Mount Vernon junk vehicles, impounds and selling yours

When the city sends a 15-day notice

The city can skip the warning on a public street, but Section 10.06.050 also lays out a written notice. It tells the owner the car has been found to be a junk vehicle under the city's definition and orders it off "all city streets, alleys, or ways open to the public, or on municipal or other public property" within 15 days. The next line is the consequence: "If you do not remove the vehicle within 15 days, the City of Mount Vernon will remove the vehicle and immediately dispose of the vehicle" at your expense.

Appeals are possible. The notice says to file a written request with the City Attorney's office, PO Box 809 on Cleveland Avenue, and with the Mount Vernon Municipal Court on Continental Place, "within 15 days of the date this notice was mailed or served." Both offices need a copy.

Junk cars in yards and driveways

Chapter 10.10 covers private land. An officer mails notice to the last registered owner in the Department of Licensing's records and to whoever owns the parcel, and either one may ask for a hearing in the Mount Vernon municipal court. After that, the car is taken away at the request of a police officer or a code enforcement officer and handed to a wrecker, hulk hauler or scrap processor for disposal.

The bill follows the registration. The last registered owner is billed for abatement, "including the costs of administration and hearing," unless that person did the state's transfer steps when the car was sold. Failing that, they can land on the owner of the parcel.

One exception stands out: a vehicle kept for the business of a "dismantler/motor vehicle wrecker located on appropriately zoned property" with the fencing state law requires.

What "inoperable" means in Chapter 8.08

The nuisance chapter calls a vehicle inoperable when it "cannot be legally operated on roads, highways, rights-of-way, waterways, or public lands." Appearance counts: the list takes in cars that "appear inoperable due to missing lights, windows, or other critical parts, equipment, or safety elements." The same section singles out vehicles "kept on a single-family residential lot for over six months without substantial movement." It also treats a camper lifted off its pickup as a vehicle of its own, and says screening, such as slatted chain link or solid fencing, never has to rise above six feet.

If a landowner wants the car gone

A landowner stuck with someone else's junk car can mail notice before the impound. Under Section 10.06.050, that letter directs the registered and legal owner to haul it away "within 15 calendar days after the notice was mailed," so disposal or sale can follow the impound right away. Mount Vernon Section 10.06.040 adds cleanup restitution for an abandoned car "equal to twice the costs incurred in the removal of the junk vehicle." Under RCW 46.55.010, a car is junk if three of four fit: "three years old or older," "extensively damaged," "apparently inoperable," or worth only scrap.

The title office on South 2nd

One office we checked sits at 700 S 2nd, Suite 201, roughly a mile west of central Mount Vernon in a straight line. Across Washington, county auditors and subagents run title counters for DOL, which recommends finishing a private sale at one of them.

The seller's list is short:

• Put your signature on the title where you release interest.
• In Mount Vernon, you and the buyer complete a bill of sale, or you put the price and date on the title.
• Unbolt the plates; they remain yours.
• File the report of sale with DOL inside 5 days.

The buyer is the one who sees a notary, for the title application.

No Mount Vernon car can be sold without a title. A lost title costs $39.50 to replace at DOL. In Mount Vernon, all owners of record sign the "Affidavit of Loss/Release of Interest" before a notary, and the replacement title shows up by mail in 4 to 8 weeks. Some sales can go ahead on an Affidavit in Lieu of Title instead, and a licensing office can tell you whether yours qualifies. Our no-title guide has more.

Getting an offer

Ring (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form for a Mount Vernon pickup offer. A driver comes out to the car, whether it is parked up the hill or stuck in a repair lot downtown. Oak Harbor lies 16.8 miles off in a straight line and Arlington 18.7; statewide rules are on the Washington page.