Selling a dead or junk car in Morristown

Ten days to "abandoned"

Section 13-109 is Morristown's junk-vehicle rule. It defines an abandoned vehicle in two ways: one whose last registered owner "has relinquished all further dominion and control," or "any vehicle that is wrecked or partially dismantled or inoperable for a period of ten days."

The second half is the one that catches homeowners. A car does not need to be left on a roadside to count. Ten days of not running is enough, wherever it sits.

How the notice works

The city administrator, or someone the administrator appoints, gives notice. It can go to the car's registered owner, or to the owner or person in control of the land where it sits. The notice says the car violates the chapter and directs that it be moved.

What follows if nothing changes:

1. A charge. An owner who "fails, neglects or refuses to remove such vehicle or to house such vehicle" after notice is "guilty of a misdemeanor and/or in violation of the city ordinance."
2. A tow. Once the time in the notice runs out, the city may report the car to a wrecker company "designated by rotation" and have it hauled to that company's storage area.
3. A bill to get it back. To reclaim the car or anything left inside it, the owner pays "any fines, storage, and tow-in fees" to the owner of the property where it was towed.
4. State law after that. If nobody claims it, the towing service "shall follow all state laws that pertain to abandoned vehicles."

The notice is the cheapest point to act. Before it, you choose who takes the car. After the tow, the lot sets the charges.

Streets and city lots

Section 16-116 makes it unlawful to keep any "junked, wrecked, disabled, inoperable, or abandoned" vehicle on a public street, city-owned property, a public parking lot, a highway or a right-of-way. The same ban covers vehicles used as living or sleeping quarters. Police, or special police officers named by the city, may send the car to a local tow company, and "no such vehicle so removed shall be reclaimed until the cost of such removal has been paid." Section 15-1206 adds that police may impound vehicles under state law and department policy.

Downtown, the metered spaces along Main Street carry their own time limits under Sections 15-905 and 15-908, so a car that dies at a meter cannot stay there.

What state law does after a tow

Tennessee's Department of Revenue sets the steps a tow firm follows. The Morristown tower then has 3 business days to mail the Department a "Request for Verification of Ownership." It then notifies owners and lienholders within 3 business days of the reply. Storage charges at a Morristown lot end on day 60. The owner or lienholder can okay a longer stretch. If the registered-mail notices sit unanswered for the set period (at least 10 days after delivery), the Morristown car can be listed for auction. That auction waits at least 15 days past the first ad.

Tennessee counts a Morristown car as abandoned if it sits "in obvious disrepair" on public property more than 3 days, or on private property without consent over 48 hours. Private individuals cannot use the abandoned-vehicle sale process themselves; someone who finds a car on their land has to verify ownership through the Department. See towed or impounded.

The title, in Hamblen or Jefferson County

Morristown spreads across two counties, and Tennessee titles go through the county clerk where you file. Tennessee titles don't get notarized. On a Morristown title, sign and print in the "ASSIGNMENT OF TITLE BY REGISTERED OWNER" block, written as the front shows. With "and" between two names, each signs; with "or," one is fine. Some clerks also accept a vehicle bill of sale with the seller's signature notarized; the Sevier County clerk lists one among its accepted documents.

Lost the title to your Morristown car? A duplicate runs $14 plus any county fees. In Morristown you file the "Multi-purpose, Noting of Lien, and Duplicate Title Application" and show every lien was paid.

For a Morristown car an insurer called a total loss, the state applies a 75% test. A Morristown car turns salvage once the repair bill would pass 75% of its retail value. In Morristown, a fixable car under 10 years old is issued a Salvage Certificate. With a Non-repairable Certificate, the car is barred from ever being titled or registered in Tennessee again. Neither certificate costs anything. Our salvage title page explains more.

Plates and a stale registration

Your Tennessee plates are yours, not the car's. Remove them before the truck leaves. Putting one on a different vehicle costs $1. A Morristown seller sends the Revenue Department nothing after the sale, since it has no sale notice or release.

A car that's sat in a Morristown yard for a long stretch most likely has lapsed registration. Under the state rule, a staggered registration renewed within 90 days after it expires keeps the same expiration date next year; 91 or more days late, it runs one year from the date of issue. You do not need to renew a car you are selling for scrap. See sitting for years.

Other East Tennessee towns

Knoxville is 39.7 miles away as the crow flies, Kingsport 47.4, Maryville 49.4 and Johnson City 52.1. Statewide rules are on the Tennessee page.

Getting an offer

Morristown sellers can reach us at (877) 421-6008 or through the online form. You sell the whole car as it sits. In Morristown we've hauled from behind houses off Main Street, gravel lots and the back fences of shops.