Selling a junk car in Monroe

When Monroe treats a car as junked

Monroe adopts the state wording. A junked vehicle is one "that does not display a current license plate" and meets one more condition. Under G.S. 160A-303 those conditions include wreck damage, a partly stripped body, a car that cannot propel itself, or a car past its fifth year valued under $100 ($500 where a local ordinance picks that figure).

Section 90.05 lets the authorizing official order removal "after finding in writing that the aesthetic benefits of removing the vehicle outweigh the burdens imposed on the private property owner." After that order, keeping the car there breaks the code for its owner and for anyone occupying the land.

Monroe's 10-day clocks

Section 10.19 runs on 10-day steps. A notice of violation comes in person or by first class mail. You then have 10 days to appeal. A Monroe car still in place 10 days after service can draw a civil citation, and the code adds that "civil citations may be issued for each day the same or similar violation continues." Ignore a citation for 10 days and the city can sue to collect the penalty, costs and attorney fees.

Before and after a tow

Section 90.06 puts notice ahead of any tow. A junked car whose owner can be traced gets a letter by first class mail. An abandoned car, or one with no traceable owner, gets a windshield notice naming a removal date "no sooner than seven days after the notice is affixed." On Monroe streets, a car turns abandoned once it is "left on a public street or highway for longer than seven days."

City tow trucks mostly stay off private land. Section 90.12 says "In no case will a vehicle be removed by the city from private property without a written request of the owner, occupant or lessee," except hazardous cars and junked cars already ordered gone. Section 90.10 lets an owner reclaim a towed car "by paying the towing fee, including any storage charges, or by posting a bond for double the amount of such fees and charges."

Title, plates and inspection from Union County

North Carolina, not Union County, issues the title. The paperwork goes through a license plate agency, or NCDMV takes it by mail. We checked three offices for Monroe sellers. In a straight line, downtown Monroe is about 24 miles southeast of Charlotte's office at 3250 Wilkinson Blvd., Suite G. The Concord office, 929 Concord Parkway S., Suite D, sits roughly 27 miles north. Gastonia's, at 246 N. New Hope Road, Suite 239, lies about 38 miles northwest.

On the back of the title, you and the buyer write names, addresses and the sale date. You add your signature, your printed name, the odometer reading when required and the damage disclosure, and a notary watches you sign. Keep the plates. Before canceling insurance, a Monroe owner turns the plates in to NCDMV, by mail or at a plate agency. NCDMV may refund the unused share of the plate fee. No title in the glovebox? You get a new one with Form MVR-4. For Monroe owners it needs a notary, and NCDMV waits 15 days after it comes in. See junk car with no title.

Union County sits on the list of 19 emissions counties. A dead car kept registered in Monroe needs that test plus the yearly safety inspection. See failed inspection.

Getting an offer

Reach us online or at (877) 421-6008. The form asks what we need. Our truck can reach a car behind a house off a Monroe side street, in a driveway, or in a repair bay. Indian Trail is 6.9 miles away and Waxhaw 11.0; state rules are on the North Carolina page.