Selling a junked car in Charleston, West Virginia

Why the capital treats a junk car as a nuisance

Section 50-81 sets out the council's reasons. Junked and abandoned cars "serve as harborage and breeding places for rodents, mosquitoes, fleas, ticks," and they are "an unattractive nuisance" to children. The council made it city policy to clear them out, along with the "visual pollution" they cause.

The working rule is Section 50-84. Nobody in the city may leave a junked car on a highway right-of-way or other public property. Nobody may leave one on private land they do not "own, lease, rent or otherwise control," either, unless that land is a licensed salvage yard or a demolisher's business. Section 50-85 puts old tires and broken household appliances under the same limits.

Once an enforcement agency "has knowledge of or discovers or finds" an abandoned or junked car, on public or private land, Section 50-86 says it "shall take them into his custody and possession," using its own crews or hired ones. The 30-day letter is what comes first when the car is on private property.

After the city takes the car

Section 50-87 sets the clocks:

• Once a Charleston car is towed, the agency mails the last known registered owner and every lienholder of record within seven days, sent certified or registered, return receipt requested.
• From the day that letter arrives, ten days remain to reclaim the car, and reclaiming means covering the towing, preservation and storage bill.
• Missing that window is "deemed a waiver" of "all right, title and interest" in the car, and consent to its sale at public auction or to a licensed salvage yard or demolisher.

If no owner or address can be found, the notice runs as a class I legal advertisement instead, published within seven days, and the ten days count from the publication date. One ad can list many cars.

Towing from Charleston streets

Section 114-552 lets a car parked where signs or markings forbid it be hauled to a garage the police department names. No car is impounded until the chief, a captain, a lieutenant or the sergeant on duty orders it. The owner then pays the cost of impounding and hauling on top of any fine. Section 114-621 charges for metered spaces from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., with Sundays and legal holidays free, and staying past the time limit at a meter is a violation in itself.

Paperwork that ends in Charleston

The state's sold-vehicle form comes back to this city. Mail goes to PO Box 17020, Charleston, WV 25317 (the DMV Insurance Division) when a Charleston seller sends the DMV-1-S sold-vehicle notice. The statute tells the original owner to keep the plates and notify the commissioner immediately. The seller signs the form, and the buyer signs if available. Is your Charleston car going to a junk dealer or salvage yard? The form says to name that business as the buyer.

For a car leaving as scrap, a few state rules change:

• A vehicle sold for scrap or to be taken apart is exempt from the 60-day deadline to give the buyer the title.
• The scrap buyer instead surrenders the title, or a statement of cancellation signed by the seller, within 45 days.
• Your plates stay with you and the registration ends at the sale. Apply within 60 days to move them to another car you own, and that car may be driven for up to 60 days from the transfer.

When an insurer totals a car, the law makes it choose, before it pays, among three outcomes: repairable salvage, cosmetic total loss, or nonrepairable. See nonrepairable or junk title.

The state issues titles. In Charleston it can go in the mail, to a DMV Regional Office, or to an approved private license service. Kanawha County's part is personal property tax, set by the assessor and collected by the sheriff. Missing the title? The duplicate form is DMV-4-TR, and the fee is $15.00; more in junk car with no title.

Nearby towns

Measured as the crow flies, Huntington is 43.7 miles from Charleston, Beckley 47.3 and Parkersburg 63.2. The West Virginia page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Got the 30-day letter? Got a Charleston car to sell? Call (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form, and our truck heads your way.