Huntington junk cars: city code, title and plates

Five days, then ten

Section 361.19 is Huntington's abandoned-vehicle law. A car counts as abandoned when it "is inoperative and which has been abandoned on public or private property for any period of time over five days." Cars inside an enclosed building, a licensed salvage yard, a demolisher's business or a licensed towing or wrecker service are left out.

The same section gives the city a direct route to clear a nuisance. It gives the property owner, or whoever lawfully holds the property, "ten days notice." If the problem is still there after those ten days, the city can abate it and haul away the junk.

Section 361.19 also settles who pays:

• Once the city issues its notice, the identified owner is "liable and responsible for all costs for towing, preservation and storage." If that notice does not go out within 30 days after the city takes the car, the owner is relieved of part of those charges.
• For a car whose loan value in a standard industry reference book falls under a ceiling the section sets, the tower the city hired has its own route to dispose of it if nobody claims it after notice.
• When a car is sold, anything left after costs is held for the last registered owner or lienholder for ninety days, then goes to the city's abandoned vehicle disposal account.

On the street: 48 hours

Section 361.18 is one sentence: "No person shall leave any vehicle parked on any street or alley in the city for a period of more than 48 consecutive hours." A car that dies at the curb gets no separate allowance.

Section 303.07 lets police move cars from streets, city parking lots and parking board facilities. Where notice comes first, it means "conspicuously posting a notification of intent to tow on the vehicle at least 48 hours prior to the removal," or handing it to the owner. If no one asks about a towed car within 72 hours, police mail a written report to the state agency that registers vehicles and file a copy with the garage storing it.

A car stuck at a Huntington shop

Section 1341.11 limits what a service station may keep outdoors. No junked or unregistered car may sit outside, except that up to six cars may wait there "for a period not to exceed five (5) days for each vehicle," provided the owners are awaiting the repair. The shop is held to that five-day limit too. A car sitting outside for a repair that may never happen cannot stay there long. See stuck at a repair shop, and if parts are already gone, missing parts.

Title and plates when you sell

Huntington spans two counties. In each, the assessor and sheriff handle personal property tax, and proof of payment is needed before plates are renewed. Titles are another matter: the state DMV runs them, and you can mail the paperwork, walk it into a DMV Regional Office, or use a private license service the DMV has authorized.

• Mileage: write the exact odometer reading in the title's assignment section, or use Form DMV-TM-1 if the title has no spot for it.
• Signatures: seller and buyer both sign the back. If AND joins the two names, both must sign. If OR joins them, either one can sign.
• Plates: yours to keep. The registration expires once the car changes hands.
• Notice: report the sale on Form DMV-1-S. The statute's word is immediately.
• Inspection: since Jan. 1, 2024, West Virginia inspects every 24 months, and the sticker can cost no more than $19 for the two years. For one that would fail, read failed inspection.

Nearby towns

As the crow flies, Charleston is 43.7 miles from Huntington, Parkersburg 75.9 and Beckley 82.1. See West Virginia for the statewide picture.

Getting an offer

Let us know which parts are gone, if any, and give the basics: model year, maker, model, odometer, title status. Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. Pickup works from a Huntington backyard, the curb or the shop that is holding it.