Selling a dead or junk car in Shaker Heights

Indoors is the starting point

Section 1262.15 opens with a broad rule: every vehicle in the city must be stored in an enclosed building, except in districts that allow accessory storage. In residential districts, that accessory storage is for recreational vehicles and trailers kept behind the front setback line. A vehicle in visible disrepair, or half built, may not be stored or parked outdoors in a residential zone. It has to live inside an enclosed building that meets the city's standards.

The two-day limit in that section is for other kinds of vehicles in residential districts, such as trailers and commercial or recreational vehicles. It is not a grace period for a broken passenger car. The Zoning Administrator can waive the parking rules for a reasonable time. The storage section sets no notice period before a citation.

Overnight and snow

Overnight parking on a city street needs permission. The city's FAQ says to ask online or by calling 216-491-1234; without a request, the car may be ticketed.

Snow brings a stricter rule. Once 2 inches have fallen inside a 24-hour stretch, the snow emergency is on by itself, announced or not, and every street is a snow emergency street. No car may be parked or left on any of them until snow removal is finished there and the snow has stopped for at least three hours. A car left out can be towed at the owner's expense.

If police tow it

Police may impound a car that looks abandoned, one missing its required plates, or one too damaged in a crash to run. For information about a towed car, call 216-491-1220. The city's FAQ lays out the release:

1. Go to the police station at 3355 Lee Rd. with your driver's license and the car's title.
2. Get a Tow Release Form there.
3. Take it to Interstate Towing, 16008 Libby Road in Maple Heights, and pay the towing and storage.

Under Section 1103.07, unpaid parking tickets are paid first. A car held at the Service Center or another city facility costs “three dollars ($3.00) per day or any part of a day.”

Title offices near Shaker Heights

Three Cuyahoga County title offices sit within about 7 miles, as the crow flies:

• 22121 Rockside Road, Bedford: about 5 miles south
• 1585 Goldengate Plaza, Mayfield Heights: about 6 miles northeast
• 2079 E. 9th St., Cleveland: about 7 miles west

Shaker Heights sellers need a notary present when they sign the title assignment, a step Ohio makes mandatory, and keep the plates, which come off at the sale. Cuyahoga is also one of Ohio's seven E-Check counties, where cars facing the test “cannot receive their registration until they receive a passing test certificate, repair waiver certificate, or qualify for an applicable exemption or extension certificate.” Here, a car in view with lapsed tags breaks the storage rule.

Getting an offer

Online or at (877) 421-6008: what the car is, its mileage, whether the engine runs, and what paperwork you hold. Pickup can be from a garage, a driveway, or Interstate Towing's yard after the release. Neighbors: Cleveland and Euclid.