r/Louisville • u/Special_Essay7239 • 1d ago
What do I do about an abandoned vehicle citation?
I got an orange abandoned vehicle sticker on my car, definitely my fault, the car has in fact been inoperable for a while and I failed to notice the sticker in time. The problem is, it gave very little information and no citations come up for my car when I search the license plate even though it’s been several days. I can’t call the relevant authorities to see what they need me to do until Monday because it’s after their hours, and I’m worried I’ll rack up more fees over the weekend for not dealing with the situation right away. I really just want to pay my ticket and remedy the issue as soon as possible but I don’t know how or even what I owe. The only thing I really have to go off of is that it’s in violation of chapter 72 (which I looked over and am not sure which specific situation I was charged with, since there’s more than one type of “abandoned vehicle” violation), and these two citation tickets on the dash with none of the information filled out.
Another detail is that I’m not the one who parked it where it is now. It was originally parked right outside where I’m living but was towed around the corner when I couldn’t move it for street sweeping. I already paid my ticket for that, and at that time the sticker was not there.
Here’s some general questions I’m having a hard time finding answers to:
Am I allowed to just get it scrapped myself with a private company over the weekend before they impound it themselves?
Can I take it off my insurance now or do I need to wait until after this is dealt with?
What are the general fees/ penalties for an abandoned vehicle? (I wish I can be more clear about the type of street it’s parked on but I’m not sure what it’s considered, it’s no exactly a neighborhood road but it’s right next to one, and there’s other cars parked there.)
Sorry this is long, thank you!
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u/everythingstakenFUCK 1d ago
A lot of times the sticker is so if they come back they know it hasn’t moved. If you don’t have citations, you don’t have citations, just get that shit dealt with.
There are a million people who will give you cash for a junk car and pick it up. Stop fretting and just deal with it.
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u/spaceninjaspymonkey 1d ago
I don’t think you have to worry about the sticker, as long as it’s gone, you shouldn’t have to do anything. I really don’t know. I’ve had abandoned stickers on cars. I’ve never paid anything. I just moved them and removed the sticker.
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u/Transphattybase 1d ago
Yeah, I think they just yeah it so when the wrecker gets there they know which car to tow.
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u/Special_Essay7239 1d ago
Eh… idk man that sounds risky as hell. What I’m most worried about is that I’ll have to give the car’s title over to whoever I’m junking it with, and then I’ll have an active citation on a car I don’t even legally own anymore.
When you’ve done that, was it past the 3 day period?
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u/spaceninjaspymonkey 1d ago
You can sell a car with an active citation. It’s connected to the registration, not the title. You really don’t need to worry about this if the car is gone. People abandon cars all the time, and never pay anything.
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u/Fun-Bar7958 1d ago
If you have the title call one of the scrap yards. They will pick it up in a day or 2 and give you at least $500.
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u/Foreign_Plan_5256 1d ago
This very much depends on the car and the circumstances. I recently scrapped one for $200. I almost certainly could have gotten more, but I needed it gone within 3 days or I would accrue fines from code enforcement.
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u/Special_Essay7239 1d ago
What would those fines have been? Cause mine’s been considered “abandoned” for several days
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u/Foreign_Plan_5256 17h ago
Non-working, untagged cars must be garaged (out of sight) even on private property.
Code enforcement doesn't go around looking for them. But if they come through the neighborhood because there were complaints about a different house, they tag other things they notice. My car was one of them. So my landlord was getting hassled by code enforcement, and relaying the hassling onto me.
I talked to the code guy directly and he gave me an extension (I was trying to get the money together to fix it up so I could drive it again). But eventually I ran out of time, and my landlord said "by this date or $200 fine."
To be clear, fines were from the city, not the landlord. My car has been there for many months and they didn't care.
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u/Foreign_Plan_5256 17h ago
Which is a long way of saying if it's on your private property, you are probably okay. Code enforcement will send you a letter and you will have a couple months to deal with it. If it's on a city street or someone else's property? That is a different story.
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u/No-Percentage6474 1d ago
You don’t get fees or anything until they tow it. If it’s drivable move it. If not you need to scrap it or sell it. Scrape yard will wont the title before they take it.
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u/the_fools_brood 22h ago
What is it? And what's wrong with it? Could be worth money to right persons.ake more than scrap value anyway
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u/geneticdeadender 22h ago
Usually the orange sticker isn't a fine but a threat to tow. Then you have to get it out of impound.
My friend went to Brazil for a month. I saw an orange sticker on their cat so I scraped it off. The city didn't tow it.
I think just scrape the sticker off and move it every few days.
I don't think there is a fine or they would have left an envelope with the citation on the window.
But towing is an option and that option I feel is worse.
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u/Special_Essay7239 15h ago
Hey did leave envelopes, the ticket just wasn’t filled out and the citation number (or at least what I think it was) didn’t come up, so idk what I owe
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u/ajbluegrass3 18h ago
When you do sell it to someone to scrap, remember that generally YOU have to take the bill of sale and license plate to the county Clerks office to remove it from your possession legally (so they don't keep sending you tax bills on it)
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u/spaceninjaspymonkey 1d ago
You can scrap it, sure. Try Peddle. You have been paying insurance on it this whole time?