Selling a dead or junk car in Johnstown

Two labels: abandoned and nuisance

Chapter 468 uses two overlapping ideas. Section 468.04 says no abandoned motor vehicle "shall be parked, stored or left to remain on any lot, tract or parcel of land" in the city, "whether occupied or unoccupied, improved or unimproved." A car is presumed abandoned only after a code officer has looked at it and found it in a nuisance condition.

Section 468.05 then defines the nuisance. It covers any car or trailer "which is unable to move under its own power" and has certain physical defects. The ban binds the landowner and whoever owns the car alike. Neither may keep one "upon open private or public grounds."

Where a car fits both labels, the chapter's junked-vehicle definition controls.

How the notice reaches you

The city's code department can inspect on its own rounds or after a complaint. Inspectors write down the make, model, style and identification numbers. Johnstown mails written notice of a violation by registered or certified mail to the landowner, the car's owner, or both. When neither owner can be found, the notice is posted on the property or on the car itself.

You get ten days, counted from the day it reaches you. After that, the code lets the city enter the property "to impound the abandoned or junked vehicle at the owners expense and/or expense of the property owner." The salvage clause above follows.

One trap: you cannot dodge the notice by towing the car down the street. After the notice, you cannot shift it to a public highway or to other private land where storage is banned just to keep it there.

Where a dead car may stay

Section 468.06 lists the exceptions. The chapter does not apply to a car kept "within an enclosed building," or at a lawful business that needs it. For junked and abandoned cars, the business list includes junkyards but not repair shops.

A homeowner fixing one car outside a garage can ask for a repair permit. It may be renewed "one time for an additional 30-day period," and only with proof the repairs actually began during the first period. If the repair has stalled, see car doesn't run.

Snow emergencies on the primary routes

Johnstown's Emergency Operations Coordinator announces a snow emergency by six in the evening on the day it starts, or the day before for an overnight storm. On the primary routes, parking flips by side. The code's own example: called on December 28, cars leave the even side first; at six the next evening, December 29, they move back and must be off the odd side. In the Central Business District, street parking on primary routes is banned from midnight until six in the morning for the whole emergency.

A car that will not start cannot play that game. If yours is parked on a primary route, selling it before winter takes it off the street.

Inspection in Cambria County

Pennsylvania requires an annual safety inspection. Publication 763 places Cambria County in the Northern emissions region, which it describes as pending certification. Drive Clean PA says the counties without an emissions test still get a visual anti-tampering check with the safety inspection.

Title and plates

There is no county title office in Pennsylvania, so Cambria County residents sign over a title with an authorized PennDOT agent, meaning a notary, tag service or dealership. While the agent is there, you sign, hand-print your name and note the odometer reading, and so does any co-owner. Once Section A (yours) and Section D (the buyer's) are signed and notarized, the car has changed hands.

A scrap metal processor or salvage dealer as buyer means no notary at all. A missing title is replaceable for $72.00 with Form MV-38O, and state law also lets a salvage car whose title is lost go to a salvor who follows the statute's steps.

Unscrew the plate before the tow. It belongs to you: ship it to PennDOT's Return Tag Unit, or carry it over to your next car for an $11.00 fee.

Getting an offer

Go online or call (877) 421-6008 about your Johnstown car. Pickup is free anywhere in the US; a hillside driveway, a rented space or a garage near downtown all work for the truck. Altoona is 30.0 miles off as the crow flies; for statewide rules, see Pennsylvania.