Selling a dead or junk car in Gahanna

The one-week rule, read closely

Section 521.07 applies to the owner or occupant of any property not zoned for a junk or salvage yard. A car may not be parked or stood there for more than one week when all of these are true:

• it is not in operating condition, or it has no market value except as salvage or junk
• it has no current registration plate
• it is otherwise unfit to be driven lawfully on a public street

The enforcement starts gently. A police officer or zoning officer warns you out loud, logs the date, time and your name, and gives you 72 hours to fix the problem. After that, the next step is a sworn affidavit served on you, and the case goes forward under the law. A violation is a minor misdemeanor.

Two things are exempt by name: an antique or collector's car in storage, and an inoperable or unlicensed car parked in a private garage on the same property. One warning sign the code spells out is a cluster: three or more cars without current registration on one lot are prima-facie evidence of a car lot or salvage yard.

The state-style junk-vehicle notice

Section 303.10 is a second, separate route. It borrows Ohio's junk-vehicle tests, so the car must be:

• at least three years old
• extensively damaged
• apparently inoperable
• worth $1,500 or less

It also has to have spent more than 72 hours uncovered outside on private land, with the landowner's blessing. Gahanna's Council, its Chief of Police, its zoning authority or a state officer may then send notice by certified mail and ask for a return receipt. Ten days from its arrival, the car belongs in a garage or comparable building, or somewhere else entirely. After that, each 30 days adds another minor misdemeanor.

Streets and towing

No vehicle may park on a Gahanna street or alley for more than 48 consecutive hours under Section 351.05. Section 303.09 goes beyond junk cars and covers any vehicle. Park it on someone's land without their consent for over 72 consecutive hours, or strand it 48 hours or longer on a Gahanna street while the Police Chief hears nothing about it, and Gahanna can charge a minor misdemeanor. If the car is an abandoned junk motor vehicle, the city also bills you for disposing of it.

Under Section 303.08, police may remove a car that stays on private property past 48 consecutive hours against the possessor's wishes. That tow follows the procedure in Ohio R.C. 4513.60 and the sections after it. Police may also remove any wreck on a public street that can no longer run, and for that kind of tow they tell the registered owner about the removal, the reason and the storage place. Redemption happens at Gahanna's police offices. Bring identification and ownership papers, settle fines or post the bond a court set, get the release form, and pay for the towing and storage.

Title and plates

The county Clerk of Courts handles Ohio titles, and any county's office will do. Franklin County's nearest office to Gahanna's center point is at 1583 Alum Creek Drive, about 7.6 miles southwest as the crow flies; the county number is (614) 525-3090. Across the Licking County line, an office on Worthington Rd. in Pataskala sits about 8.4 miles east, and Franklin's Campus View office about 8.9 miles northwest.

When you sign the title over, sign the seller's part in front of a notary. Ohio cancels a car's registration as soon as it is sold, and the Gahanna seller removes the plates on the spot.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or start online. We'll ask about the car itself and its mileage, if the engine will start, and the wording on the title. You sell the whole car as it sits. Nearby: Columbus and Reynoldsburg; state rules are on Ohio.