Selling a dead or junk car in Durham

Why Durham regulates junked cars

Section 26-149 rests on a state statute that "authorizes the city to regulate and to prohibit junked motor vehicles on public grounds and on private property." The section lists its purposes, and one of them is unusually personal: "Promotion of the comfort, happiness and emotional stability of the occupants of property in the vicinity of junked motor vehicles." The city charter adds its own power. Section 55 lets the council regulate the keeping on private property of any car "that does not display a current license plate" and meets further conditions, and for those cars the usual state requirement of a written request from the property owner does not apply. Bona fide automobile graveyards and junkyards are carved out.

What the housing code administrator looks at

The housing code administrator decides, not the police. In applying the definition, the administrator "shall take into consideration, but not be limited to, whether the vehicle has a valid inspection decal as evidence of the stationary character of the vehicle," and whether "the tires, wheels and other essential parts" are present. A car on flat tires with a long-expired decal is the picture the code has in mind.

After investigating, the administrator may order the car removed from private property "after finding in writing that the aesthetic benefits of removing the vehicle outweigh the burdens imposed on the private property owner." After an order, the code makes it unlawful for anyone tied to the car or the land, from the registered owner to a tenant, to let it stay.

Seven days' notice and a hearing

Section 26-150 requires written notice to the registered owner "at the last known address on file with the Division of Motor Vehicles at least seven days prior to towing." If nobody can be identified, the notice goes on the windshield instead. Either way it must give the tow date and "a telephone number to request a pre-tow hearing." The car will not be removed sooner than seven days after the notice unless you bring it into compliance first. The city may drop the seven-day wait "where there is a special need for prompt action to eliminate traffic obstructions or to otherwise maintain and protect the public safety and welfare."

That makes the DMV address important. If you moved and never updated it, the notice may go somewhere you no longer live.

After a tow

Section 26-152 lets you reclaim a removed car by paying the city "all reasonable costs incidental to the removal and storage." If you contest the tow, the car can be released pending a hearing when you post a bond. If it is neither redeemed nor contested, the administrator may sell it by public or private sale 30 days after the obligation to pay those costs matures. The department may also dispose of a car immediately if the owner signs a consent form.

Cars towed from streets and city facilities fall under Section 66-399. The police send written notice of the removal and the possible sale. You regain the car by paying the city or the tow company the reasonable towing and storage costs. When a car has no plates or other identification, a single notice in a county newspaper counts as notice. See towed or impounded.

Three counties, two emissions answers

Durham crosses three county lines. Of the state's 19 emissions counties, Durham County and Wake County are on the list and Orange County is not. All three still fall under the statewide annual safety inspection. Emissions testing skips any car two decades old or more. If the registration has already run out, the late fee starts at $15 in the first month, rises to $20 in the second, and tops out at $25 after that.

Title offices and paperwork

NCDMV, a state agency, issues every title; Durham sellers deal with it through a plate agency or the mail, never a county office. Two offices were on our list. The one at 4215 University Drive, Suite 8, sits about 4 miles west of downtown Durham as the crow flies. The New Bern Ave. office in Raleigh (4121) sits about 22 miles southeast.

Per state law, title does not change hands until the owner signs the assignment before a notary and delivers the car. Both sides list their names and addresses on the reverse. You add the sale date, sign, print your name, and record the odometer where required and the damage statement. MVR-181 is the form for disclosing damage you know about. If two people own a Durham car, both sign in front of the notary, and the second owner's license or ID is copied and included. Scrapping it? The title can be canceled as JUNKED through a notarized assignment, after which the state prints no new one. With the title missing, start with a notarized MVR-4, $25.50 on the current form, and allow NCDMV its 15-day wait; see junk car with no title.

Plates and the registration file

At the sale, the plates come off and stay yours. Keep Durham liability coverage on until the plates are on another car you own or turned in at a plate agency or by mail. The unused share of the yearly plate fee can come back to you from NCDMV. If the sold car still shows up under your name, file the notarized MVR-46F affidavit so NCDMV pulls it from the registration files. After you sell covers what is left.

Getting an offer

Fill in the form or call (877) 421-6008. Have a car in Durham to sell? Start with the offer form. In Durham we pick up near downtown, in apartment lots, on streets by campus, or at repair shops. Chapel Hill is 8.7 miles away, Morrisville 10.3 and Raleigh 17.6; the North Carolina page carries statewide rules.