Selling a junk car in Watertown

Who can order a car moved

The city's junked motor vehicles chapter gives the power to three kinds of city staff. "Any law enforcement officer, community service officer or the Building Inspector of the City of Watertown" with reasonable grounds to believe a vehicle is junked or abandoned "shall require" it to be removed, or have it placed in a police impound facility. The rule reaches "motor vehicle accessories" as well, so loose parts are covered too.

The same chapter covers cars on public ground. A vehicle on a municipal parking lot, highway, street or right-of-way that blocks traffic or "proper street maintenance" can be handled the same way, whether or not anyone is with it.

The impound clocks

Once a car is in the impound, the code runs on fixed dates:

• 10 days. Within 10 days after impoundment, the police mail a parking citation, certified, to the owner of record at the registration address.
• 30 days before any sale. That same notice has to go out at least 30 days before the sale date.
• 30 days to reclaim. The owner, or anyone who can prove a right to the car, may reclaim it within 30 days of impoundment at the Watertown Police Department, bringing "the vehicle title, identification or other satisfactory evidence" and paying the bond forfeiture the code sets.
• Court date. On the date the certified letter gives, the owner or a lienholder of record may challenge the impound, the planned sale or the costs in Watertown Municipal Court.
• 10 days for the buyer. Whoever buys the car at the impound sale has 10 days to take it away, plus a daily storage fee set by the Common Council.

Those steps begin once a car is in the impound facility.

Codington County paperwork

South Dakota titles move through the county treasurer's office, which for Watertown is the Codington County treasurer. Your duties as the seller come from state law. SDCL 32-5-2.10 says you file a report of sale "at the time of sale," with the buyer's name and address. Hand the Watertown buyer a free 45-day seller's permit as well. Print it online or at the treasurer's kiosk, and they can drive legally while their title application goes through. Skip either one and it's a Class 2 misdemeanor. No notary appears in the Department of Revenue's steps for sellers.

Whoever buys a Watertown car then has 45 days to apply for title. After that, a late penalty of $1 a week kicks in. Lost your title? You can get a duplicate at the treasurer's office for $10.

Plates stay with you. Pull them when you sell. SDCL 32-5-2.7 gives credit for the months left once they go on another vehicle. In Watertown, plates left on the sold car mean a Class 2 misdemeanor and no credit.

If you were planning to part it out

Dismantling a car to sell its parts takes a junking certificate. You send the Department of Revenue the title, the plates and the registration card along with it, and a junking certificate "may not be restored to a title document." Removing a vehicle's identification numbers is a Class 6 felony. Selling the car whole is a title transfer instead, with the permit and report above.

Getting an offer

Use the form or dial (877) 421-6008. A Watertown offer starts with a few lines on our form. We come to wherever it's parked, a driveway, a back lot or a garage. Watertown is 45.6 miles from Brookings and 74.5 from Aberdeen as the crow flies; the South Dakota page has the statewide rules.