Selling a junk or dead car in Stow

72 hours uncovered, then a letter

Section 303.10 covers a junk car parked on private land with the owner's permission. After 72 hours outdoors without any cover, a letter can come from any of three senders: the zoning authority, the legislative authority, or the Chief of Police. It goes by certified mail with a return receipt, addressed to whoever has the right to the property.

From the day that letter arrives you have ten days, within which the car "either shall be covered by being housed in a garage or other suitable structure, or shall be removed from the property." If it is still out after that, the code takes that as evidence of willful failure, and every further 30 days counts again.

Penalties climb with repeats. First offense: minor misdemeanor. Repeat within one year: fourth degree. Any more within that year: third degree. A collector's vehicle is handled differently; the city may require it be hidden by buildings, fences, plants, terrain or some other screen.

The city's FAQ puts it plainly. Junk vehicles are inoperable and unfit for further use, with flat or missing tires, sitting on jacks, or showing other obvious disrepair, and they must be stored in a building that keeps them out of public view. Any vehicle, trailer, RV or boat kept in a front yard has to be on a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete.

Streets and snow

Under section 351.11, a parked car gets 24 consecutive hours on a public street and 48 on other property the city owns or controls, except where the Safety Director provides otherwise.

Stow's snow emergency is triggered by two inches or more in a span of 24 hours or less. The Mayor's first announcement to the news media starts a one-hour minimum wait before the parking rules apply. From then on, the code forbids parking, abandoning or leaving any vehicle unattended on the streets, short loading stops aside. Drivers are expected to watch the weather themselves.

When Stow police store a car

Under 303.084, a car parked two full days or longer on a public street, without the police being told why, can be sent to storage. The chief then checks BMV records for the owner and any lienholder and mails a certified letter warning that the car will be treated as a nuisance and disposed of unless someone claims it inside ten days. Claiming it means paying the removal and storage, with a title or other proof the car is yours.

Officers may also tow from private land a car parked there without permission past 48 consecutive hours, or pull a hazardous wreck off a public street (303.08). Redeeming one begins at the police offices: satisfy them on identity and ownership, pay the fines or post a court-set bond, and finally settle towage and storage with whoever runs the pound. Abandoning a junk car outright under 303.09 is a minor misdemeanor, and the city bills the disposal costs.

Title and plates from Stow

The closest title office is Summit County's on Tallmadge Avenue (1030 E. Tallmadge Ave., Akron), about 5.6 miles southwest as the crow flies. Ohio lets you use any county's office, so Portage County's at 449 S. Meridian St. in Ravenna, about 10.1 miles east, works too. The Northfield Village office is about 12.4 miles northwest.

A notary must watch you sign the assignment section of the title. The plates are yours to keep: a sale ends the registration in Ohio, and you unscrew them before the car rolls away.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or ask online. Tell us which parts are gone (our missing parts guide covers that case) and whether the car has been sitting. Stow police dispatch is at 330-689-5700 for anything else. Car owners in Cuyahoga Falls and Kent get the same free pickup.