Selling a dead or junk car in Troy

Two ways a car becomes "junked" in Troy

Section 345.01 gives the city two separate tests. The first is about paperwork. A car is junked if it is unlicensed or uninsured, or carries an improper license, unless it is kept inside a completely enclosed building. The second is about condition. A car also counts if it meets any three of these:

• it is three years old or older
• it has disabling damage
• it would sell for less than $1,500
• it looks inoperative

Police can also ask. Under Section 345.10, a police representative may ask the registered owner, or whoever controls the property, for proof of insurance. Failing to give it counts as proof the car is junked. Police may also ask that person to show the car can be driven under its own power. Failing that counts as proof it is inoperative. Either failure is enough on its own.

Section 345.02 lists two exceptions. One is a junked car kept at a junkyard or scrap metal processing facility that holds a license under Ohio R.C. 4737.05. The other is a collector's vehicle, stored with the property owner's permission and fully enclosed in a structure.

The notice, and your 72 hours

When the city acts, Section 345.03 has the notice served the way a civil summons is served, with a copy stuck to the car when that is practical. If nobody can be found, it runs once in a daily newspaper. You then have 72 hours. The notice also warns that the car will be towed seven days later, impounded and disposed of. A hearing is available too, if you ask for one in writing before the 72 hours are up.

The code names two ways to escape the fines and costs: take the car out of Troy, or enclose it in a suitable structure. Pushing it to the curb does not count as complying. If the city ends up removing it, the person who controls the property and the registered owner are each liable for the whole bill for towing, storage and disposal.

Street parking and the downtown snow district

A car may sit in one place on a Troy street or alley for at most 72 consecutive hours under Section 351.13. After that it is deemed abandoned and police can have it towed.

Snow brings a shorter clock. Section 315.02 starts a parking ban when the Director of Public Service and Safety declares one, or on its own once 3 inches of snow and ice build up between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. The ban covers Snow Emergency District 1, the downtown grid inside Water, Race, Mulberry and Main streets, plus posted routes such as West Main, Market, Franklin, Canal and Dorset.

If the car is already at the pound

Section 345.07 lists what to bring to the police department: current registration, photo ID, proof of insurance, and a title issued in the registered owner's name. A "jumped" or signed-over title is refused, which matters if you already signed the title to a buyer before the tow. With the police release form in hand, you pay the towing and storage charges and the pound operator lets the car go. The police non-emergency line is 937-440-9911.

Title and plates in Miami County

Troy doesn't send you out of town for a title. Miami County's Clerk of Courts runs its office at 1506 One Stop Ct., Suite 5, about 1.5 miles southwest of Troy's Census center point as the crow flies. The office phone is (937) 332-6812. Two neighbors are farther out: Clark County's office in New Carlisle, about 12.5 miles southeast, and Montgomery County's in Clayton, about 13.6 miles south.

On a Troy sale, your half of the paperwork is the seller's block of the title. Fill it in, then sign while a notary watches, as Ohio requires. The registration dies with the sale, and state law has you unbolt your plates at once and keep them.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or start online. We'll want the basics: what the car is, the odometer reading, if it cranks, and whose name the Miami County title carries. You sell the whole car as it sits, with the dead battery and flat tires included. For statewide rules, see Ohio.