After holding an unclaimed abandoned motor vehicle for 30 days, the town may sell or dispose of it as provided by this chapter. If the vehicle appears to be worth less than $500, the town may dispose of the vehicle as a junked motor vehicle. If the vehicle is worth $500 or more, it shall be sold at public auction. Twenty-days’ written notice of the sale shall be given to the registered owner at his or her last known address, the holder of all liens of record against the vehicle, and the Department of Motor Vehicles. The proceeds of the sale shall be paid to the Town Treasurer who shall pay to the appropriate officers or persons the cost of removal, storage, investigation, sale, and liens in that order. The remainder of the proceeds of sale, if any, shall be paid over to the registered owner, or held by the town for 60 days if the registered owner cannot be located with reasonable diligence. If the owner does not claim the remainder of the proceeds within 60 days after the sale, the funds shall be deposited in the town’s general fund and the owner’s rights therein shall be forever extinguished.
(1982 Code, § 8-3004)
Statutory reference:
For provisions as to the authority of a city to regulate abandoned vehicles, see G.S. § 160A-303