# Abandoned car, how can I take possesion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009 "2024-04-08T15:00:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/41 "2024-04-09T14:16:28Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Illinois law: " **Has not been moved or used for more than seven consecutive days and is apparently deserted**. A _towing_ service may begin to process an unclaimed _vehicle_ as _abandoned_ by requesting a record search by the Secretary of State up to 10 days after the date it was reported." In fact, once a car is considered abandoned, you can start the paper work necessary to legally acquire ownership of the car yourself. Also, it says right on the page “[Abandoned vehicles should be reported by calling the city’s request line at 3-1-1](https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/streets/provdrs/traffic/svcs/abandoned_vehicles.html)”. Edit, and from `625 ILCS 5/4-201` “A vehicle or any part thereof so abandoned on private property **shall be authorized for removal, by a law enforcement agency having jurisdiction** …” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/42 "2024-04-09T14:18:19Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’ve absolutely had them leave a car on the street- I live in a city where most people park on the street , so if I want it towed home, they will leave it on the street. Good point. I’m sure they must do that then. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/43 "2024-04-09T14:19:10Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That’s not legally acquiring ownership, that’s stealing a car. You can’t steal an abandoned car because the owner has voluntarily given up ownership through the process of abandoning it. To be fair, though, I googled it, and one should contact law enforcement. This way you have proof of the time frame between the time you called and the time you removed it. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/44 "2024-04-09T14:19:25Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I think not being a member would be the end of that conversation. It would- because when I call, they ask for my membership number almost immediately. But it doesn’t cover my car exactly - it covers whatever car I’m driving. Even if I borrowed yours. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/45 "2024-04-09T14:47:09Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > You can’t steal an abandoned car because the owner has voluntarily given up ownership through the process of abandoning it. But your friend didn’t go through the steps required to get the car declared abandoned. The seven day waiting period is how long you have to wait to start the process of having the city declare it abandoned. That’s why they say “[vehicles can be reported](https://311.chicago.gov/s/article/abandoned-vehicles?language=en_US)” after 7 days, not “you can have the vehicle” after 7 days. > [@Jasmine](#): > > You can’t steal an abandoned car because the owner has voluntarily given up ownership through the process of abandoning it Without any communications with the owner, or even knowing who it is, you have no way of knowing it’s abandoned. It may be a fair assumption, but it’s not legally the case. You can keep going around in circles with this “an abandoned car can’t be stolen because it’s abandoned and it’s abandoned because the owner voluntarily gave up ownership by abandoning it” thing. There’s laws in place that you don’t get to override with circular arguments and made up rules. Again, there’s a set of steps to go through to get the car declared as abandoned and removed. If you bypass those steps, you stole a car. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/46 "2024-04-09T15:04:40Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Without any communications with the owner, or even knowing who it is, you have no way of knowing it’s abandoned. It may be a fair assumption, but it’s not legally the case. Actually, the law says you can. If the owner does not contact the police and inform them that his car is at such-and-such location, why it is there, and when it will be removed, then the car is considered abandoned so many days after it is reported. My friend did report it and nothing was done so, by the time he acted on his own, it was legally abandoned. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/47 "2024-04-09T15:46:40Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > My friend did report it and nothing was done so, by the time he acted on his own, it was legally abandoned. So, after all that, your friend did, in fact, report it to the police. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/48 "2024-04-09T16:01:32Z")
Yesterday I was searching [Texas DMV forms](https://www.txdmv.gov/forms) for an unrelated reason, and ran across a variety of forms for dealing with abandoned vehicles. Things range from liens from mechanics, storage operators, landlords, etc. to have a vehicle declared abandoned, to forms for a new owner to register a vehicle previously declared abandoned. I’m sure all states have similar bureaucratic processes. The thing I wonder, and it is obviously illegal (and hypothetical) is how good are the checks to handle forged forms? Assume the vehicle truly is abandoned, will anyone ever discover that form from a sheriff’s auction on the other side of the state is a fake? > [@doreen](#): > > it covers whatever car I’m driving AAA will also cover the vehicle you are a passenger in. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/49 "2024-04-09T17:09:16Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > Assume the vehicle truly is abandoned, will anyone ever discover that form from a sheriff’s auction on the other side of the state is a fake? Decent bet in this computerized era that the state DMV receives some sort of report from the real sheriffs’ auctions. Which report will be absent when they go to enter your counterfeit form into their computer. States are also pretty good about cooperating with other states when it comes to tracking vehicles specifically. There are lots of ways for tax evasion and other criminality to involves cars since they’re a) valuable, and b) self-portable. Having lived in several states over the years I’ve often had to re-register a car I moved from one state to another. There’s a very definite process where the gaining state notifies the losing state. Suggesting they’re (mostly) all in cahoots on data sharing. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/50 "2024-04-09T18:10:16Z")
[quote=“Joey\_P, post:47, topic:1000009”]N So, after all that, your friend did, in fact, report it to the police. [/quote] No, no. If you read my OP, it says, “If you can’t get your much deserved cooperation and justice, you can do what a friend of mine did **when he couldn’t get an abandoned car removed from the front of his house**.” In other words, AFTER he didn’t get relief by going to the city, THEN he acted on his own. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/51 "2024-04-09T18:14:13Z")
I wouldn’t expect moving a car off your property to be grand theft auto. You aren’t trying to deprive the car’s owner of their right to possess and use the car. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/52 "2024-04-09T18:36:32Z")
Moving the car off your property probably wouldn’t be theft - but “in front of my house” isn’t the same as “on my property.” And moving it to some parking lot ( where I don’t have a right to leave a car) isn’t the same as towing it off my property to the towing company’s yard or even towing it off my property and leaving it parked on the street. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/53 "2024-04-09T18:55:00Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > The first thing you have to do is start charging for “storage”. Write up an invoice that says you are charging the owner $50/day for the last 60 days. This says that the owner now owes you $3,000 for storage. This is not an option for private citizens. You have to be licensed to charge these fees and sell the vehicle at auction. Even if you are licensed, you can’t start charging storage fees till after you attempt to contact the legal owner. Sending a surprise bill is not legal. The last thing any state DMV or DOL wants is a bunch of private unlicensed citizens attempting to take over ownership of “abandoned” vehicles. Also, many states such as mine, do not allow employees of the towing and/or storage company and auction company to bid on vehicles being sold at auction. As far as the OP’s situation, there is nothing he can do. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/54 "2024-04-09T20:06:19Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Moving the car off your property probably wouldn’t be theft - It might not be theft, but it would still be “[criminal trespass to vehicle](https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K21-2)” (aka joyriding). > [@doreen](#): > > And moving it to some parking lot I found a lawfirm’s [website](https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/auto-theft-laws-illinois.htm) that used a similar example: “A theft occurs when someone (a) takes a vehicle without permission and (b) intends to keep it for their own use, bring it to a chop shop, or abandon it in an old shed so it won’t be found.” Substitute ‘parking lot in a bad part of town’ for ‘old shed’. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/55 "2024-04-09T20:48:24Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > but “in front of my house” isn’t the same as “on my property.” And Yeah, here in Chicago, the street where you park in front of your house is public. Some people act like they own the parking space in front of their house, but they most certainly do not. I’ve left my car unattended on not my own street for a couple weeks without issue (I couldn’t find parking for some reason, so had to park around another block, and then flew out somewhere the next day for a couple weeks), and thankfully I didn’t get ticketed and nobody pulled any crap like trying to tow my car into a shittty neighborhood. (That said, I parked it where it was unlikely anyone would mind.) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/56 "2024-04-09T21:43:07Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > It might not be theft, but it would still be “[criminal trespass to vehicle](https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K21-2)” (aka joyriding) I think you misunderstood me - I wasn’t talking about driving it. I know in my city I can have a vehicle that is parked on my actual property towed off it and it wouldn’t be any sort of crime - and I doubt if it is a crime anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/57 "2024-04-10T02:01:06Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I think you misunderstood me - I wasn’t talking about driving it. I know in my city I can have a vehicle that is parked on my actual property towed off it and it wouldn’t be any sort of crime - and I doubt if it is a crime anywhere. Yes, towed by a licensed and bonded tow company that will store it in their yard. Not towed to a bad neighborhood to be stolen. That is a crime. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2024, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/58 "2024-04-10T05:54:22Z")
One problem when the object being worried about is a car, is that most places have very specific additional laws for ownership of cars. Mostly arising because they are high value items and tend to have liens attached to them. But the ability to hunt down owners when there are fines or traffic offences to be dealt with is another. So the law surrounding cars has attracted lots of complicated regulations and cruft mostly as the result of badly behaving people. Laws that come about because powerful interests are not happy when something they have a stake in goes missing. This pretty much guarantees that simple ideas of logic of ownership will not apply. If the car has a lien on it, you may be pretty sure that there are mechanisms that make sure there won’t be a free car for the taking. And these same mechanisms are going prescribe exactly what you can and cannot legally do even if there isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009/59 "2024-04-10T13:39:36Z")
I don’t know that you can, but the apartment complex could claim adverse possession. [Adverse possession - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverse_possession) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-car-how-can-i-take-possesion/1000009.md?page=2)