.20 says that when the owner's name and address are known, "the notice shall be given by first-class mail." Otherwise a windshield notice gives a removal date "no sooner than seven days after the notice is affixed." Instead of moving the car you can appeal "to the Board of Commissioners in writing." Contract towers may charge only board-approved fees. During a case, Section 90.24 returns the car to an owner "by paying the towing fee, including any storage charges, or by posting a bond for double the amount of such fees and charges."

A car that breaks down on a median may stay there only briefly: Section 71.06 allows a disabled car on a median "for a period not to exceed 24 hours."

Title and plates in Mecklenburg County

Mecklenburg has no county title desk. NCDMV issues titles, reached through plate agencies or by mail. The office we looked up for Cornelius, 3250 Wilkinson Blvd., Suite G, in Charlotte, is about 17 miles south of downtown on a map.

A Cornelius seller's title signature needs a notary present. Bound for the crusher? North Carolina lets that title be canceled: JUNKED goes on its face, the assignment gets notarized, and the state never prints a replacement. Keep the tags and turn them in ahead of dropping coverage. If Cornelius sellers still show as owner after the sale, a notarized MVR-46F affidavit asks NCDMV to clear the car from their registration file.

Mecklenburg adds an emissions test to the yearly safety check, one more bill for a car parked by the lake that never leaves. See car doesn't run, or junk car with no title if the paperwork is gone.

Getting an offer

Send the form or dial (877) 421-6008. Selling a car in Cornelius? The offer form gets it started. Collection can happen at a lake house, a townhome garage or a mechanic's lot. Huntersville is 4.6 miles off and Mooresville 8.2; North Carolina covers the state-level rules.