Selling a dead or junk car in Statesville

Statesville's three labels

Section 13-21 sorts problem cars into three kinds:

• Abandoned: parked against a parking law, or "left on any public street or highway for longer than seven (7) days without valid registration or license plate."
• Junked: no current plate, plus wrecked, partly dismantled or another listed condition.
• Nuisance: a junked car on public or private property that is declared "a health or safety hazard, a public nuisance, or unlawful," or any car the city council specifically declares a hazard and nuisance.

Statesville's removal and notice sections were not among those we read. The next part therefore leans on state statutes, and Statesville could add procedures of its own.

What state law allows

G.S. Under 160A-303, a North Carolina city can do two things. Statesville may keep abandoned cars off its streets and off public or private land, and it may haul away junked or abandoned ones. Two limits come with it. Statesville tows from private land once the landowner asks in writing, or sooner if the car is named a health or safety hazard. The owner can also ask for a hearing. Under state law, city rules also call a car abandoned once it sits on a private lot over two hours when the lot owner never said yes.

The state can act on its own as well. Once it tags a derelict or abandoned car, the owner has five days from that tag date; then the car is hauled off for sale, and written notice goes out to the last registered owner and lienholders.

Two Statesville parking traps

The lot at the police department, 330 South Tradd Street, has a two-hour limit under Section 12-138, except for the Rotary Farmers Market. Overstay and police can order a tow, and the code puts "the towing and storage charges" on the owner. City parks are stricter after hours: Section 15-23 lets the city tow a car left at a closed recreation facility, and you reclaim it by paying the towing fees. For a car already in a lot, see towed or impounded.

Title and plates from Iredell County

Iredell County does not title cars; NCDMV does, at plate agencies or through the mail. For Statesville sellers we checked three offices. Conover's, 803 Conover Blvd. W., is roughly 20 miles west of downtown Statesville as the crow flies. Statesville owners drive about 30 miles southeast to reach Suite D at 929 Concord Parkway S. in Concord. Lenoir's, 1402 Blowing Rock Blvd., is roughly 39 miles west.

Ownership does not pass under state law until two things happen: the assignment on the title's reverse is signed before a notary, and the car is handed over. Unbolt the plates on sale day and turn them in before you stop paying for coverage; NCDMV can refund part of the annual plate fee you did not use. Lost the title? A notarized MVR-4 costs $25.50 on the current form, and NCDMV holds it 15 days before acting. See junk car with no title.

Iredell is an emissions county, on top of the statewide yearly safety inspection. A car that has reached its twentieth birthday is spared the emissions test.

Getting an offer

Statesville owners can call (877) 421-6008 or send the form for an offer. Pickup can happen in a Statesville backyard, along a driveway, or at a garage that has given up on it. Mooresville sits 14.0 miles away and Salisbury 22.8; state rules live on the North Carolina page.