Get An Abandoned Vehicle Title

Abandoned Vehicles
We’re going to talk about the most commonly requested subject that comes up on callers to our private vehicle title helpline. This is the most frequently asked for information and it’s what most people who contact us ask about, and that is abandoned vehicles. Abandoned vehicles and mostly it’s because the person who’s calling needs to get a vehicle title, a legal title document for a vehicle, and the idea that they came up with is to say, “I’m going to declare it as an abandoned vehicle and claim it as.”

The Consequences of Declaring a Vehicle Abandoned
So, we’re going to talk about that and we’re going to look at the laws and how that works because one of the things you have to remember is that an abandoned vehicle may not be the actual definition of the vehicle you’re trying to get a title for. And as soon as you declare it as an abandoned vehicle, it is now permanently locked into that definition, and you may not be able to get a title, and it may permanently ban you from getting a title. So, we’re going to look at what the rules are, and we’re.

Better Methods Than Declaring a Vehicle Abandoned
Also going to look at many times what is a better method of getting a title than trying to claim it to be abandoned because if you think about it, where did you hear about abandoned vehicles? Probably just something you came up with or maybe you read on some discussion group. It’s not normally the best way to get a title. In fact, most of the time, if you declare and say a vehicle’s abandoned, you will lose the vehicle forever to the government. So, before you say it’s abandoned, make sure you understand what the rules are and look.

Government Issued Titles
At what the options are because a lot of times there’ll be better options. So let’s take a look at a few examples in a few different states. Now remember, a title is a legal government document issued only by a government agency. You can’t buy one from a company, you can’t download one from the internet. The government decides who to give titles to based on their rules. The government agency in most states is called the Department of Motor Vehicles. Some states it’s called the Department of Transportation. Either way, they have certain rules to.

Abandoned Vehicle Laws Across States
Have to follow, and if abandoned vehicle rules are to say you can’t have the vehicle, then you lose and they’ll seize it from you. Now, you’ll notice that we’ll look at a few states and the rules are going to be almost exactly the same from all these different states. Why is that? Well, the rules for abandoned vehicles come from federal guidelines, federal government guidelines. So, all the states’ rules are about the same. You’ll see as we look at three or four states here how it works, even if your state is not one.

Pennsylvania’s Vehicle Disposal Rules
Of the ones we use as an example, you will find that in your state, it’s probably exactly the same because they take this from a federal national government rule. So for the first thing, we’re going to look at is a fact sheet on the disposal of abandoned vehicles from private property, and that’s probably what you’re thinking about because you can’t really claim abandoned vehicles on the side of the road, right? If it’s on the highway or if it’s in a, you know, on a street, you can’t really claim that. But if it’s on your property, you might say.

Definitions of Abandoned Vehicles in Pennsylvania
Hey, if it’s on my property, I’ll charge storage fees and I’ll claim the vehicle. Let’s look at that. Purpose of this fact sheet: information on disposing of vehicles which have been left on private property. Notice the word “disposing.” It doesn’t say ownership. And now, what state is this? This is Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, right? Definition of terminology: abandoned vehicles involve an intention to abandon together with an act of surrendering the vehicle. Abandoned property is that which an.

Legal Definition of Abandoned Vehicle in Pennsylvania
Owner has relinquished all rights, title, and claim, and possession with no intention of claiming it or resuming ownership. So, if you declare it to be abandoned, you’re saying that the owner, you see, it says “an owner,” not “the owner,” “an owner has relinquished all rights, title, claim, and possession.” If you’re saying you’re the owner, then you’re relinquishing rights just from day one. You might be game over on doing it. But let’s look further. Section 102 of the vehicle code defines an abandoned vehicle.

When a Vehicle is Presumed Abandoned in Pennsylvania
A vehicle shall be presumed to be abandoned under any of the following circumstances. But the presumption is rebuttable, meaning that it’s not 100%. The vehicle is physically inoperable and left unattended on a highway or public property for 48 hours. The vehicle’s remained illegally on a highway for a period of 48 hours. Vehicles left on a highway for 48 hours, what about private property? The vehicle has remained on private property without the consent of the owner for more than 24 hours. Well, you might say, yeah, it’s been here for more than 24.

Private Property and Abandoned Vehicles
Hours, well, did you ever give consent to the person to put it there? Did you ever say, “Hey, you can’t leave your car here for a couple of days”? Did you buy the car and you gave somebody money and they gave you a bill of sale? Well, that was consent because you put it there. So, this doesn’t apply for most scenarios without the consent of the owner. Now, if somebody just voluntarily drives a car on your driveway, leaves it, and takes off and you don’t know who it is and you never told them to do it, that might apply.

Methods of Disposing of Abandoned Vehicles
So, what do you do? Methods of disposing of vehicles: okay, you may request a police department to declare a vehicle abandoned and require a salvo to take possession. A salvo is basically a junkyard. So, the number one thing you can do: you can call a junkyard and have them come take it. Number two, the property owner may personally remove the vehicle to a place of storage pursuant to section 3352. What is that? Basically, you bring it to a towing company or salvage yard for them to get rid of it, okay? Um, what happens afterward?

What Happens After Vehicle Removal
The vehicle may be sold at a sheriff’s sale, right? So that’s giving the car away. What else can you do? The property owner may file suit in common pleas court requesting that an order be entered awarding ownership. Hmm, that sounds like a court order title. Let me give you a sneak peek: court order title, cartitles.com, we’ll talk about that later, right? So, the only three things you can do in this state is call the towing company and a junk company and have them come take it, or bring it to the junk company yourself, and they’re going to auction it.

Court Order for Vehicle Ownership in Pennsylvania
Off, or you can do a court order title and we’ll talk about that afterwards. You can’t declare it as abandoned and say, “I want to keep it.” You have to petition, request that an order be entered to award you the owner, and that request will extinguish the title and interest of any other person. Okay, the property owner may not repossess an automobile for the cost of storing the vehicle. So, you can’t make up fake storage charges unless you are a bona fide warehouseman provided by the Universal Commercial Code. What does that.

Challenges with Vehicle Ownership Claims
Mean? You have to be a licensed storage facility, and in most cases, you have to have a signed authorization agreement for storage fees. Okay, what if you say, “Well, I did work on it and I want to use that to claim the ownership”? Well, a bill incurred for repairs to a vehicle can be collected only by filing a complaint, obtaining a judgment against the owner. What does that sound like? Sounds like a court order type, right?

Texas Rules on Abandoned Vehicles
Notice and storage: abandoned vehicle has been removed. So it says once an abandoned vehicle has been removed, what does that mean? Well, Texas law says that there are certain requirements you have to have if you are going to charge, store, or remove a vehicle. What if you’re a storage facility? You’re like a self-storage yard. Well, the first thing you need to do is the garage keeper shall report the abandonment of the motor vehicle to a law enforcement agency to the jurisdiction where the vehicle is located and pay a.

California’s Lean Sale Procedures
$10 fee for notification. The garage keeper shall retain custody of the abandoned motor vehicle until the agency takes the vehicle into custody. So, what does that say? The cops are going to take the car if you say it’s abandoned. If you declare it to be abandoned, abandoned motor vehicles, you have to report it to the police and they come take it. What if you don’t report it as abandoned? A garage keeper who fails to report an abandoned vehicle to a law enforcement agency within 7 days after the date it’s abandoned may not claim.

Legal Process for Vehicle Ownership in California
Reimbursement for storage of the vehicle. Last but not least, we’re going to look at California. So, here’s a place. For California, if you’re thinking about California, you can call us and talk to us about these situations, but we just want to let you know that an abandoned vehicle in California is also the same, meaning the law says that you can’t just declare it as abandoned. You have to be able to, and there are exceptions, but the general rule is abandoned vehicles aren’t something.

Conclusion
The only way to keep abandoned cars forever is through proper paperwork, court orders, salvage, and legal processes.

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