Selling a dead or junk car in Brunswick

Uninsured counts too

Brunswick amended its property maintenance code to cast a wide net. On any lot, public or private, it forbids keeping a vehicle that is inoperative, unlicensed or uninsured, whether parked there or stored. The same goes for a vehicle the Chief Building Official or a designee judges seldom moved, and for an immovable one.

Plates don't save a car that is half taken apart: major disassembly, disrepair and stripping are all banned, valid registration or not. Heavy repair, body work included, is allowed only "inside a structure or similarly enclosed area designed and approved by the Fire Chief and the Chief Building Official or designee of the City for such purposes." A home garage project doesn't automatically qualify.

The junk-vehicle section

Section 660.07 targets a car extensively damaged and apparently inoperable, with missing wheels, tires, motor or transmission given as examples. It applies once the car has sat uncovered in the open, not concealed inside a building, for more than 72 hours. That covers private property with the owner's permission and public property alike.

Brunswick's Building and Zoning Inspector, or an agent, sends the certified letter. Within ten days of getting it, the car "either shall be covered by being housed in a garage or other suitable structure or shall be removed from the property." Ignore that and the code presumes willfulness, with a new count every 30 days. A first conviction is the lightest grade, a minor misdemeanor; the second jumps to fourth degree, and the third and any later ones are third degree.

Snow and tows

Two inches piling up inside a day puts Brunswick in a snow emergency. The ban ordered by the City Manager/Safety Director reaches every street, avenue, alley and viaduct; it cannot begin until an hour has passed since the first announcement, and it holds for a full day at minimum. Cars left out can be impounded.

Section 404.08 lists the usual tow grounds: an unwelcome car on private land past 48 straight hours, two days or more on a public road with no word to the chief, or a street wreck too dangerous to drive. To get one back, satisfy the police offices on identity and ownership, cover the fines or a court bond, and pay towing plus storage. A private tow charge is a lien on the car, and the custodian won't release it until that charge is paid (404.09).

Abandonment under 404.11 (over 72 hours on someone else's property, or 48 on a street with police uninformed) is a minor misdemeanor, and the offender pays what Brunswick spent getting rid of the car.

Title office on Center Road

Brunswick's closest title counter is Medina County's at 2875 Center Rd., Unit 2, some 1.5 miles east as the crow flies; call (877) 722-0016 and pick option 1. Medina's North Court Street office lies about 6.9 miles south. Because no county is off limits, Cuyahoga County's office at 12100 Snow Rd. in Parma, about 11.3 miles north, also works.

Brunswick is in Medina County, where E-Check is required; without a pass, waiver or exemption, a car due for testing stays unregistered.

On the title, the seller's signature has to be notarized. A car that is dismantled or destroyed has its title surrendered for cancellation, and once a title is marked "FOR DESTRUCTION" and surrendered, the law limits that car to parts and scrap. Keep your plates; they come off at the sale, as Ohio requires. After you sell has the remaining steps.

Getting an offer

Online or by phone at (877) 421-6008, describe the car and its trouble, whether that is a blown engine or a car that won't start. Brunswick police dispatch is 330-225-9111. Pickup is free in Strongsville and Parma too.