Junk and dead cars in Battle Ground: the rules and how to sell

How Chapter 8.04 handles junk cars

Junk vehicles get their own subsection of the nuisance chapter. The part covering boats, jet skis, snowmobiles and aircraft says it "shall not include junk vehicles, which are regulated pursuant to subsection Q of this section." The chapter also defines a "person(s) responsible for a junk vehicle nuisance violation," so the code has a set term for who answers for the car.

Two kinds of car fall outside the rule. One is the car under real repair, above. The other belongs to the trade: a car kept lawfully "in connection with the business of a licensed dismantler or licensed vehicle dealer," behind the fencing state law calls for.

Counting days on a Battle Ground deadline

The chapter spells out how its clocks run. "Days" are business days "when five or fewer days are allowed to perform an act," and calendar days when more than five are allowed. You skip the first day and count the last, unless the last day lands on a holiday, Saturday or Sunday. So a short deadline that starts on a Friday stretches past the weekend.

A separate rule covers people living on a lot. Occupying a vehicle, camper trailer or tent on private property "for a period in excess of fourteen consecutive days or for more than thirty total days in any calendar year" is a nuisance in any zone.

When the car is on someone else's land

The city chapter does not cover every case, and state law picks up the rest. RCW 46.55.230 lets a property owner get rid of a junk car someone abandoned there. First, notice goes by mail to the car's owners of record; after 15 days with no claim, the landowner may act. Walking away from a junk car this way is a gross misdemeanor in Washington. On top of that, the person registered as owner owes cleanup restitution at double what the removal cost.

Title and plates from Battle Ground

Vancouver's 1300 Franklin Street is on DOL's list of quick title offices, roughly 12 miles southwest of central Battle Ground as the crow flies. It is a Clark County office we checked, not the only one.

The report of sale is the step most sellers skip. Washington wants one whenever a car changes hands, even when it is traded, given away or handed to a wrecking yard. On it go the day you sold, who you are and where you live, the same for the buyer, the VIN and the plate. DOL has to receive it inside 5 business days. Take the plates too. DOL's reasoning is that a plate still on the car keeps tying you to whatever it collects later, from parking and camera tickets to tolls. A signed bill of sale records price and date, unless the title already shows both.

Getting an offer

For a Battle Ground offer, phone (877) 421-6008 or fill in the form online. Our driver meets the car on your land, at a shop or wherever it quit. Vancouver and Camas are the nearest towns with pages, and Washington covers the state rules.