Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in North Carolina

You can't do that. If the person owes you rent, there is a process that you have to go through in order for you to sell the car and apply the proceeds to the back rent.

If you are not owed rent, then check with your city or county to see if they have an ordinance regarding junk or abandoned vehicles. Failing that, check with the NC License & Theft Bureau at For services regarding Abandoned Motor Vehicles you may contact the License & Theft Bureau at (919) 861-3141.

If you a mechanic, there is a different procedure which you must follow.

What I would suggest is that you write a letter to the person and send it via UPS or FedEx and ask them to arrange to remove the car in 10 days or it will be sold (if you are a landlord and owed back rent) or removed (if this is just a vehicle on your property or if no rent is owed). If they do not respond, then make arrangements to sell the car or have it removed. You want pictures because if the car is removed or sold, you do not want the person to come back and argue that the car was worth thousands of dollars and that you acted improperly.

If you want the car, then you are going to have to get the owner to sign the title over to you or sign a power of attorney to allow you to sign the title. Talk to your local DMV office about that.