Junk or dead car in Lake Oswego? How selling works

The one-month rule in Section 34.10.525

The code gives three ways a vehicle becomes inoperable. It has no current tags, or it "cannot be moved without being either repaired or dismantled," or it "is no longer safely usable for the purposes for which it was manufactured." Any one is enough.

Two exceptions are written in. The rule does not reach "any vehicle kept in a building when not in use," and it skips cars parked at a Lake Oswego business that lawfully wrecks, junks or repairs vehicles.

The clock is a month. An owner, or anyone keeping such a car on property they control, "for a period of time in excess of one month shall be liable to abatement proceedings by the City as maintaining a public nuisance." The same section also bars leaving non-working items such as "automobiles" on a property "unguarded or unsafe."

So the choices are plain: put the car in the garage, get it repaired and re-tagged, or have it hauled away before the month runs out.

One city, three counties

Lake Oswego spreads across 10.872 square miles of Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. For a seller the county line matters less than it would in many states, because Oregon titles come from the state DMV. The city code above applies anywhere inside city limits, whichever county your street is in.

DMV offices we checked

Lake Oswego has its own field office at 3 SW Monroe Pkwy, Suite D, roughly a mile north of central Lake Oswego as the crow flies. Farther out, we also looked at downtown Portland's office, 1502 SW Sixth Ave, some 7 miles north, and Hillsboro's, 1300 SW Oak St, Suite H, some 16 miles northwest. All three answer at 503-299-9999. Lake Oswego title papers sent by mail instead go to 1905 Lana Ave NE in Salem, the address for DMV Services.

Handing over an Oregon title

The Oregon DMV says a Lake Oswego seller puts a signature and date on the title's reverse or on a bill of sale. Any lender that ever held a lien signs its release there too. Model years 2011 and up, if younger than 20, add an odometer statement that you and your buyer both sign. Nowhere in DMV's seller list does a notary appear.

Lost the title? Oregon wants it replaced first, using Form 735-515, and charges the ordinary title fee for that rather than a duplicate fee: $101 if the car is rated 0-19 MPG. If that is where you are stuck, see selling with no title.

After pickup, you have 10 days to log the sale through DMV2U, naming the buyer and giving that person's address. ORS 803 then protects a Lake Oswego seller who both filed the notice and assigned the title: the new owner's parking, abandoning or driving is no longer yours to answer for.

Plates are your call. You may take them off before the sale. Moving them onto a car that belongs to someone else ends the remaining registration on both vehicles.

If you planned to pull parts off it first

Pulling a titled car apart in a Lake Oswego garage still needs 7 days' warning to DMV under Oregon law. When the work shows from the street or another public right-of-way, it must wrap up inside 30 days. A whole-car sale avoids both deadlines.

Getting an offer

Want a number for a Lake Oswego car? Call (877) 421-6008 or write to us online. Our form asks about your Lake Oswego car. We can pick it up from a driveway near Lakewood Bay, your office parking space, or a shop lot where it has sat too long. Close by, see Tigard, West Linn and Tualatin, or the statewide rules on Oregon.