How to Get a Title for an Abandoned Vehicle in NY

There is no simple form in New York that lets a private person claim an abandoned vehicle and walk out of the DMV with a title in their name. To get a title for an abandoned vehicle in NY, you generally have to buy it after a local government takes custody and sells it at public auction. The only other real route, the garageman’s lien, is restricted to licensed storage and repair businesses. Everything else you may have read, including bonded titles, does not work here.

When a Vehicle Is Legally Abandoned

Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1224 sets the clock. The timeframe depends on where the vehicle sits and whether it still has plates.¹

No plates, left on a highway or public place: abandoned after six hours.
Plated, left on a highway or public property where parking isn’t allowed: abandoned after 24 hours.
On someone else’s private property without permission: abandoned after 96 hours.

Nothing you do with the vehicle has legal standing until it meets one of these thresholds. A plated car dropped on your lawn two days ago isn’t abandoned yet.

If the Vehicle Is on Your Property

This is where most people get stuck. New York does not give the property owner a direct path to titling the car. The first call is to your local town, city, or village authority, which has power to take custody of any abandoned vehicle in its jurisdiction, whether it sits on public or private land.² Call your local police first as well, so you can confirm the vehicle hasn’t been reported stolen before anyone touches it.

If the local authority takes the car, it asks the DMV (or the plate-issuing state) about the last registered owner, then sends notice to that owner and any lienholders. They have ten days to claim the vehicle and pay removal and storage costs. If no one claims it, ownership vests in the municipality, which can then sell it at public auction.¹

If the local authority declines to take custody, your options narrow sharply. When the vehicle is worth $1,250 or less wholesale, is at least ten model years old, and has sat on your property for a month or more, you can transfer it to a registered vehicle dismantler or itinerant vehicle collector using Form MV-37, the Statement of Abandoned Vehicle.² Read that carefully: Form MV-37 moves the car to a licensed dismantler, not to you. It gets the vehicle off your land. It does not put it in your name.

If the car is too new, too valuable, or hasn’t been there long enough, the DMV directs you to ask your local police agency to authorize a tow company to remove it.² From there, the tow company holds it and the vehicle enters the unclaimed-vehicle process on the business side of things.

Buying an Abandoned Vehicle at a Municipal Auction

For a private individual, this is the realistic way to end up with title to an abandoned vehicle. Once the municipality has taken custody and the ten-day notice window closes with no claim, the local authority can sell the car at public auction or by sealed bid. Any proceeds, after the municipality’s removal and storage expenses, are held for the original owner for one year, and move to the local general fund if unclaimed.¹

The local authority gives the winning bidder documentation of the sale, which you then take to the DMV to apply for a new title. The title certificate fee is $50, and you’ll owe sales tax at your county’s rate, plus standard registration fees based on the vehicle’s weight and type.³ If sales tax wasn’t collected at the sale, submit Form DTF-802 (Statement of Transaction) when you register.⁴ All title certificates are printed in Albany through the Title Bureau and mailed from there, even if you filed the paperwork at a county office.

To find auctions, contact the municipalities you want to buy from. Local governments run their own sales on their own schedules.

The Garageman’s Lien (Businesses Only)

If you run a tow yard, repair shop, or storage facility and a customer never came back for a vehicle, you may be able to foreclose a garageman’s lien under Lien Law Section 184. The statute limits this to a person “keeping a garage, hangar or place for the storage, maintenance, keeping or repair of motor vehicles” who performed those services at the request of the owner or a law enforcement officer. A business that is required to be registered as a motor vehicle repair shop and isn’t registered cannot use this route at all.⁵

Private homeowners cannot use the garageman’s lien, no matter how long the car has sat on their property. If that’s your situation, go back to the municipal route above.

For businesses that do qualify, the DMV splits the process by value. For vehicles with a wholesale value under $500, use Form MV-901D (Garageman’s Certification and Bill of Sale) with the instructions in MV-901DI. For vehicles worth $500 or more, follow the full lien-sale procedure in Form MV-901C, which covers the certified-mail notices to the owner and any lienholders, the pre-sale notice under Lien Law Section 201, and the newspaper advertising requirements.²⁶ Missing a notice step can void the sale, so follow the form instructions as written.

Check Title and Lien Status First

Before you spend time or money on any of this, run the VIN through the DMV’s online title and lien check. You’ll need the VIN, model year, and make. The tool tells you whether a title exists and whether a lien is on record, but it does not show the owner’s personal information.⁷ Finding the actual owner requires going through a local authority or law enforcement, which is part of why the municipal process exists in the first place.

No Bonded Titles in New York

Some states let you post a surety bond and get a “bonded title” when you can’t produce standard proof of ownership. New York does not. There is no equivalent shortcut for an individual to bypass ownership verification. Online guides describing bonded titles are describing other states’ procedures, and that paperwork will not be accepted at a New York DMV office.

Vehicles From Model Year 1972 or Older

New York does not issue a certificate of title for any motor vehicle of model year 1972 or earlier. These use a transferable registration as proof of ownership, and the transferable portion of that document does the same job a title would when the vehicle changes hands.⁸ If the abandoned vehicle you’re pursuing falls in that range, the end product won’t be a title certificate.

If the Vehicle Was Damaged Before It Was Abandoned

DMV regulations require a salvage brand on the title when a vehicle is eight model years old or newer and sustained damage equal to 75% or more of its retail value at the time of damage.⁹ If you buy such a vehicle and rebuild it, the DMV must examine it before issuing a new title or registration. The exam is part of the Auto Theft Prevention Program, not a safety or emissions check. Finish all repairs, keep receipts for replacement parts, and make sure the VIN is clearly visible before the exam. A VIN that looks damaged or altered will stall the process.¹⁰

Your Practical Next Step

If the car is on your land, call the local police to run the plate or VIN, then contact your town, city, or village government and ask whether they will take custody under VTL 1224. If they will, your path to ownership runs through their auction. If they won’t, and the car doesn’t fit the narrow Form MV-37 criteria, ask the police to authorize a tow. If you’re trying to clear unclaimed vehicles out of a licensed shop or tow yard, download Form MV-901C or MV-901D depending on wholesale value and follow the notice schedule exactly.

1
New York State Senate. New York Code VAT 1224 – Abandoned Vehicles
2
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Abandoned and Unclaimed Vehicles
3
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Passenger Vehicle Registration Fees, Use Taxes and Supplemental Fees
4
New York State Tax Department. Form DTF-802 Statement of Transaction
5
New York State Senate. New York Code LIE 184 – Lien of Bailee of Motor Vehicles, Motor Boats or Aircraft
6
New York State Senate. New York Code LIE 201 – Notice of Sale
7
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Check a Title or Lien Status
8
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Information and Instructions About Your Certificate of Title
9
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Titles and Vehicle Ownership
10
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. The Salvage Vehicle Examination