Junk and non-running cars in Bellevue

Why Bellevue has a junk-vehicle chapter

The code states its own aim: "to preserve the character and safety of the city's neighborhoods by eliminating as nuisances, junk vehicles from private property." It leans on removal power the state legislature gave cities. So the chapter targets driveways, side yards and private lots, not city streets.

How a car becomes a nuisance

A law enforcement officer certifies the car under RCW 46.55.230. In Bellevue, a certified car "found on private property" is a public nuisance "subject to removal, impoundment and disposal." To be certified under state law, it has to meet three of four tests: three years old or more, badly damaged, looks unable to run, and valued only as scrap.

The notice names the car by plate number or VIN, model year and make, and lists "the factors which render the vehicle a public nuisance." It also warns the owner that removal, impound and disposal can follow, with the bill attached. After the examiner rules, the city "may use any lawful means to cause the vehicle to be removed from the private property and disposed of to a licensed motor vehicle wrecker or bulk hauler, with notice to the Washington State Patrol and the Washington Department of Licensing that the vehicle has been wrecked."

Dismantlers and dealers keeping stock lawfully on fenced lots are left out.

A car someone else left on your land

If a junk vehicle is abandoned in Bellevue, the chapter gives the landowner a way back: the landowner "is entitled to recover from the vehicle's registered owner any costs incurred in the removal." Car abandoned on your property goes through the state steps.

Title office and the paperwork that fits a junk car

DOL's quick title list includes Seattle's 201 South Jackson Street, suite 206, reachable at (206) 477-4000. That's roughly 8 miles west of central Bellevue in a straight line. It's the only King County office we checked, and more likely exist.

A junk car often has a messy title, so the rules for the trade's own buyers help here. Under WAC 308-65-080, a licensed hulk hauler can acquire a car with a correctly endorsed title. A lost-title affidavit works too, as long as the owner of record signs it along with a release of interest, and so do certain affidavits of sale. For an ordinary sale, DOL will sometimes take an Affidavit in Lieu of Title, or its loss-and-release affidavit, where the title is missing. Otherwise a replacement title is $39.50 and takes 4 to 8 weeks. See selling with no title.

Whatever the paper, two steps stay yours. A Vehicle Report of Sale goes to DOL inside 5 days; the rule holds when a wrecking yard is the buyer. And the plates come off, to be reused on a similar vehicle or returned.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Bellevue? Call (877) 421-6008 or use our form. In Bellevue we collect from garages, downtown condo lots or repair shops. Mercer Island, Sammamish and Redmond are all within 6 miles, and the Washington page has the state rules.