Selling a junk car in Harrisburg

Who the 30-day rule covers

Because the rule names tenants and occupants, a renter with a dead car in the driveway is covered as much as the landlord. A second clause adds that "no person shall leave any such vehicle on any property within the city for a longer time than 30 days."

The exceptions are narrow. A business outside a residential district, run lawfully, may keep vehicles it needs for its work. A proper storage place or depository is also exempt. A home driveway is neither.

How Harrisburg defines the problem cars

Section 90.01 counts a car as abandoned when it is:

• left on a street in violation of a parking law,
• left on town-owned or town-operated property "for longer than 24 hours," or
• left on any public street or highway "for longer than seven days."

Its junked-car tests include a car that "Is partially dismantled or wrecked" and one that "Does not display a current license plate and state motor vehicle inspection." Inspection status counts here, not only the tag.

Removal follows state law

Section 90.04 hands the procedure to the state: the chapter "may be enforced by removing and disposing of junked or abandoned motor vehicles according to the procedures prescribed in G.S. § 160A-303." Notice and appeal steps were not in what we read, so here is the statute's outline. Cities may haul off junked or abandoned cars under an ordinance. A car on private property can only be towed after the landowner asks in writing, unless it was declared a health or safety hazard. Owners are entitled to be offered a hearing. Harrisburg could layer extra steps over this.

Title and plates in Cabarrus County

Cabarrus County does not issue titles; NCDMV does, by mail or through a plate agency. The one office we checked for Harrisburg, 929 Concord Parkway S., Suite D, in Concord, is roughly 6 miles north of Harrisburg's center as the crow flies.

Your signature on the title's back must be made while a notary watches. Scrap-bound? Ask for the title to be canceled as JUNKED: the assignment is notarized, and the state issues no fresh title. A car whose title cannot be registered may legally go only for parts, scrap or recycling. Unscrew the plates, and unless another car will carry them, turn them in ahead of canceling coverage.

Cabarrus is on the list of 19 emissions counties, and each car must pass a yearly safety inspection within 90 days of renewal. Harrisburg's own definition looks at what the car shows: one that "Does not display a current license plate and state motor vehicle inspection". See failed inspection and car doesn't run.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form. Include the model year, make, model, miles, where the title stands, and whether it still starts. A truck can load it from a Harrisburg driveway, a rented space or a shop lot. Concord is 5.9 miles away and Mint Hill 8.9; the North Carolina page covers the rest.