A dead car in Greenville, and the city's one-car limit

What makes a car junked

The definition in Section 12-4-1 starts with the plate. A car is a junked motor vehicle "if it does not display a current license plate and also" meets one of the listed conditions, the first being that "It is partially dismantled or wrecked." A car with a valid plate is outside this definition; a wrecked one with an expired tag is inside it.

The one-car rule and the cover

Section 12-4-5 sets where a junked car may be kept:

• "One junked motor vehicle in its entirety can be located in the rear yard" if it "is entirely concealed from public view from a public street and from abutting premises by an acceptable covering."
• "For more than one junked motor vehicle, any other junked vehicle(s) must be kept in a garage or building structure that provides a complete enclosure."

A car in the front yard, a car under a cover that leaves part of it showing, or two cars out back all break the rule. The same section makes it unlawful to leave the car once it "has been ordered removed," and that applies to the land's owner, lessee or occupant as well as the car's owner.

Before the city orders it removed

The Code Enforcement Coordinator or an officer can order removal only "after finding in writing that the aesthetic benefits of removing the vehicle outweigh the burdens imposed on the private property owner."

Notice comes next. Under Section 12-4-6, if the city can identify you and your address, "the notice shall be given first by certified mail." Otherwise, or for a plain abandoned car, it is taped to the windshield. The tow date that follows is "no sooner than seven days after the notice is affixed or mailed," and the finding can be appealed.

Section 12-4-7 lets the city skip notice when there is "a special need for prompt action," such as cars "blocking or obstructing ingress or egress to businesses and residences."

Street rules for a car that won't run

Greenville's parking code is strict about dead cars on the street. Section 10-2-131 says no one shall park an "inoperable vehicle" or "junk vehicle" "at any time on any street within any area having a residential district zoning classification," nor for "more than two consecutive hours on any other street." There is an exception for a car "temporarily parked in cases of emergency involving a mechanical breakdown necessitating repairs."

Separately, Section 12-4-1 treats a car as abandoned once "It is left on any public street or highway in the city for longer than seven days."

Tickets and impound

Under Section 10-2-155, a car with "three or more unpaid parking tickets issued by the city which are at least 90 days overdue" can be wheel-locked or towed. A car that stays impounded "in excess of 30 days" may be disposed of under the junk-vehicle chapter. A written hearing request goes to the Chief of Police by mail "within seven days" of getting the notice. Section 12-4-15 makes it unlawful to take an impounded car out of storage before the fees are paid.

The N. Creek Drive title office

We checked the license plate agency at 4651 N. Creek Drive, about 4 miles northeast of the middle of Greenville as the crow flies. Pitt County is not involved; titles here come from the state.

Seller and buyer each write in who they are on the reverse, along with the sale date, mileage where the law wants it, and any damage you know of, and a notary has to see you sign. No title? A notarized MVR-4 at $25.50 starts NCDMV's 15-day hold. A scrap-bound car can go out on a JUNKED title, which ends that car's titled life for good.

With Pitt off the emissions list, a Greenville renewal hinges on the safety inspection alone. Once a registration lapses, the late fee climbs from $15 to $20 to $25 depending on how long it has been expired.

Plates

The tag is yours, so remove it on pickup day. A Greenville tag with no other car to go on goes back to the state, by mail or at a plate agency, while your insurance is still active. After you sell covers the rest.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Greenville? Call (877) 421-6008 or use our offer form. Have more than one? See several junk cars. The truck can reach the rear yard where the covered car sits or a garage. Goldsboro is 36.8 miles away and Rocky Mount 35.4; for statewide rules, see North Carolina.